Lesson 1
IntroductionI taught myself to play the harmonica. I began by learning the songs that I already knew. The ones I could hum or whistle. The first song I learned was Mary Had a Little Lamb. Other songs included: Home Home On The Range, Camptown Races, Way Down Upon The Swanee River, OH! Suzzanah, The Irish Washerwoman, Three Blind Mice, Popeye the Sailor and others. I tried to concentrate on getting single notes (one of the most difficult things for a beginner) and learned to play the songs very slowly at first. Gradually, I would focus on playing the songs more rapidly and fluidly. I also used the eight note scale, up and down, as an exercise.
If you've never heard the eight note major scale, which I find hard to imagine, it goes like this:
do re mi fa so la ti do
note: C D E F G A B C
---------------------------------------------------
hole: 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7
B D B D B D D B
B=blow D=draw(these are the notes are on a C harp but the holes played are the same on any key harp)Click here to download an audio file of the major scale above played on a C harmonica:
C scale in .au formatThere are several physical approaches to the method of playing harmonica. Hohner and many players recommend holding the harmonica with the highest numbered holes to your right and using a method called tongue-blocking to direct air into the holes of the harmonica. With this method, you place your tongue on the holes of the harmonica and leave a space for air to flow between your tongue and the corner of your mouth.
This is the method described in the instructions that come with a Hohner harmonica.
I learned to play by just picking the thing up, puckering up and blowing into the holes. I hold the harmonica with the low notes to the right. Many other harp players have learned in a similar fashion.
So that's my first lesson: learn to play what you already know and learn to play it well.
Then, you will have the proper foundation of skills that will allow you to approach more difficult things, like bending notes and learning to play "blues harmonica".
Lesson 2
OctiveBy now you know how to play the 8 note scale and all of the songs mentioned in Lesson 1 plus a few of your own. Right? Ok, so lesson two is a riff used by just about every harp player at one time or another. I call it the octive because it starts on one note and ends on the same note an octive higher.
It goes like this:
2 3 4 5 6 ------------------------- D D D B B B=blow D=drawClick here to download an audio file of the "octive riff" above played on a "A" harmonica:
Octive riff .au formatOctive riff .wav format
The best example of how this riff was used by a BluesHarp Legend would be Little Walters "Juke".
Here is the modified version of the riff above as played in "Juke"
2 3 4 5 6 6 ------------------------------- D D D B B BClick here to download an audio file of the "Juke riff" above played on a "A" harmonica:
Juke riff .au formatJuke riff .wav format
The same riff in the first example above can also be played on the harp starting an octive higher, like this:
6 7 8 8 9 ------------------------- B D D B B
Lesson 3
TrillsThere are two basic trills used by blues harp players, the hole 4 and 5 draw trill and the hole 3 and 4 draw trill. The idea here is pretty simple. You just draw in on the harp and move the harp back and forth across your mouth either with your hands or by shaking your head. Mastering these trills is not easy however. Again, you have to be careful to sound each note individually or the effect will not be the desired one. Once you have mastered the basic trills you can try things like bending the trilled notes while you trill. You can also experiment with finding other trills on the harp on your own.
The trills look like this:
4-5 draw trill 4 5 4 5 4 5 4 5 4 5 4 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------- D D D D D D D D D D D DClick here to download an audio file of the "4-5 draw trill" above played on a "C" harmonica:
4-5 draw trill .au format4-5 draw trill .wav format
3-4 draw trill 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------- D D D D D D D D D D D DClick here to download an audio file of the "3-4 draw trill" above played on a "C" harmonica:
3-4 draw trill .au format3-4 draw trill .wav format
Lesson 4
Oh Lordy Mama..
I Do Believe I is gettin' de Bends!
I am not gonna teach you how to bend notes.
Mostly, have to figure it out for for yourself, but a detailed explanation of the technique can be found HERE. One day you will just bend a note after struggling with it for a long time. Then you have to figure out how to repeat what you did and eventually control it. Usually you will only be able to bend notes 4 and 5 draw at first. In fact, you may bend them so much and so often you will wear those two reeds out!
One thing to keep in mind is that bending notes doesn't have to take a whole lot of wind. Experiment with making it happen with less wind. SUCK LESS!
Eventually you will be able to bend all the draw notes 1-6
Here are simple exercises that incorporate bending all 6 of the draw notes up and down the harmonica.
The number is the hole
D = Draw
B= Blow
b = Flat or bent
First try it down:
6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1
D D D D D D D D D D D D
b b b b b b
Lesson 5
Scales?
We don' need no Stinkin Scales!
To REALLY play the blues you have to be extremely familiar with your instrument. Familiar enough to make it up as you go along. It 's known as improvisation and it is what the Blues is really all about. Blues is a mood. It's not a dusty old record somewhere. It's creating a mood in the moment with the sound that comes out of your horn.
Playing scales and other exercises familiarizes you with your insrument. So that when you reach for a musical idea, it happens. Effortlessly.
In lesson one I introduced the major scale on holes 4-7
Did you know that you can also play the same scale an octive lower on notes 1-4 by bending two notes?
We will try it down the scale from hole 4 to hole 1 first because for beginners it is easier to hit a note and bend it flat that to just hit a note flat.
The number is the hole
D = Draw
B= Blow
b = Flat or bent
do ti la so fa mi re do
4 3 3 2 2 2 1 1
B D D D D B D B
b b
Here it is played slowly:exercise 1 (slow)
and faster:
exercise 1a (fast)
Now lets try it up the scale.
More difficult, but essential is learning to hit these notes already BENT.
In this scale exercise, the 2 and 3 draw are played bent, then played straight (no bend).
Let the bend come up until the normal tone of the note is heard.
do re mi fa so la ti do
1 1 2 2 2 3 3 4
B D B D D D D B
b bHere is the exercise played slowly:
exercise 2 (slow)
and here is the way it should sound when you have mastered it:
exercise 2a (fast)