Harmonica Lesson 2
This lesson shows how to make single notes on the harmonica, so that you can play the children's songs.
In the first lesson you learnt how to blow and breathe in (or draw) the first three holes. Now you will learn how to play one hole only, to get a single note. Most harmonica music is played using single notes.
Place your mouth over the bottom hole of the harmonica (hole number 1), and blow gently. You should hear a note like this
Now breathe in. You should hear a note like this
You must try hard to play a single note only, so that no sound comes from the other holes . This will not be easy at first. You must only blow air into hole 1.
To get the correct mouth shape fo a single note, imagine that your lips are closed around a pea. Your mouth should look like this.
We use a simple notation for the harmonica. 1B means blow into hole 1, 1D means breathe in or draw on hole one. Similarly, 4B means blow into hole 4, 5D means draw (or breathe in) hole 5.
When you can play these single notes on hole 1, then practice them with your child.
We start with the single note on hole 1 beacuse it is the easiest to play. However the children's songs mostly use the notes from holes 4 to 7. Lesson 3 shows how to play these notes.
While you and your child are learning the single notes, also have fun playing along with the songs, using the simple blow and draw from lesson 1.
