Which Harmonica to Buy?

 Which harmonica should you buy? 

If this is your first harmonica buy:

• 10-hole diatonic
• Hohner
• Marine Band Special 20
• Key of C followed by (in order of usefulness): A, D, G, F, Bb, Ab, E
• I rarely use these but have them just in case: B, Eb, Db, F#
• A and D are most useful for blues and rock
• Except, if you are buying a harmonica for a child, get the Suzuki Airwave

If you only get two harmonica keys, get C and A

If you only get three harmonica keys, get C, A, and D

If you only get four keys get C, A, D, and G

Why these keys? 

Songs in each key:

Key of C harmonica

• This is supposed to be the easiest harmonica to learn on
• Many songs are written in the key of C
• Long Train Runnin' - Doobie Brothers
• Run Around - Blues Traveler
• Piano Man - Billy Joel
• Stormy Monday - Allman Brothers
• Love Me Do - Beatles
• Low Rider - War

Key of A harmonica

• Roadhouse Blues - The Doors
• Bring It On Home - Led Zeppelin/Sonny Boy Williamson II
• What I Like About You - The Romantics
• Train, Train - Blackfoot (the intro is on a G harp)
• On the Road Again - Canned Heat (country tuned)
• Whammer Jammer - J. Geils Band
• Got My Mojo Workin' - Muddy Waters
• Not Fade Away - Rolling Stones (A and D harps are used)
• Pride and Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughan

Key of D harmonica

• Blowin' in the Wind - Bob Dylan
• Mr. Tambourine Man - Bob Dylan
• Born in Chicago - Paul Butterfield
• Hook - Blues Traveler
• Miss You - The Rolling Stones
• Mannish Boy - Muddy Waters
• The Wizard - Black Sabbath
• Going Down - Freddie King
• Catch the Wind - Donovan
• Whiskey Man - Molly Hatchet
• School - Supertramp

Key of G harmonica

• Heart of Gold - Neil Young
• The Times They are a-Changin' - Bob Dylan
• Going Down - Freddie King
• Smokin in the Boys Room - Brownsville Station

Key of F harmonica

• Take the Long Way Home - Supertramp
• If You Want to Get to Heaven - Ozark Mountain Daredevils
• Sharp Dressed Man - ZZ Top

Key of Bb harmonica

• Help Me - Sonny Boy Williamson II
• The Work Song - Paul Butterfield

Key of Ab harmonica

• Boogie On Reggae Woman - Stevie Wonder
• Roadhouse Blues - Some bands like to tune down to make it easier for the singer. So any song in E would use an Ab harmonica.

Key of Eb harmonica

• Catch the Wind - Donovan
• Karma Chameleon - Culture Club

Key of F#

• Moon River (Recommend a low F sharp for this or switch to a melody maker tuning)

Key of E

• Orange Blossom Special - Charlie McCoy (Vamp on A and E)

Consider a few things. First of all is the general type. There are two main types: Diatonic and Chromatic. You probably want to get a diatonic harmonica unless you are mostly interested in playing classical music. If you are interested in playing blues, you should get a diatonic harmonica.

Next, consider the brand. Some of the current popular brands are:

Hohner, Lee Oskar, Seydel, Suzuki, JDR, Easttop, Kongsheng

Brands I don't like: Hohner (I've blown out too many reeds on these), Kongsheng (Blew a reed after only a couple weeks of playing), I'm not very fond of the Easttop harmonica I bought. It sounds tinny.

Brands I like: Suzuki, Seydel, JDR

My go-to harp is currently Suzuki Bluesmaster, but I may switch to Seydel Session Steel.

My travel harp is the JDR Blues Shifter, in other words, if I only get one harmonica, I'm going to bring the Blues Shifter because I can play the most songs on it.

Alternate tunings:

Natural Minor

Harmonic Minor

Paddy Tuned

Country Tuned

Melody Maker