In the next 5 minutes you’re gonna go from ZERO harmonica knowledge, to being able to actually play a song, and fool your friends into thinking you’ve played for weeks…
And to prove this works, I’m showing the same video you’re watching now to my friend Ken, who’s never played harmonica before.
He’ll follow the same foolproof 5 steps, 5 minute method, and we’ll see if he can play a real song by the end…
But before we can get there, we’ve gotta start with step zero, the parts of the harmonica… here they are!
#1First, You Bite
Tasty sounds come from a
deep relaxed mouth position.
One nickname of the harmonica is a tin sandwich, and we’re gonna hold it like it was a sandwich. Just pinch one side or the other or both. It really doesn’t matter.
Next, literally bite the harmonica.
Move it slightly away from your teeth,
and voila you’re in the perfect mouth position. Mmm. Yum. Tasty sounds.
❗ Most beginners tighten their lips, creating weak tone that quickly ‘outs’ you as a harmonica n00b.
So, using your index finger, pull your bottom lip down.
If it bounces against the bottom cover plate of your harmonica, CONGRATS 🎉, you’ve completed Step 1!
But mouth position alone is NOT gonna get you amazing harmonica sounds.
And that’s why…
#2Next, You Breathe
Our breath is what activates the reeds inside of the harmonica. The diaphragm pulls down to fill our lungs with air, causing our belly to go out.
That’s how we all breathed as babies.
Breathe in, belly out.
Breathe out, belly in.
Not sure why we get that reversed as we age, but proper breathing will work wonders both for your health generally and for your harmonica playing specifically.
Now if you heave into your harmonica, it’s gonna sound horrible. And, industry secret, you wanna NOT sound horrible. 😜
So Breathe, DON’T Heave.
And congrats, by breathing through your harmonica in a controlled manner you’ve completed step 2.
And if you like winning this easily on harmonica, you’ll love today’s sponsor… which is me, and my comprehensive Beginner to Boss course, which takes the frustration out of learning the fundamentals of harmonica, music, while learning fun riff after fun riff. Check it out here.
So you can breathe through the harmonica, but how do you actually learn a song???
#3Third, You Read Tab
TAB is the simplest musical notation known to man, woman, or harmonica player.
The numbers just tell you which holes to blow on the harmonica.
So 123 means BLOW holes 123.
👉 Blowing means breathing out.
And a minus sign in front of them tell you which holes to draw on the harmonica.
👉 Drawing means breathing in.
So -123 means DRAW holes 123.
If you want to know more about harmonica tabs, you can check out my complete lesson here.
But something’s still missing, isn’t it? You know what to play… but you don’t know when to play it. And that’s why…
#4Fourth, You Find The Beat
Without rhythm you can’t walk, your heart can’t pump, and you definitely can’t feel the funk.
But for something so instinctive and universal… it is taught really poorly. Traditional teaching gives you sooooooo much theory up front. But you’re not trying to get a Berklee scholarship, you’re trying to play your first song.
So let’s skip the theory, and use the same advice you’d get from your unhelpful musician friend:
Just feel it, maaan
Put on any song or drum track, find the beat that makes you wanna tap your foot, and either play along with that, or make up another rhythm that feels good to you.
If you need to play faster try whispering “ta ta ta”.
And now put your harmonica in your mouth. You and Ken can now smash step 4 and follow a basic beat…
And you’re ready to complete the challenge and finally…
#5Fifth, Play A Song
Yes, a song. We all love songs.
There’s a time and place for scales and exercises. But first you need to have a win to prove to yourself that harmonica is fun and you can actually do it!
So in the next minute, you’re gonna learn the world’s most recorded rock song of all time, selling an estimated 12 million copies, Louie Louie. Here are the harmonica tabs for our rendition of Louie Louie on harmonica:
-123 -123 -123 123 123
-1 -1 -1 123 123
Our motto is: if you can SAY it, you can PLAY it.
So first say “ta ta ta, ta ta, ta ta ta, ta ta”.
Next whisper it with the corresponding air direction (in in in, out out, in in in, out out).
Now we put the harmonica in our mouth. Here’s jam tracks for you to practice playing Louie Louie on your C harmonica in 3 speeds:
If you can’t isolate hole -1, it’s fine to play -12. This doesn’t have to be perfect!! Just good enough to impress your friends. 😉
And you’re allowed to rewind on this tab a few times, you won’t be disqualified.
If you wanna learn a legit SECOND groove, click here to watch my “Beginner Harmonica Lesson #1” (We’ll keep it between us that you already watched one so technically it’s… #2.)
Comments
Got something to say? Post a comment below.