Eastar Major Blues Diatonic Harmonica 10 Holes C Key Beginner Harmonica For Kid and Adult With Hard Case And Cloth

This review is for the Eastar 10 holes Major Blues harmonica beginner Harmonica, I noticed Amazon is mixing up other Eastar reviews like the larger "Admiral" model.Because this is advertised as a beginner harmonica so I decided to compare it to my Hohner "Bluesband" harmonica in C, which is often the reference for cheap beginner harmonicas and are made in China. I also own a set of Honher "Special 20" harmonicas which are made in Germany which are much better and much more expensive, and I will compare it to that one also.First of all, this is a Harmonica in the key of C, for now, just worry about hte fact that it's the easiest harmonica to play, other keys can be slightly harder for your breathing, so it is the recommended one for beginners. I'll talk more about what the key mean at the end of the review.Unpacking:This Eastar harmonica comes in a nice plastic case (althoguh you may have a to squeeze a bit hard to open it). It's important as you should always put your harmonica in a case after playing so that debris and dust doesn't clog up the inside. (also, don't play right after eating!)Inside the case is the harmonica, a small instruction sheet (in English) and a small wiping cloth, a very nice touch. If you are a complete beginner, I recommend you find youtube instructions rather than rely on the enclosed sheet, but it makes a handy reference anyway.By comparison my cheap Hohner comes in a blue and white cardboard box and has no wiping clothThe Sound/Ease of PlayThere is no comparison with the cheap Hohner! the cheap Hohner constricts your breath and make you blow harder, sounds tinny and not so loud. By contrast the Eastar has a nice full sound, is much louder and easier to play. I'm impressed!I still like the sound of my special 20s better, while rich the Eastar sounds a little darker than the Special 20, but remember we are comparing a beginner harmonica to a more mid-level instrument.There is an advance technique in harmonica playing called "bending". It is when you blow or draw (breathe in) in a special way to make the note "bend" into another, which is a real cool signature sound of the harmonica. Once again the Eastar beats the Hohner Bluesband handily. Bends are much easier to achieve on the Eastar, although I still find them more comfortable on my special 20 (an instrument that costs 3 times as much)In Summary, if you or a loved one wants to start learning the harmonica, this is a great instrument. It will make learning much easier than with the really cheap instruments and the sound will be much better.What does the key of C mean C?Harmonicas only come in one key. Think of them as a piano with only the white keys. this means you will be able to play any song in C with other instruments, fortunately most beginner songs are in C. Blues players play in "position 2" or "crossharp" where the "home" note is drawing (breathing in) on the 2nd hole, which is the note G.Playing corssharp with a harmonica in C lets you play along and improvise with songs written in the key of G, which is very common for blues and Classic Rock, so you may be able to play with a lot more songs than you think.So anything bad about this?If you look at the picture carefully, this harmonica is slightly thicket than my other harmonicas, maybe that makes a larger "chamber" for the sound to resonate and escape from and explains why it sounds so good, but it felt a little odd to me because I am so used to the thickness of my Special 20s. I'm not familiar with other brands and it's quite possible other harmonica brands are also slightly thicket like that.Not really a bad thing, more of a request: Past the beginner stage harmonica players will usually carry multiple harmonicas in multiple keys so that they can play with any song. It looks like Eastar is only selling the harmonicas in C, I hope they soon sell other keys, or sell multipacks with multiple harmonicas of different keys in the same case.Thanks for reading this review, I hope it has been helpful. I will try and post a video with sound comparison but I'm having trouble with my video editing software at the time. Enjoy the photos comparing the Eastar harmonica with the cheap Hohner Bluesband.

Good quality. Solid build. Sounds GREAT! At an even greater price! (Meaning: it is a good deal for a great harmonica!)

My 5 year old wanted a harmonica. I didn't want her to have one identical to her two brothers, but I also didn't want a full on plastic one. This one is well constructed, has a lovely sound, sturdy case, and is being well used by the 5 year old.Only issue is when she plays it too much, too close! Ha ha! I don't mind. It brings her much joy. Nice clear notes.

It looks great and was a good gift for a 5 year old. Some notes didn't work on inhale and some notes were a bit off.

I bought these for my 3 yr old grand daughter, because she loved her grandfather's so much. I was quite surprised by the great quality of this harmonica. I let her play with it a little bit and have now put it away for her for when she's older. It's that good.