Bending

After looking for new techniques, I found a link to a website teaching "bending". ( http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Play-The-Harmonica/step6/Bending-Part-1/ )

To change the pitch of a note you use a technique called bending. It's not recommended for beginners and you should be able to play single note, so I'm a little unsure of this, but I think I'll do fine with a bit of practice.

Types of Harmonicas

     Diatonic is the one I've been practicing. It has ten holes where you can change the notes by bending. ( I still haven't learned about this) The diatonic harmonica's usually in the key of C, the easiest to learn on. I definitely recommend starting with this type of harmonica.

     I have no experience with Chromatic harmonicas. I do know that it has buttons on the side that changes a note by half a step. Also, I read that this is more complicated and a good choice for blues music.

For more tips and different types of harmonicas, go here to learn more:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Play-The-Harmonica/

My Progress

At the start of this project I was really impressed with how fast I had been learning, but in the past few weeks, my progress has come to a complete halt. I sound exactly the same as I did a few weeks ago. I've tried learning new songs and practicing old ones, but I don't hear a difference. I plan on looking up more techniques for playing that might give me a better sound.

Champagne Supernova

The other day while I was playing my harmonica I played a couple random notes that reminded me of the chorus from Champagne Supernova. Ever since then I've been trying to figure out the rest of the song, but it's super challenging.

Songs I've Learned

Blowing In The Wind-
This is the first song I learned how to play. It only took me five minutes once I learned how to read harmonica tabs.

Piano Man-
I learned the intro to Piano Man just by listening to it. It's surprisingly the easiest song I've learned so far.

How To Read Harmonica Tabs

On the harmonica, the top is numbered 1-10. When you look at the music, it gives you the number to play. The B next to the number means to blow out and the D next to the number means to suck in. Depending on whether you blow out or in, it changes the note.

Week One

      I have finally started to learn how to play the harmonica. I was planning on watching videos that would teach me or even getting a book on how to play, but I ended up figuring it out on my own.

      I taught myself how to hold the harmonica and figured out the different notes. When I finally got the hang of it, I looked up music to play. The music didn't look like normal sheet music, but I figure out how to read it in about five minutes.

So far, I know how to play the intro to Piano Man and Blowing In The Wind. I think that if I figured out this much in approximately 30 min, I will totally be able to improve a lot by the end of this project.