This page is here to help coordinate further work on the Blues Harmonica portal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_harp

Georg's Ideas for organizing things:

Harps -all models --fotos, measurements, materials, specifics, available keys and layouts, tunings,.... --history (of each model), deveopment in quality, tuning,... --differences of harmonica markets -manufacturers --production methods, materials used, development... etc --history of each company, production & the instrument.

Harmonica Community Worldwide -online --all forums, mailinglists (descriptions) --features of other websites (maps, chatrooms, lists of teachers, list of local groups,...) --online competitions, contests -offline --events, meetings, (all over the world) ->International section: german, french, russian, dutch.

Main Single Sources of information: -archives (harp-l, bushman search, mbh) -websites (overblow.com, patmissin.com, harmonicasessions.com) ->links, overview. ->International section: german, french, russian, dutch.

Harmonica Techniques -embouchure -bends -effects -...

Gear -Amps -Mics

Nate's List of Terms to define and harmonica brands, etc. Common Embouchure Techniques: Lip Block Lip Pursing/Pursing Puckering Racking Tilt Blocking Tongue Block U-Block Uncommon Embrouchure Techniques: Cigar Blocking- Holding the harmonica in your mouth like a cigar. Example: Sonny Boy Williams Bye Bye Bird. Face Block- Blocking the middle notes on the harmonica with your face so that you can create the opposite (draw/blow) reaction on the high end of the harp from what you are doing on the low end. Finger Blocking- Related to face blocking, using the right hand to block the 10 hole so the 9 hole sounds. Nasal Block- Playing the harmonica with your nose. (Usually done as a gag.)

Techniques to Produce Pitches: Blow Draw Deep Bend Drawbend Overbend Overblow Overdraw

Breathing Techniques: Circular Breathing

Customizing Terms: Custom Embossing Gapping OTB Reed Work Tip Scooping Tuning Harmonica Shapes: Tin Sandwich Moon Shaped Tapered Ends Square Ends Recesses Reeds Protruding Reeds Types of Tunings: Richter Diminished Just Equal Compromise Tone Descriptions: Fat/Thin Bright/Warm Crunchy “Flavoring” (Sounds that flavor your playing. A catch all for just about everything else.): Contrary motion Choking Chugging Cupping Dip Glissing (Glissendo) Hand Vibrato Harpboxing Kiss Popping Lip Popping Octave Blocking Pull Pull Slap Primary & Secondary Embouchure Muscles Slap Slide Split Tongue Talking Harmonica Tongue Smacking Tongue Flutter Toothbrush Vibrato Tremolo Trill Vamping Vibrato Wah-Wah Warble Whoopin'- (Like Sonny Terry)

Theory: Blues Notes Blues Scale Call and Response Licks Major Scale Minor Scale Riffs Rhythmic Patterns: Boogie Flat Tire Rhythm (Opposite of boogie. The first note is shorter.)

Blues Genres: Chicago Blues Mississippi Blues Delta Blues Southern Blues

Other Terms: Busking Mississippi Saxophone

Just for Fun: Mustache Hopscotch- Keeping your mustache from getting caught in one of the four holes in a Lee Oskar harmonica. Sphincter Blocking- Derogatory term for Pucker Blocking

The harmonica is a wind blown instrument in the aerophone family.

Blues Harmonica is a harmonica genre based on the blues scale, often played in the twelve bar style. Blues harmonica is usually played on the ten-hole diatonic harmonica, as opposed to the chromatic or tremolo harmonica, although some virtuoso players play blues on more than one type of harmonica.

Blues on the harmonica are most typically played in the second position, that is, using the 2 draw as the root of the key, followed by the 3 draw bend (Blue Third), the 4 blow, the 4 draw bend, the 4 draw, the 5 draw and the 6 blow.

