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Category: Hobbies & Recreation : Music
Dear future harmonicists...
Many people approach musical instruments with a bit of hesitation, assuming that it requires years of practice.
 Well...the great thing about the harmonica is that you really can't go wrong as long as you have a bit of confidence.
First, let me say that I'm not talking about chromatic harmonicas which are far more difficult to play. There are 2 types of harmonicas, chromatic and harmonicas which come in a specific key. With non-chromatic harmonicas, being forced to play in one key means that any note you play will be on the correct 'scale' or in simpler terms, won't sound bad. It may not sound perfect, but you can't go wrong with a one key harmonica.
Now that we've established that you can't play 'wrong' music, I'll give you a few tips on how to play 'better' music. It's more or less a feel thing, but the more techniques in your repetoire, the more variation you can put into your playing.
One obvious thing is that the harmonica plays lower and higher notes depending on where you blow on it. A bit less obvious is that it plays a different note when you inhale than when you exhale. Inhaling (or sucking) about as much as you blow is good for balanced music as many beginners only blow and so they sound monotonous.
Now try moving your tongue around as you suck and blow. Try pursing your lips as if you are kissing the harmonica in the middle of a note. These motions, in addition to relieving potential sexual frustration, help generate more variation in your sounds.
The final thing one might try is using your hand to cover the blow holes. You can move your hand back and forth, covering and uncovering the holes to create yet another effect.
Ok, so now we have a bunch of techniques to vary your sound, but all the while remaining in the same key. We can now experiment with our many sounds without fear of playing a wrong note. Experience has taught me that the more aggressive you are, the better you'll end up playing.
Now the fun part... preferably you have a Harmonica in E or A, but most cheap harmonicas come in the key of C.
Either way, find a blues song (I like using BB King's Blues Summit) with a good tempo and play away. You need to find one in the right key (the CD mentioned has songs in C, E and A)... find the right song by playing along with it...It should be pretty obvious if the harmonica and song are in the same key as either everything will sound ok, or everything will sound 'off'.
Have fun and let me know how it goes....
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