Self-learning to play the harmonica

The 21st century is upon us, and the vociferous harmonica, like many years ago, delights us with its iridescent, perky melodies. And the drawn-out melody performed on the accordion will not leave any listener indifferent. Self-learning to play the harmonica is available to everyone who loves its sound and really wants to play music on this instrument.

For amateurs, several methods of mastering the accordion have been established. And therefore, the first thing you need to decide on at the initial stage of training is which methodology to follow.

The first method is hands-on training.

The first method of learning to play the harmonica is based on watching video lessons from experienced masters, watching them play from the side, and relying on your ear for music. It consists in skipping the stage of studying musical notation and starting immediately to play the instrument. This option is suitable for folk music lovers who have never practiced professionally, but are naturally endowed with good musical abilities.

In this case, by the way, there will be recordings of authoritative performers in video format, their educational video materials. In addition, audio songs and tunes are useful for selecting melodies by ear. And you can master playing the instrument from notes later, when many technical issues have already been resolved.

Watch the video lesson by Pavel Ukhanov:

The second method is traditional

The second way of learning is the most fundamental and traditional, but also more interesting and more effective. And here, of course, you cannot do without self-instruction books and music collections for beginning harmonica and button accordion players. At the beginning of this path you will become familiar with the staff and its inhabitants, as well as with rhythm and durations. Mastering musical literacy in practice turns out to be much easier than many imagine. The main thing is, don’t despair!

If you are not familiar with sheet music, tutorials by such authors as Londonov, Bazhilin, Tyshkevich will come to your aid. In addition, from our website you can receive an excellent self-instruction manual on musical notation as a gift (given to everyone)!

Both options for learning to play the harmonica described above will give good results with regular and meaningful practice. The speed of learning, of course, depends on your abilities, quantity and quality of training. Well, if you use both methods, having planned their harmonious combination in advance, the result will not take long to arrive.

Rules for a beginner harmonica player

1. Consistency in practice is the most important rule of any musician. Even if you devote only 10-15 minutes a day to mastering the harmonica, then distribute these small playing lessons evenly throughout the week. It is better if classes take place every day.
2. Try to master the entire learning technology slowly, but correctly from the very beginning, without delaying compliance with the rules until later (“later” may not come due to the fact that something stops coming out). If you are not sure about anything, look for the answer to your question in books, the Internet, or from a musician friend. For the rest, act independently and boldly!
3. The first exercise that needs to be learned on the instrument is the C major scale, even if you master the game by ear and not by notes, it is necessary to practice scales. Vary them by playing the scale up and down with different strokes (short and connected). Playing scales will improve your technique: speed, coherence, bellows control, etc.
4. During performance, move the fur smoothly, do not pull, do not stretch to the end, leaving a margin.
5. When learning a scale or melody on the right keyboard, use all your fingers at once, choosing convenient options, and not one or two, since you simply cannot play with one finger at a fast tempo.
6. Since you are mastering the accordion without a mentor, it will be good to watch your performance in a recording in order to see the game from the outside and correct mistakes.
7. Listen to a lot of songs and tunes played on the harmonica. This will add expressiveness to your playing and help you structure musical phrases correctly.

Well, that’s probably all for a start. Go for it! Inspire yourself by listening to popular artists and upbeat tunes! Work hard every day, and the results of your labors will be songs that your family and friends will undoubtedly enjoy when they gather around the family table!