The Twelve Bar chord progression is:

I I I I

IV I V I

V IV I I/V (Turnaround)

Brand Article:

There are several major harmonica manufacturers around the world, with brands manufactured in Germany, Japan, Brazil and China. The oldest companies, Seydel and Hohner, both German, have been around for over 150 years.

Major Manufacturers

German- Although the modern harmonica was invented in Germany there have been several periods of time when their harmonicas were not available in much of the world. All new German harmonicas became scarce in countries not aligned with Germany during the first and second world wars. During the Cold War German manufacturer Hohner was in West Germany, while their main rival, Seydel, was in the east.

Hohner- Hohner produces a wide range of harmonicas, from the very inexpensive to very pricey models.

Models Include: Piedmont Blues, BluesBand, Ace, Fuego Azul, Big River, Marine Band, Special 20, Golden Melody and the Meisterklasse.

Seydel- Seydel is the oldest continuously operating harmonica manufacturer in the world, founded in 1847. Models include their stainless steel 1847 and Big Six models as well as more conventional reeds in models such as the Blues Favorite and Blues Session. Currently Seydel sells the lowest tuned regular harmonicas, with models available as low as Low Low F (F2).

Japanese- Suzuki- Tombo- In countries like the United States, Tombo doesn't have the name recognition of some of the other brands, but are better known by the brand name Lee Oskar. Tombo does produce other harmonicas as well, such as the Ultimo, but these harmonicas are difficult to obtain in the U.S.

Brazilian- Hering- Hering harmonicas are Bends

Chinese- Huang- Huang harmonica was founded by legendary Hohner craftsman Cham-ber Huang

Other Merano Bushman- Bushman uses bronze-phosphor reeds. Their harmonicas, the Soul's Voice and the Delta Frost were manufactured by Suzuki and Seydel, respectively. Jambone Johnson Turbo Harp- Turbo Harp does not manufacture their own reed plates but instead focus on custom plastic covers and inserts to create a better seal around the reeds. Their covers will work on specific models of Hohner and Lee Oskar Harmonicas.

American Harrison

Historical

Huge list of Brands: Ace American Ace American Freedom Albert Sys. Atom Bandmaster Bee* Bell Brand Bends Blessing* Blue Danube Blues Bayou Blues Buddy Bluesman Blue Star Blue Steel Bohm (F.A. Bohm) Boomerang Brunnbauer (Ph. Brunnbauer) Bushman (Buckeye Trading) Butterfly Canary Carmento Clover Chase ChengGong Chordet Cid College Band Contest Doerfel (Dorfel?) Dompfaff Down Souther Dulcet Duretta Dragon Fly Harmonica Emmet Empress Ergo Essenbach (Carl Essbach) Estrella Excalibur Excelsior Feinste Sileck Stimmen Fischer (Joseph Fischer) Flying Eagle Friedel (Emil Friedel) Glass (Franz Glass) Golden Bird Golden Butterfly Golden Cup (Leo Shi)* Gretsch Guo Guang Hadson Hans Eisen (Stainless Steel) Hardwood Harmonicas Harmonic Reed haRmonic Solutions Harmonix* Harp Depot Harrison Hero Hering Hess# Hilaria Hohner Hot House Hotz (F.R. Hotz) Huang Huricaine Harps H.S.G. The Indian Elephant Jailhouse Blues Jambone* Johnson Kaptain Kool & the Kongs Kalbe Kay-Chicago Blues Kratt (US) Klingenthal Koch (Ands. Koch) Koch (Wilhelm Koch) Koch-Harmonica Werke Koestler Kratt (WK Kratt) Kruse Langhamer Lark LaVoie Harmonicas Loduca Bros. Lombardi Longhorns Ludwig (Gebr. Ludwig) HarpsCool Magnus Martinelli Melissa and Doug Merano Messner (Christian Messner & Co.) (Ch. Messner) Minyata Eagle Mississippi Harmonica Co. Miwha (Korean) Miyata Brand Mondial Monzino Music Master Musima* My Chum Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha Odin (Swedish) Olympic Opera Orion Oskar (Lee Oskar)* Parot Pee Wee Phonix Pinochio Pohl (Peter Pohl) (P. Pohl) Popular Delicia Planetone (Tribal Planet) Puretone Radiotone Rauner (F.A. Rauner) Rennesance Rheinperle Richter (Anton Richter) Richter (Joseph Richter) Robert Dolling Romel (William C. Romel) Rolz (Hans Rolz Co.) Sanita Saxonia Schlossmeinel Schlott (A.S. Schlott) Schunk (Johann Schunk) Schylling Serenata Seydel (C.A. Seydel Söhne)* Schoenhut Schylling Skylark* Sonara Spranger (M Spranger) Star Band Strauss Suasa Suzuki* Swan-Victory* Swaine & Adeney Sweet Music Swing Band Tatiri The Blues Thorens Tombo* Torahachi Machino Toy Star (Star?) Tower Turbo* US Blues Vermona Vinetta Violin King Weiss (Ch. Weiss) Weltmeister* Weydlich (Carl Weydlich) Wurtt (Württ. Harmonikafabrik) Yamaha#

