Hi, Liam Ward here at LearnTheHarmonica.com.
We're gonna be talking about single notes so I'm assuming you've got your harmonica
(it's probably gonna be a C harmonica) and you're just wondering 'how do I get a single
note out of this?'.
You're probably blowing into it and getting a sort of chord sound - so more than one note
- and you're wondering 'how do I play a melody on this?' 'how do I get the notes that make
up tunes?'
rather than just a chord.
So we're gonna talk about getting your first single notes.
i'm gonna give you the really basic, most intuitive way of getting a single note because
there are various ways of getting them.
I'm gonna give you a basic version of getting single notes some of the time.
So the two most common - or maybe I'll tell you about the three most common.
The three most common ways are called lip-pursing (sometimes called puckering - that's the same
way) so that's one way.
Tongue blocking, and then U-blocking is another one as well.
So they are the three.
I don't actually use U-blocking, I use the other two.
So U-blocking you kind of curl your tongue in order to isolate a single note.
I don't use that so I'm not going to talk about that today.
Tongue blocking, you cover several notes so just like you might when you put your mouth
on the harmonica naturally but then your tongue actually blocks some of those notes out.
I'm not gonna talk about that today really either just because I'm gonna use the most
intuitive method which I hope that you'll find you can get quite quickly and that's
lip pursing/puckering.
I call it lip pursing.
So lip pursing and puckering, though the names are quick evocative I think and they give
you a picture of what you should actually be doing so if you're pursing your lips or
puckering, that gives you a certain shape of the mouth.
It's kinda like this.
So you're isolating a very small shape - a very small hole in the middle of your mouth.
if you do that and apply the harmonica then the hope is that you can get a single note
so you go from (plays chord) where your mouth is wider to (plays single note).
Now with a bit of experimentation if you try that out and try just getting your mouth as
small as possible while still letting that little bit of air through, it's almost like
the shape you make when you whistle a note.
You don't actually wanna create the note with your mouth because you want the harmonica
to do it but it's the same sort of shape.
Hopefully you'll get a single note out of that and that will hopefully get you your
first single note on the harmonica, just trying to keep that as small as possible.
The muscles here aren't use to keeping that shape for very long so it might hurt at first
and it might be a bit frustrating, you might not get this every time, you might find sometimes
you're still getting a (plays multiple notes) and you're not always getting that single
note.
It's all in the sides here so it doesn't matter as much if your mouth is too high or too low
so too long this way but if it's too wide that's when you're gonna get instead of a
single note you're gonna get more than one - two or three.
I am playing that four blow, by the way.
It doesn't matter too much but the four blow is a C note on a C harmonica so that's why
I'm playing it.
So I'm trying to isolate that hole four.
It doesn't matter which one you play but if you do play one of the end ones you're making
it a bit easy for yourself because only on one side is there a note that could interfere
and the other side there isn't another note so you wanna try a note in the middle somewhere
because then you can tell when it's right and when it's wrong.
As I say I've give you a basic version of the way that I play single notes so my lip
purse method is a little bit more complex than that.
So assuming that you've had a go at that, and that might take some time to sort at getting
that simple method, I'm just gonna talk a little bit briefly about how to improve the
tone of that because what you'll find is that will get you a single note but it's quite
a restricted tone.
The shape of your mouth, the way that you're quite closed up, like that, affects the sound.
(Demonstrates.)
I am getting a single note but there's a lot of tension and it's quite restricted.
Now watch me go from that shape to my normal shape and hopefully you'll hear a difference
as well.
(Demonstrates the difference.)
You'll notice that I'm sliding the harmonica further into my mouth.
Now the reason I didn't tell you to do this first is that when you do it, this will happen.
(Demonstrates.)
You'll go back to getting more than one note, which is the thing we're trying to avoid.
Again it's all down to here, so if this isn't narrow enough then you're gonna get more than
one note.
But the importance of going further into your mouth is that it makes it more efficient,
the air's gonna come in and out cleaner and you're gonna get a nicer, well-rounded note.
So if you get the basic shape then the next thing to do is start to try to just...
(Demonstrates.)
Lower that jaw a bit and let the harmonica little bit further into your mouth so you're
not perched on the edge.
It's a little more like putting the harmonica in rather than on your mouth.
And if you find that you do go...
(Plays more than one note.)...
just push those cheeks in, just to prove to yourself that it is possible to get this,
and it's a case of building up the muscles there because when else are you gonna do this
shape?
You can practise it without the harmonica, by the way, you can sit there going...
The first teacher I had, a guy called Mat Walklate, told me "sitting waiting for a bus
- great, use that time to practise the harmonica, but you don't need the harmonica, just do
this"!
You get some funny looks, but it's a really nice exercise to be doing for this single
note practice.
So... if you're getting... that's gonna give you a little bit of a nicer tone than the
basic method.
So you've got two steps there: you've got the first, whistle sort of shape and then
you've got than expansion of that just to get the harmonica that bit further into your
mouth.
You loosen up your lips on the top and the bottom when you do that and it's more the
tension at the side and then the tops are more relaxed, and that's where you get a nice
air in and out.
I should say that throughout all of this your breathing should be quite gentle.
You don't need to blow hard, you don't need to pull hard on the note if you get a draw
note.
It's just a case of breathing, so if I play a note and then I take the harmonica away
you can hear how gentle the breath is.
(Demonstrates.)
You can't hear the breath.
It's not... (blows loudly).
There's none of that.
Your cheeks shouldn't be puffing out, it's just a nice gentle note and that's what's
gonna give you good clean notes.
Let the harmonica do the work because it doesn't take much to get it to make the notes that
you want it to.
So, I hope that helps you get some single notes.
Look for some tabs online: look for nursery rhymes, or how to play 'Happy Birthday to
You' or some tune that you know, have a go at that and try these notes in the context
of that tune.
Moving up and down the harmonica is tricky, so take it slowly.
Try the blow, try the draw, but most of all enjoy it.
I hope this helps, I'm gonna be back soon.
Cheers!