The 10 hole diatonic harmonica, also known as "harp, blues harp, small harp, French harp, mouth organ, tin sandwich, Mississippi saxophone" and lots of other loving names, is called "diatonic" because the first 4 holes (holes 1 thru 4) are set up to play chords, both blow and draw. There is not a total musical scale in the first 4 holes unless you use a bending technique to add in the missing note and meaningful it all makes your way to how to play harmonica
However, this tuning (also known as "Richter" tuning) gives you the aptitude to play both the melody of a song and also escort yourself. This is the absolute bedrock technique of blues harmonica playing, made most well-known by playing train imitations.
Things to think before going for how to play harmonica
Harmonica is not as simple as it looks- Harmonica is not nearly as simple as most people would have you believe, but we've tried our best to make knowledge to play it as simple and straight forward as possible. You'll start with simple technique and melodies; but stick with it and soon you will mark off to jamming blues, rock, country, bending notes, and sound like the pros if you want to seek how to play harmonica in simple way.
Follow the numbered blue links on top of in order- Not all sections of this website have numbered part page links, but when you see them, as in the gray box above, follow the links in order. You will find that time spent reading from side to side these pages in the proper series will get you to where you want to be that much quicker
Hold the harmonica contentedly in both hands: How to Hold A Diatonic Harmonica
If you don't want to grasp to harmonica in your hands or are not able, then playing harmonica with a harmonica rack or harmonica "holder" are a great option and a way for how to play harmonica.
To play a train song, first you require to imitate the "chug chug" sound of the train wheels. You can do this by a simple blow blow draw draw prototype on the first 4 holes of the harmonica.
Next, you need to put in the sound of the train whistle, by sketch in at holes 3,4,5
Then, to give that accompaniment melody (so to speak) result, you need to practice enough so that you can go from the train "wheels" to the train "whistle" without missing a beat. Once you study this fully, you can master on how to play harmonica
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