This is THE quickest and easiest way to making beginner harmonica music: One of my favorite tools for letting out all that music that’s inside of me is to give myself musical limitations. I ask myself, “How much music can I make with nothing but hole #3.”

What if I was stranded on a boat in the middle of a lake with nothing but a broken harmonica that had only one working hole — number 3. Could I create music that would satisfy my soul? It’s a great challenge… you should give it a try.

I’m often amazed at how much I learn when I teach others. Teaching others gives me a great opportunity to clarify what I know. A few days ago, I was at a friend’s annual “Harmonica Party” here in Northeastern Ohio. (Ever been to a harmonica party?) I met a guy at the party who liked my style of playing, so I offered to give him a lesson.

We started the lesson with 3 blow. “If all else fails, play 3 blow.” We spent several minutes on this one hole… adding articulation and rhythm with the syllable “too.” Then, we brought in 3-draw. Because you can bend 3-draw, the possibilities become practically endless. 3-draw offers that yearning, bluesy sound that every beginning harmonica player can’t wait to play. Along the way, we added 4-blow, 4-draw and the glorious 6-Blow.

It’s amazing how much music you can make on the harmonica with just a few choices! I hope you enjoyed this quick video lesson!

For more fun I recommend that you check out these beginner lessons here.

Please let me know what you think about this post in the comments below.

Peace, Hal