The diatonic harmonica aka blues harp

Harmonica Riff is a  resource for discussion and information on all aspects of playing the harmonica for pleasure or profit. Not only will you find the odd harmonica riff but also tips, tricks, tabs and tuition to enable you to do serious jamming with other players.

My name is John Tribe I have been playing the harmonica since the age of 14. I currently have a band called “Blue And Beyond” with whom I play when not developing websites. I learned to play the harmonica in protest to enforced clarinet lessons at school. At the age of 25 I took up the guitar as well.

To me the harmonica is an instrument which holds endless fascination:-

• Fits in a pocket
• Easy to begin a lifetime to master
• Very much part of blues music
• Cheap
• Easy to develop personal style and sound
• Probably the quickest instrument to use as intuitively as the human voice
• Fantastic volume acoustic or amplified

One of  most important tips I can give you is to never give up. If you find you reach a block learning tabs or tricks on the harmonica, remember that if it was all about instant results everybody would do it. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of arriving at a tricky note by visualizing yourself arriving at it. Listen and watch lots of harmonica and blues harp material on “you tube” and the rest of the web and pretty soon you will treasure a set of diatonic harmonicas as a prize posession which will give you endless pleasure and therapeutic release throughout life.

If you want to have your say on anything discussed on this site feel free.