Hello and welcome to this week’s harmonica lesson where I will be showing you how to play a fun solo rhythmic harmonica tune which you can also improvise around.
You will need a C harmonica and we will be playing in 2nd position in the key of G.
Click here to download lesson resources
Breathe Naturally
I cannot emphasise enough just how important it is to breathe naturally when you are playing harmonica. This is especially true when playing chords.
If you suck on a chord it will sound ‘squashed’ and thin. If, on the other hand, you breathe naturally and lightly the chord will sound rich and open.
Ex. 1
Ex. 2
Ex. 3
Ex. 4
Ex. 5
Improvising In The Space
Once you start to feel comfortable with the rhythm you should try to play it for one bar an then improvise in the second bar.
Focus on the difference between the chords of the rhythm part and the single clean notes of the improvised section.
Click here to download lesson resources
Thank You
Thank you so much for taking part in this lesson! I hope you found it helpful and would really appreciated if you could share it with your friends on Facebook and/or Twitter.
‘Keep Calm And Play Harmonica’ T-Shirt
If you want your very own ‘Keep Calm And Play Harmonica’ T-Shirt all you need to do is click below. They are available in black or red in various different sizes!
I want a t-shirt!!!
Where are the riffs you throw in after the easy stuff, that’s what I want to see and play!!!
I have so much fun with you
Good breathing lesson, turns out I may not be breathing normally and running out of air. Fun to start improvising with single notes and chords. Amazing how creative you can get and some of it really sounds good, some of it not so good but starting is key here.
Another great lesson once again Tomlin. Very easy to follow.
This is a great lesson – exactly what I’ve been looking for – playing without a backing track. I will practice this lesson a lot! Thanks!!
Hi Tomlin, can you make a second part of this lesson where you exend this to the 4th and 5th chord?
Hi Florian – I’m working on a way for people to download backing tracks – watch this space 🙂
That’s a great idea – I’ll get on it 🙂