Eison Chromatic Harmonica Professional Grade 10 Hole 40 Tone Key of C Stainless Steel Heavy Duty with Case & Cleaning Cloth for Professional Player,Band,Beginner,Students,Children,Kids,-Swan TS4035

I don't like to make negative reviews, but this harmonica had a lot of work needing to be done to get it working quite well. Even so, due to its design it loses quite a bit of air in both blows and draws. Try as I might, I can't sort the reeds for hole one.. Very woolly. It's not a premium harmonica so I can't expect it to perform like one. It's in tune, but rather breathy.

Great harmonica great tone for the blues and not over priced

I'm not a chromatic player but I've played diatonics for nearly 50 years so I know what a good harp is supposed to sound like. I've been trying to learn chromatic for some time now (with limited success) on much more expensive chromatics and decided I should get a cheap one for travel. If something happens to it, I won't be upset and it won't cost a lot to replace. To my complete surprise, the tone and volume of this harmonica rivals that of my much more expensive harmonicas. It's comfortable to play, the slide is precise and it sounds great. You can't go wrong with this chromatic. It's truly a bargain.

Over the years I’ve spent enough money on chromatic harmonicas to make a down payment on small Toyota. If you’ve ever wanted to try a chrom, this is the one to get. You can’t beat this Swan 1040 for the price, and my first impression is that it is comparable to much more expensive Hohner and Suzuki 12 holes in construction quality and tone.I just bought a second one.That said, I don’t think a chromatic is the best choice for ones firs6t harmonica. Compared to a diatonic, this or any other chrom is harder to get a clear one note sound out of. I would start off with a Lee Oskar or any model of Hohner in the key of C. These two brands have exactly the same hole spacing so you can switch between brands and keys and (Oskar) tunings and the muscle memory in your mouth handles the change.

Although I am just an amateur, this chromatic is fun to play - especially the songs I like that I couldn't play on the diatonic for lack of being able to bend notes. As long as I blow the right note, it sounds like music to me! It's got a rich tone and it's very easy to get used to pushing the button for the sharps. harptabs.com has LOTS of free harmonica tabs. Type "chromatic" in search block to narrow it down. This is a perfect gift for anyone that has any interest in music, kids or adults.