Harmonica For Dummies

Contents

• Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 3 Icons Used in This Book 3 Beyond the Book 4 Where to Go from Here 4
• Part 1 : Getting Started with Harmonica 7
• Chapter 1 : What Is This Thing Called Harp? 9 Considering the Harmonica's Coolness 9 Becoming the Next Harmonica Idol: What It Takes to Play 11 A harmonica 11 A little music know-how 11 Your body 12 Regular practice - and unstructured fun! 12 Taking Your
• Chapter 2 : Becoming a Harmonica Owner 17 Shopping for Your First Harmonica 18 Understanding the construction of the ten-hole diatonic 18 Tuning in to the key of the harp 19 Starting out with a harp in the key of C 19 Pricing a harmonica 20 Determining wh
• Chapter 3 : Making Your First Harmonica Sounds 33 Preparing to Play the Harmonica 33 Picking up the harp 34 Putting the harp in your mouth 34 Breathing through the harp 35 Moving through the holes 35 Getting Acquainted with Some Musical Concepts 36 Zeroin
• Chapter 4 : Relating to Notes, Scales, and Chords 55 Getting in Tune with the Singable Notes 56 Understanding the curious phenomenon of octaves 56 Naming the notes and creating a scale 57 Using octaves to name all the notes 57 Altering pitches with sharps
• Part 2 : Starting to Make Some Music 75
• Chapter 5 : I Hear a Melody: Playing Single Notes 77 Shaping Your Mouth to Single Out a Note 78 Forming the pucker embouchure 78 Producing a tongue-block embouchure 80 The Elements of Motion: Moving from One Note to the Next 81 Exploring breath changes 82
• Chapter 6 : Shaping Your Sound 103 Enlarging Your Sound with Projection 104 Using your air column 104 Enriching your sound with the smooth swimming exercise 104 Increasing airflow through the reeds 106 Varying your volume with dynamics 109 Projecting with
• Chapter 7 : Enhancing Your Sound with Your Tongue on the Harp 127 Using Your Tongue to Combine Chords and Melodies 128 Knowing the chords on your harp 128 Accompanying melodies with chords 129 Chasing the beat with a chord 131 Reinforcing Melody Notes wit
• Chapter 8 : Bending Notes 149 Knowing the What and the Why of Bending 150 What is bending? 150 Why bend notes? 151 Getting Started with Bending Notes Down 151 Exploring the roof of your mouth 152 Making some helpful noises 153 Creating your bend activator
• Chapter 9 : Positions: Playing One Harp in Many Keys 177 Understanding How Positions Help Your Playing 177 Figuring Out a Position 179 Relating Positions, Modes, and Avoid Notes 181 Rocking with Six Popular Positions 182 First position (C on a C-harp) 183
• Part 3 : Growing Beyond the Basics 199
• Chapter 10 : Fancy Playing: Developing Flair and Speed 201 Mastering Melody from the Ground Up 202 Seeing the scale 203 Recognizing scale patterns 204 Anchoring melodies on chord notes 209 Simplifying the scale to five notes 211 Adding Ornaments to the Me
• Chapter 11 : Mastering New Songs 219 Understanding How Songs Work 219 The container: Structuring time 219 The shifting backdrop: Chord changes 221 The foreground: Melody 221 Choosing the Right Harp 222 What are the notes in the scale? 222 What are the not
• Chapter 12 : Behind the Hidden Treasure: Bending Notes Up 229 Considering the Coolness of Overbends 230 Playing more licks, riffs, and scales 230 Playing in more keys 231 Exploring the Things to Know Before You Start 232 How to choose a suitable harmonica
• Part 4 : Developing Your Style 245
• Chapter 13 : Rockin' and Bluesin' 247 Getting Hip to the Blues/Rock Approach 248 The Three Basic Chords of Rock-and-Roll, Blues, and Nearly Everything 249 The Three Popular Harmonica Positions 249 Relating positions to chords and scales 250 Second positio
• Chapter 14 : Expressing Yourself with Some Folk and Gospel Melodies 267 Sampling Some First-Position Songs 268 "Buffalo Gals" 268 "Wildwood Flower" 269 "La Cucaracha" 270 Getting Acquainted with a Few Second-Position Songs 271 "Since I Laid My Burden Down
• Chapter 15 : Fiddlin' the Night Away with Traditional Dance Tunes 283 Choosing Harps for Playing Folk and Celtic Music 284 The tremolo harmonica 284 The chromatic harmonica 285 Playing Fast Fiddle Tunes 285 Trying Out Some First-Position Tunes 286 "Jerry
• Part 5 : Taking It to the World 299
• Chapter 16 : Putting It All Together - Your Tunes, Your Band, Your Listeners 301 Putting Your Tunes Together 302 Selecting tunes for the harmonica 302 Making it your own: Arranging a tune 304 Adding vocals to your tunes 306 Making Music with Others 306 Se
• Chapter 17 : Amplifying Your Sound 313 Getting Acquainted with Amplification Basics 314 Playing through a Microphone for the First Time 314 Playing into a microphone on a stand 315 Playing with a microphone cupped in your hands 316 Hearing yourself throug
• Chapter 18 : Improving Your Harmonica with Repairs and Upgrades 327 Gathering the Tools You Need 328 Following Good Repair Practices 329 Making Three Simple Improvements 330 Disassembling and reassembling a harp 330 Flexing the reeds 331 Smoothing sharp e
• Part 6 : the part of Tens 347
• Chapter 19 : Ten (Or More) Ways to Connect in the Harmonica World 349 Take Lessons from a Pro 349 Enjoy Harmonica Performances 350 Seek Out Musical Events That Don't Focus on Harmonica 350 Let Loose at Jam Sessions and Open Mic Nights 350 Contribute to Ha
• Chapter 20 : Way More Than Ten Harmonica Albums You Should Hear 357 Blues 358 Rock 359 Bluegrass/Old-Timey 360 Celtic 360 Country 361 Gospel 362 Jazz 362
• Part 7 : Appendixes 365
• Appendix A: Tuning Layouts for All Keys 367
• Appendix B: Audio Tracks and Video Clips 373 The Audio Tracks 373 The Video Clips 380 Customer Care 381
• Index 383