Someone you love plays harmonica. You want to get them something for it. And you’ve just discovered that most gift guides on the internet think the best gifts for harmonica players are mugs with harmonicas on them.
They’re not.
I’ve played harmonica for forty-odd years — gigs, sessions, teaching. I’ve been given the mug (the harmonica world’s answer to socks). Here’s what players actually use, and what you might want to avoid. Prices are approximate, in US dollars.
1 A harmonica — in a key they don’t have
Harmonicas come in twelve keys, and a developing player needs as many of them as possible. Most players don’t have them all. Ask — or sneak a look at their case — and buy the one that’s missing.
Stick to a known brand: Seydel Session Steel, Seydel 1847 (premium harps, and what I play), Hohner Special 20, Hohner Marine Band, Suzuki Manji, Lee Oskar. Any of these is a decent, pro-level instrument. Avoid anything under $25 — those aren’t, and a beginner will only have to work harder.
If you have no idea what key: A, D, G, F, Bb are the ones used most after C. Most players already own a C.
$40–$110 USD
2 Software that saves time, educates and is actually fun to use
This is the one most gift guides miss, because it’s brand new.
Harmonica players learn by ear. They hear a lick, work it out hole by hole, and — to remember it — scribble it down as “tab”: numbers and arrows that say which hole, blow or draw. Every player has a drawer full of these scraps, and every player needs a better method.
Fab Tabs
Listens while they play and writes the tabs on screen as they go. Bends, overblows, the lot. They can slow it down, transpose it to a different position, save it as a playable file with their actual recording, then share it with one click. Runs in a web browser — nothing to install, Mac and Windows.
Tab-Grabber
Goes the other direction. Give it a recording — a song, a YouTube rip, anything — and it pulls the harmonica part out of the mix and writes the tabs. Does the same for a sax or trumpet solo, which is how good players steal from horn players. Slow it down, loop a bar, export to PDF or MusicXML.
For a beginner, Fab Tabs is the one to start with — it shows them what they’re playing. For someone who’s been playing a while, Tab-Grabber is the one they’ll use every week. The bundle is both.
How to gift software: buy it, and the licence key arrives by email. Print it, put it in a card. Done. There’s a free trial too, if you want them to try before you commit.
Fab Tabs $29 USD · Tab-Grabber $29 USD · Bundle $46 USD
3 A microphone and a small amp
If they play blues, they’ll want the amplified sound eventually. The classic mic is a Shure Green Bullet (about $180 USD) or a Hohner Harp Blaster. Pro level: a Bulletini, custom-built by Greg Heumann.
For a small amp, the budget pick is the Positive Grid Spark MINI (10 watts, about $180). The pro choice is a tube amp like the Fender Pro Junior IV (15 watts) — the dream gift, but it lands around $800 USD.
$180–$800 USD
4 A case to organize their harps
Most players have harps lying around everywhere. Seydel makes great cases, large and small, and it’s the gift they didn’t know they wanted until they open it.
$20–$80 USD
5 Lessons
A block of lessons with a real teacher — in person or online — beats any gadget for a beginner. Most teachers will sell you a gift certificate. If they’re self-taught and stuck, this is the one.
$30–$70 USD per lesson
6 A good book (not a method book)
They’ve got the method book. What they’ll enjoy is something to read: a biography of Little Walter or Sonny Boy Williamson, or something funnier — I wrote one called No, Seriously, I Play Harmonica, which is about what it’s like to make a living with these things.
$15–$30 USD
✕ What to skip
- The mug, the T-shirt, the keychain (unless they’re great, of course).
- Novelty harmonicas — plastic, or “Beatles edition” anything.
- A harmonica in the key of C if they’ve played longer than a month. They own one.
- A chromatic harmonica unless they’ve asked. Different instrument, different technique.
If you’re still not sure
Fab Tabs or Tab-Grabber. It’s the one thing on this list they almost certainly don’t have, it’s priced like a nice bottle of wine, and it’s the gift that makes them better at the thing they love. That’s the point, isn’t it?
Canadian harmonica virtuoso Roly Platt continues to straddle both the live music scene and the international recording world. He has toured and recorded with David Clayton-Thomas, Ronnie Hawkins, Marc Jordan, John Finley, Matt Minglewood, Dutch Mason, Rita Chiarelli, Suzie Vinnick and Rick Fines, to name a few.
Roly designed and built Fab Tabs and Tab-Grabber — for all harmonica players to enjoy.
