How to Play Single Notes on the Harmonica
If you want to master single notes on your harmonica then this article has 4 tips that reveal the not so obvious secret! Having a solid single note technique is critical to your being able to play harmonica with a beautiful, crystal clear sound.
If you’re having a challenging time hitting your single notes with accuracy, you’re probably not using the lip-blocked single note that is explained in this article below.
After 25 years of teaching harmonica, I can confidently say that though there are other great single note techniques, learning the lip-blocked single note will be your quickest route to sounding great on the harmonica.
When you start playing the harmonica, you will notice that it is easy to play two or three holes at the same time. But hitting one clean single note can be challenging. This is because the holes on a harmonica are so small and close together! In this lesson, I’m stoked to help you develop a solid foundation that will ensure you don’t get stuck or frustrated.
There are primarily two ways to play single notes:
1. Tongue-blocking
2. Lip-blocking
The Deep Relaxed Embouchure for Single Notes
The mouth position that we will be using to play single notes is the “Deep Relaxed Embouchure”. Here’s a quick review of this technique:
Step 1. Place your harmonica deep in your mouth.
Step 2. Tilt the harmonica 30 degrees down into lower lip so that the lower lip “unfolds.”
Step 3. Keep the upper lip relaxed and deep.
Keeping the upper lip relaxed is very important. My experience of teaching thousands of harmonica students has taught me that those who tightly pucker their lips will be unnecessarily challenged. We only use the lower lip to block out the undesired holes and the upper lip remains TOTALLY RELAXED (seals the air and goes along for the ride):
Playing a Single Note
Let’s try playing a single note on hole 4 blow:
Step 1. Put the harmonica in your mouth, with a deep relaxed embouchure (explained above).
Step 2. Slightly pucker your lower lip by bringing the corners of your lip closer together. The idea is that your lower lip should block out holes 3 and 5, while only playing hole 4. The upper lip should be completely relaxed.
Step 3. Take the harmonica out of your mouth and look in a mirror. Your lips should look like the photo in “Tip #2″ below…
Cannot Get a Clean Sound?
If you are having difficulties getting a clean single note, here are some tips that would really help you out:
Tip #1 Increase the tilt angle - Increasing the angle of the harmonica sometimes makes it easier to get single notes. When you tilt the harmonica up, the natural curve in your lower lip will automatically block out the undesired holes while leaving only one hole unobstructed. You will have to experiment with the tilt angle to find the sweet spot. Once you get the knack of it, try reducing the angle.
Tip #2 Bring the corners of your lower lip closer together. Again, the idea is to increase the curve in your lower lip so that it blocks out the undesired holes.
Tip #3 (Step 1) Unfold your lower lip and tilt the harmonica up until your lower lip completely blocks all holes. You shouldn’t be able to get any sound through the harp because your lower lip is blocking all the holes.
Tip #3 (Step 2) Gradually reduce the tilt of the harmonica. At a certain point, only one hole should sound while the others will be obstructed by your lower lip.
Tip #3 (Step 3) If this does not work, bring the corners of your lips closer together (as described in Tip #2) and repeat this exercise.
Tip #4 Experiment with your embouchure and position of the harmonica until you get a clear, sweet single note.Once you are comfortable getting single notes, try moving randomly from one note to another (both blow and draw notes).
The Tricky 2 and 3 Draw
Holes 2 and 3 draw are notoriously difficult for beginners to play single notes on. When you try playing them, it is quite likely that you will get a weak sounding airy note. Don’t worry, nothing is wrong with your harmonica. These holes are usually very easy to bend, and so you can accidentally bend them while trying to play a single note. For more on how to remedy this, read on…
Why Do My Harmonica Notes Sound Bad?
It’s very unlikely that your 2-draw, 3-draw and upper register reeds (8, 9, and 10) are faulty. The odds are very high that your harmonica is working fine. All you need to do is make a small adjustment in your technique. Here are your three main goals:
Drop the jaw (so your teeth are as far apart as possible)
Open wide on the inside of your mouth by simultaneously yawning and saying “ahhh” (like the doctor says, “open wide and say ahhh”)
Maintain the Deep Relaxed Mouth Position so you can still play a single note (Often times when students drop the jaw they loose their single note. You need to learn to be able to play a single note while your jaw is dropped. So ultimately, you will find a mouth position that enables you to have TOTAL FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT OF THE JAW while still easily being able to play a single note. Remember! The key is to angle the harmonica into the lower lip, so that lower lip obstructs the undesired holes (see this page for more info on the Deep Relax Mouth Position)
So what are you doing that’s not helping? I’ll take a educated guess. The problem is that you’re teeth are too close together and you’re probably lifting the back of your tongue and it’s creating a slight jet stream with pulls the reeds into a bent position. This is a very normal problem and it happens to over 90% students in the beginning.