Wuxi-Suzuki (partnership)

1. Fairly Contemporary

• Still Made

Bold Major Brand

Still Need to be Alphabetized and Checked for Duplicates:

A.A. Schlott Dompfaff Brunnbaur and Sohn Carl Essbach Weidersehn Unsere Lieblinge Thomas Rosenkavalier Thomas Zigeunerbaran William (Anton)Thie / Friedrich Wilhelm Thie Carl (A.) Essbach Matth. Hohner A.G. Royal (Emmet) (Richter) T. Meinhold C.H. Meinel (Meinel) Edmund Paulus P.H. Brunbrauer Carl Essbach Richter (Meinel & Herold) Meinel & Herold Blue Bird (Bohm?) Johannes Adler Borrah Minnevitch C.H. Messner (Ch. Messner) Tomba* typo? Migma?* Kostler* Wm. Kratt (U.S. made) Kain Z. Valencia (Kostler Co.) Carl Pitsch Cupid Brand Hockey Mississippi Harmonica by Regal BBB ELA Gebr. Meinel, Klingenthal VEB Klingenthaler Harmonikawerke Gebr. Gündel, Klingenthal Popular (Czech) Thomas Zigeunerbaran (Hans Rolz?) Swedish Luxe (Swedish) Schlossmeinel (bakelite) F.A. Rauner Carmento Joseph Fischer Charmant

Notes: I've tried to eliminate names that are just models for a bigger company, but I haven't been able to vet them all. If you see one that looks like a Hohner model, well, it may be now. Hohner bought out a lot of their competitors and kept them as model names. A lot of brands that got stuck on the wrong side of the iron curtain got consolidated too. I've alphabetized by last name, even if the brand is known as, say, Lee Oskar.

Silver Star (Hohner)

French harp. Moothie. Tin sandwich. Any of these terms strike a chord? How about gob iron, mouth organ, or Mississippi saxophone? ruines babines (that's French for "ruins the lips"

M2000 Millioniser Midi Harmonica (by Suzuki) Lyricon

Diatonic XB-40 Suzuki Overdrive Bahnson Overblow Chromatic Octave Tremolo Chord Hinged-Bass Slideless Chromatic Half-Valved Turbo

Hugo Rauner's (Bergrauner) Chromatic  VINTAGE IMPARCIAL ARTISTS HARMONIKA MADE IN GERMANY Pepita

VINTAGE PEPILA HARMONICA-MADE IN GERMANY Mississippi Harmonica Co.

I've compiled this list using these sites and others: http://www.musicaviva.com http://www.musicaviva.com/instruments/gallery/multisearch.html?instrument=hrmr&instwmode=ww http://www.harp-l.com/pipermail/harp-l/2007-February/msg00916.html Ebay Pat Missin's site, info from thread's on Adam's site and lot's of Google searches.