Learning eastern european music style on harmonica?

Question

I am a beginner harmonica player. I bought recently a C harmonica and subscribed to two online learning courses. After a few weeks, I noticed I would prefer to learn some Eastern European/gypsy melodies instead of those blues/campfire songs which they teach in my courses. Can somebody recommend an online course for that purpose? On which harp do people play Eastern European music? A minor harp?

I still will continue my subscribed courses. I noticed in one course the teacher uses an A harmonica. I play on a C harmonica. Does that matter?

Answer 1

The harmonica keys should correspond to the key of the music, regardless of the genre in which you are playing... The "C", "A", "D", "F", and "G" keys are a good place to start for beginners. Here is a little chart:

This article gives a beginner's look at the harmonica positions, if you haven't already reached that in your lessons... A summarized description of the first 3 positions:

1st position starts on the 1 blow, 4 blow and is the same key as the harmonica

2nd position starts on 2 draw, 6 blow and is a fifth up from the key of the harmonica

3rd position starts on 1 draw, 4 draw and is one tone up from the key of the harmonica

As you play more with others and grow your abilities, you will likely also want to look into the various harmonica types.

Many harmonica players have lots and lots of harmonicas in various keys and of various types:

From there, playing in a specific genre will be based on the style you implement. Listen to a lot of eastern European music and practice in that style.