Practice going from a Blow note to its corresponding Draw note:
Going Up…
And Back Down Again…
I’m going to reiterate the above three points in hopes of being more clear:
Try adjusting the position of your tongue. Experiment with moving it into a variety of different positions to see if this helps. My suspicion is that you are raising the back of the tongue and you need to open your mouth wider. The reason I am bring attention to “the back of the tongue” is because students often think they are dropping the back of their tongue but they are only dropping the front of their tongue.
Try OPENING WIDE, DROP THE JAW and say “ahh” or “ohh”.
In order to drop the back of the tongue, it is very helpful to DROP THE JAW. Open as wide as you can while still allowing the lips to maintain their seal on harmonica. If when you drop your jaw you can no longer play a single note, check to make sure you are still angling the harmonica into your lower lip or go back and make sure you are properly using The Deep Relaxed Mouth Position.
Dropping the jaw is the key
I would also recommend that you play at a moderate volume. A lot of times students suck (and blow) too hard when they are first learning and this only makes the problem worse. Try playing more softly and see if this helps.
Comments (19)
Tom Reed
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Hi JP: thank you for the lower lip method for single note playing
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jerry
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howdy jp. i am a harp appreciative. i ordered one from musicians friends recentely along with other stuff so i could get free shipping so here i am. i’m looking foreward to learning some harp an your free lessons are great i will be a player/customer when i get the techniques down . thanks a ton, jerry
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JP Allen
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Great Jerry, enjoy! jp
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Kmoorebeast
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Where is how to play harmonica notes on here?!?!?!
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JP Allen
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On the page, left box, 4th down – “How to Play Single Notes”. jp
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Chris
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I’ve been at it a week. I just figured out how to play “The Rose” last night – one of my all time favorites. Single hole hits are progressing. I think it’s just a FEEL thing, like anything else really.
Chris
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JP Allen
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Great news Chris!! I’m glad to hear you’re getting a feel for it. jp
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Ed
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Hey there when i get the harmonica deep inside my mouth and do the technique there will be a lot of saliva inside my mouth..can you help me how do i control my saliva..its make me hard to play it.
Thank you.
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JP Allen
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Hey Ed, here’s some suggestions:
1. Adjust the harp by pulling it out slightly.
2. Adjust the position of your head by slightly looking up.
3. I know when I start producing a lot of saliva it’s from not
knowing the riff or song really well. Keep practicing
until you know the riff real good.
jp
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Ed
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Hey there thanks i try that method actually i got another problem that is when i play harmonica and trying to hit single note and sometime succeed then problem is i dnt know what number or what hole i was blow or draw at for example if i at hole no 4 im not sure which hole is the no 6 ect.
Hope you can help me. Thanks
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JP Allen
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Just keep practicing at it Ed and check out my video lessons for more help. jp
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Dylan
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JP,
I’m having a lot of trouble bringing the corners of my lower lip together. When I try it, my upper lip gets tight. What am I doing wrong?
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JP Allen
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Hi Dylan,
If your lips are getting tight, I would encourage you to relax a little bit more.
If you’re using the Deep Relaxed Embouchure, as explained on this page and in more depth in “My Video Lessons” then your lips should not be getting tired. ONLY the lower lip very slightly contracts to bring the corners of the mouth SLIGHTLY closer together.
It’s okay if you’re a little sloppy in the beginning while learning single notes. I’d rather you be RELAXED than develop the bad habits that come with tension (and trying too hard with the mind). So please relax and enjoy yourself and you’ll get it in time… I PROMISE! – jp
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turkey
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hey, IM A GREAT PLAYER NOW,AND IM ONLY 12 AND BETTER THEN MY TEACHER!!!! THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH
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JP Allen
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Right on! Keep it up. jp
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lola
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I just got a harmonica as a gift yesterday, and found it so hard blowing a single note. I tried your technique a couple of times and finally got the single notes right AFTER I dropped my jaw and relaxed my lips! thanks so much for sharing this. I’ll keep on practicing until I’m great at it.
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JP Allen
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Right on Lola! jp
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sam
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hi Jp thank you verry much man for all these great lessons they are really awesome but i have a question i can’t hold the harmonica when i use the lip blocking emboucure because my index finger will get in the way and knock out my lips from position so can you halp me please ?
sorry for my bad english .
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JP Allen
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That is a common problem with some. Just try moving your finger forward on the top plate making adjustments. jp
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