Even if the harmonica is one of the easiest instruments to play, the truth is that it is one of the hardest instruments to master.
Among the types of harmonicas that are available to play, the Diatonic, Tremolo, Orchestral and Echo harmonicas.
As mentioned earlier, playing the harmonica might be an easy one to begin with, and so here are a few steps (and tips) to playing the harmonica:
#1: Start off by breathing through the harmonica but don’t think about breathing or sucking. It’s important to focus on breathing with your diaphragm and not your lungs.
#2: Another aspect to keep in mind when it comes to breathing is to breathe as deeply as possible, and some of the ways by which you can improve your breathing is by taking up meditation and aerobics.
#3: Learning to inhale and exhale slowly while also breathing in and out quickly is also important as well.
#4: Once you’ve begun to master the basics of breathing, it’s time to purchase a diatonic harmonica and start playing simple tunes such as “Oh, Susannah”.
#5: What you should also keep in mind is to play these songs in first position, also called the straight harp, where the key you play the song in, should be the same as the one the song is in.
#6: The next step would be to play the songs in the middle range, or the middle octave, of the harmonica, which would not require any bends and gives you the entire diatonic scale.