In April 2025 I bought a special 20 in a C so I could push myself to practice again. Slowly but surely I’ve purchased each harmonica key one at a time, that I thought I needed. Sometimes I should have bought a different key first. Other people have 12 or a 100, and I know they do. We see them posted. When I first bought a crappy Blues Bender at a Cracker Barrel I never thought harmonica would pull at me for 20 years. In the last couple years I’ve started again and it’s changed me. Not in a cliche way, but it’s given me a creative outlet I never knew I had. In creativity, practice and just plain equipment I’ve grown . Might not seem like much, playing and collecting harp, but it’s honest work. I started following and posting here and learning from others. Sometimes I said some incorrect things. I still came here on this part of my journey. So here it is my complete ten set for me, and by me. Thanks Guys

Fixed the video angle hahaha
Can i have some tips to work on as a complete beginner?

Also does anyone know why drawing on the second hole doesn't make any note?

Just finished lunch with the boss. We discussed the direction of the shop and harmonica part production. Two takeaways from this meeting:

- We will be creating custom dies to produce cover plates. Over time I will modify the design to produce plates for models other than the Special 20 and other manufacturers.
- We will be purchasing the machinery needed to produce screws. Specifically, we will be producing cover plate and reed plate screws with T7 heads and THEY WILL BE MADE OUT OF STAINLESS STEEL INSTEAD OF BRASS. Furthermore, since I will be producing them thousands at a time, I will be able to sell BAGS of them for a couple bucks rather than TWO sets (male and female on the cover plate screws) for $12. They will be better material, properly sized, and best of all, AVAILABLE and IN STOCK.

Again, it will take a couple months to get all of the equipment set up and programs completed for manufacturing the gaskets, reed plate blacks, custom combs, and stainless fasteners. The CNC router came in yesterday, and the 33 micron HD Lidar 3D scanner is supposed to be delivered today. Stay tuned for updates...

Everywhere i've looked it says its a chromatic, but to me this makes no sense, as it sounds nothing like a chromatic to me. Could maybe have been valveless, but from what i understand valveless chromatics werent really airtight enough back then.

The timbre and style all scream diatonic to me, i feel like the accidental doublestops sound like a diatonic. Him being able to gey as pronounced hand vibrato and wahs also indicate diatonic to me. Also ypu cant "hear the slide" not like the actual sound of the slide moving, but the note getting pitched up by the slide.

Am i crazy? It doeant make any sense to me.

Whats a position?

A Harmonica Position is related to the circle of fifths. A position allows the use of different keys on a single key (diatonic) insturment.

This is exciting for the simple fact the more positions you learn, the more you can play on a single harp!

What is the circle of fifths?

The circle of fifths is a chart that shows how each key is related to the others. Example below:

How to use positions:

1st position is always the key of your harp.

On a C harp, 1st position is C Major.

On a G harp, 1st position is G major.

On an A harp, 1st position is A major scale.

2nd position can be found counting over 1 space on the circle of Fifths:

On a C harp, 2nd position is G

On an A harp, 2nd position is E

On a G harp, 2nd position is D

And so forth.

Starting at your first position key on the circle of fifths, you can count over to the right and find other positions(keys) to play in. Learn the position pattern on any key and it will be the same on any other harmonica, provided you use the same tuning.

So to play 1st position on a G, C, A, or any other key harp, the pattern of notes will be the same.

Learn Harmonica today!

https://youtu.be/OClDfAsgBDE

Me improv jamming away on the harmonica. Any feedback from what you can hear is always welcome! Probably gotta work on being more dynamic, or in tune, or with rhythm, or any number of things.

I wrote this a while ago, but brought it back for the start of the school year.

Lead sheet sight read by Scott Gwinnell, Jordan Schug, and David Zwolinski at Aretha's Jazz Cafe.