Harmonica For Dummies.pdf
Rocki Stenger
Look at the top of the diagram and see C. If we move one space clockwise, we have our cross-harp key of G! To find the cross-harp key for any harmonica, find the key of the harmonica on the Circle of Fifths, and move one space clockwise.
On the Circle of Fifths, I can just find the key of the Blues song, and move one space counter-clockwise. If you know the key of a Blues song and want to find which harmonica to use, find the key of the song on the Circle of Fifths, and move one space counter-clockwise.
If you are still wanting to get deeper into understanding the music theory of positions and tunings, check out our other awesome blog on the subject Bamboozled by Harmonica Keys? Harmonica Positions Explained.
Thinking about it the other way, if you want to choose a harmonica for an F Blues, you need to choose the Bb harmonica. And if you want to choose a harmonica for an F# Blues, you need to choose a B harmonica.
Hang in there, and keep coming back and reviewing the material as necessary, and, before you know it, things will start to come into better focus. Remember, the most important thing is to relax, have fun, and play!
When you bend notes, you usually raise some part of your tongue to a place along that contour. Extremely low-pitched notes may bend by raising your tongue somewhere in the backyard, while extremely high notes may bend somewhere in the vicinity of the dome or even on the front porch.
Winslow Yerxa is a widely known and respected harmonica player, teacher, and author. He has written, produced, and starred in many harmonica book and video projects, and provides harmonica instruction worldwide. In addition to teaching privately, he currently teaches at the Jazzschool in Berkeley, California.
When you bend a note down, the arrow has one slash for each semitone you lower the pitch of the note. When you bend a note up (when you overblow or overdraw), the arrow has a circle through it. For example, check out this sample tab:
A harmonica position is the connection between the key of the harp and the key of the tune you play on it. Each numbered position plays the same way no matter what the key of the harmonica. The following chart shows the uses of some common harmonica positions:
Harmonica positions are numbered 1 through 12. You reach the next numbered position on your harmonica by counting up five scale steps from the key of the harp. When you play more than one key of harp, the idea of positions is helpful.
When you jump holes, you must not move your mouth too far from the harmonica; just try to keep the gap to a minimum to land right at the center of the hole you want to play next. When you jump from holes 6 to 4, you could accidentally play hole 5 by falling short, or hole 3 by jumping too far. At first, problems with playing hole leaps are very common because you may not have a good reference on the harmonica yet, but you will improve this with practice!
Hi Davis, thanks for your comment. Actually the tab is Ok, the 3 hole blow (G note) is correct. Also you could play the 6 hole blow instead the 3 blow (G note one octave higher) and it will sounds good too. Regards!
out of everyone on the internet, you teach a a level that everyone can understand. I use the tongue blocking method for single notes. would you recommend i keep with this method? I would be interested in lessons.
Hi Brenden, losing the clear single note when moving between cells is a very common problem for beginners. I highly recommend you check out this article on how to play the harmonica: -to-play-the-harmonica-an-easy-to-follow-guide/ Regards!
Hi Bruno Berloto its me Maddyson again my birthday is coming up soon and I want to know if you want to wish me a happy birthday.Did you know that my birthday is the day be for Martin Luther King Jr. died?Anyway I just wanted to say hi to everyone.=D
Hello! I played simple tunes on tremolo when I was small. I have recently bought a 10 hole (Hape, without sharp edges) to play simple tunes to my 1-year-old son. Any tips for the change of harmonica type?
Great help as i bought a very cheap tremolo C harmonica just to see if it was easy playing. With these tunes i have the confidence to take the next step and buy a diatonic harmonica in the future. Just sat down watching the telly i have three tune down to a tee, i am sure when i get more serious listening will be a pleasure for other people i decide to show off to.
Hi Robert, thank you very much for your comment and for sharing your experience. Later when you decide to buy your first 10-hole diatonic harmonica, remember take a look to this article with my top 5 recommended harmonicas for beginners: -harmonica-for-beginners-buying-guide/ Regards and Happy 2021!
Hi Alfred, that is not the right type of harmonica. If you want to learn from internet you would need a 10 hole diatonic harmonica type. Here I share my
article with a Top 5 best recommended harmonicas for beginners: -harmonica-for-beginners-buying-guide/ Regards!
Hi Satya, try to practice at least 30 minutes a day and first focus on playing clean single notes (only one hole at a time). Here I give you a tip for getting better on your single notes: put your mouth as if you were going to pronounce a letter U and place the harmonica on the inside part of your lower lip (never outside) as if you were going to drink from the spout of a bottle. Btw new tutorials are coming soon like how to play harmonica among others. Regards!
Brilliant songs for learning but, after learning to play originally on a tre mellow harmonica I am ha ing difficulty playing single notes on my Hohner Special 20. Do you have any tips for a very old learner?
Mikeh, that problem is very common indeed and I call it reference on the harmonica. The correct embouchure for tremolo harmonica is quite different than 10 hole diatonic harmonica, you need to readjust it. For playing single notes put your mouth as if you were going to pronounce a letter U and place the harmonica on the inside part of your lower lip as if you were going to drink from the spout of a bottle. Try these advises and you should have better results with your clean single notes. Regards!
I'll break down everything into component parts: every song, every lick. I'll explain slowly and patiently HOW the sounds are made. I'll show you how to keep a beat, and how to set melodies in motion.
This website can't substitute for a flesh-and-blood harmonica teacher--somebody who listens to you play and offers feedback, guiding your development in a hands-on way. But my videos, tabs, jam tracks, and music can take you far, if you're willing to put in the work.
SECOND, think about purchasing my BEGINNERS SPECIAL, a collection of four essential videos for beginners, with tabs thrown in for free. They come as one easy-to-download zip file. You can reach the purchase page by clicking the link below. The Beginner's Special contains the following files:
It you'd rather start out with a bigger bang for a few more bucks, try my BEGINNERS DELUXE. It includes all the materials in the Beginners Special plus the following videos, tabs, and jam tracks described below:
THIRD, if you'd like to dip your finger in the pond rather than plunging in, you might want to pick up one of the following videos and/or tabs for raw beginners. EVERY VIDEO requires no more than one harmonica in the key of C:
"Raw Beginners Start Here": For absolute novices. If you were my private student and you showed up for your first lesson, I'd spend most of our first hour together showing you the basics: How the harmonica is put together; how to hold the harp; how to play single notes; how to play your first scale; and how to troubleshoot several basic problems that raw beginners always confront.
"Tongue Blocking I": An introduction to one of the key techniques for blues harmonica players--the one that gives you the "big sound," including octaves, splits (such as the 25 draw), counter-rhythms, and a range of textural effects.
FOURTH, you'll need some jam tracks so you can take the licks and grooves I teach you and begin to put them into action. The jam tracks I offer feature a whole band in a music-minus-one format. You can find them HERE:
FIFTH, if there's one book I'd recommend to beginners, it's Blues Harmonica for Dummies by my longtime friend, Winslow Yerxa. Winslow isn't just a great player, but he's been teaching the harmonica at a very high level for a long time. Back in the early 1990s, as the publisher of a newsletter issued by his Harmonica Information Press, he was tabbing out Jon Popper's ridiculously fast solos--one of the many ways in which he served the harmonica community. He is the former president of SPAH: The Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica. BUY THIS BOOK!
SEVENTH, when you're ready to move on and up from the beginner's lessons to the harder stuff, please visit the Store. You'll find all of my digital lessons--beginner, advanced beginner, intermediate, and advanced intermediate--listed there in order of increasing difficulty.
EIGHTH, if you already know that blues harmonica fascinates you and you want a low-cost megadose of information to start you on your journey, think about purchasing this extended interview that I sat for with David Barrett of BluesHarmonica.com. It consists of twenty 7-10 minute videos that cover every element of the instrument, including my own journey from where YOU are standing to where I presently stand as a working pro. It comes in the form of a big zip file. Only $5! Read more HERE.
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