Good music is food to the soul. It cuts through the neurons and the sensory units to create a soothing effect.
Research has shown that listening to music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, build task endurance and improve your response to pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory.
In the same vein, your lungs get exercised, your lung capacity increases, aerobic movement is good for you, playing music makes you smarter they say.
In my personal experience, the Harmonica is one of the musical instruments that gives out so much a soothing aura.
In this article, I’m going to show you some courses you can start taking now if you are looking to get harmonica lessons.
Meanwhile, here below is the table of content for an overview of what to expect in this article.
What is a harmonica?
The harmonica, also known as the French harp is a small rectangular wind instrument with a row of metal reeds along its length, held against the lips and moved from side to side to produce different notes by blowing or sucking.
The instrument is usually used to make classical, jazz, country, and rock music.
The most common type of harmonica is the diatonic Richter-tuned blues harp, which has ten air passages and twenty reeds.
What is a harmonica reed? A harmonica reed is a flat, elongated spring made of brass, stainless steel, or bronze that is fastened at one end over an airway slot. When the player’s air causes the free end to vibrate, it alternately restricts and unblocks the airway, producing sound.
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Is harmonica easy to learn?
Yes. When compared to all other musical instruments, the harmonica is one of the easiest instruments to learn.
However, to play properly, you also have to learn how to control your breath. Every note produced on the harmonica is created by drawing or blowing on the holes.
Beginners frequently believe that merely inflating a balloon is an efficient strategy that can help you learn the harmonica. But the results are different and frequently unpleasant. And it is difficult to regulate without proper training. This can be tough to grasp if you have never played a wind instrument.
Are there harmonica lessons online?
Yes. There are online platforms where you can find harmonica lessons. Some of them include; Youtube, Udemy, FutureLearn, Udacity, LinkedIn learning.
Some of the lessons are completely free while some others are paid. You can always find the one that suits you on any of the platforms listed.
How long does it take to learn the harmonica?
How long it will take you to learn harmonica greatly depends on how much time and effort you put into it.
Truth is, with regular, deliberate practice, you can start playing some simple pop tunes within 3 months.
In the same vein, if you continue to put in the work, your techniques and skills are expected to improve and you will probably be able to work on bending notes (a very important skill for getting the best out of a harmonica).
Where can I find harmonica?
There are online platforms where you can find harmonica lessons. Some of them include; Youtube, Udemy, FutureLearn, Udacity, LinkedIn learning. But in this article, I’m going to narrow your walk down to Udemy.
So take your time to find the best harmonica lessons you can begin now.
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Best Harmonica lessons in 2022
Here’s a list of harmonica lessons you should enroll in for now.
1. Learn to play HARMONICA, the easiest instrument to pick up!
This is one of the best harmonica lessons you should start now. It will help you become a great harmonica player. All you need to do is follow the lectures in order plus some practice and you will start to feel a surge of confidence as you see your skills increasing daily.
It is expected that at the end of this course you will learn;
- how to play the 12 bar blues, chords, rhythms, tone, and chugging
- how to breathe properly, use straight and swing rhythms
- how to play single notes with pucker and tongue-blocked embouchures
- scales, modes, and positions, single/double/triple tonguing
- how to use major and minor pentatonic scales for improvising and soloing
- how to bend notes, use the hands properly, different types of vibratos and tremolos
- how to play in the Masters’ styles – Sonny Terry, Sonnyboy Williamson, etc
2. 30-day challenge – learn to play the harmonica in one month!
This is another harmonica lesson that has been designed to help beginners and intermediates. The course has been designed to help fast-track your learning and help you to play the harmonica in one month.
If you are at an advanced level in playing the harmonica, this course is not for you. It is basically for beginners.
3. Harmonica Course for Beginners
This course covers different topics every starting harmonica player should know about. This includes technical as well as musical basics, various playing styles, rhythm techniques and maintenance aspects.
After this course students should be able to play their first songs in the 1st position of a harmonica and have sufficient knowledge about how their instrument should be handled and taken care of in general.
4. Blues Chromatic Harmonica
Learning to play blues on the harmonica is a great way to be an in playing harmonic. Yeah. It’s surprisingly easy to sound amazing on a chrom played in this 3rdy position style.
In this course, you’ll learn how to play the chords, the scales, how to get single notes, how to tongue block, and many more techniques.
So I’d advise you to get yourself a cheap chrom in C – 8 hole, 12 or 16 holes and have a go at this.
5. Play Sonny Terry style on Harmonica
If you ever wanted to learn to play the harmonica like Sonny Terry this new course is for you! Please enjoy the course and give it a review.
This course is all about learning to play in the style of Sonny Terry.
It’s designed to be fun, friendly, easy for anyone to learn – even non-musical people! It is designed to help you succeed and lead you on to the next in the series.
There are pdfs and mp3 downloads with many lectures so you can read the tablature and play along with the audio music written especially for learning harmonica.
6. HARP&SOUL | Learn the Secrets of the Harmonica
If you want to learn and know the secrets of the harmonica from scratch, this is your course! Do it step by step and on your own time.
If you already have knowledge of the instrument but want to perfect your technique and explore new possibilities, this course will help you do that, and do it at your own rhythm.
HARP&SOUL is a new, comprehensive course given by the recognized harmonica player, Marcos Coll musician and experienced harmonica virtuoso.
7. How to practice your harmonica to get amazing progress fast
In this course, you’ll learn how to practice the harmonica in order to ramp up your skills to enable you to play with other people or on your own with much more confidence.
If you are looking to fast-track your progress in your harmonica lesson, get and take this course now.
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8. Learn how to bend notes the easy way on your HARMONICA today
‘INSTANT HARMONICA’ is a new series of courses where you learn one tune per course. You will find it is taught in a friendly and encouraging manner and most importantly is it taught v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.
This method is very easy for you to pick up the tunes as they are repeated over and over again until you have got it. You can even re-run the video if you find it useful.
Take one course and learn your favorite tune. Then try another. Remember, you can always get your money back if you wish, but otherwise, you have lifetime access to the course.
9. Learn Country Music on harmonica
This particular course has been designed to help you get a hang of country music.
In this course you will learn to play Will the Circle Be Unbroken by AP Carter and The Carter Family and also Hank Williams’ Hey Good Looking on your harmonica.
The start will be easy and then you may find the end part a bit tasty!
So at the end of the course you should be able to learn:
- the tunes – note for note
- some chords so play rhythmic chugs with
- some improvising scales
- two different harmonica positions
- how Charlie McCoy approaches playing
- some of the wonderful riffs Charlie McCoy uses
10. Learn to play better with a band – Blues Harmonica Level 2
This course is one of the harmonica lessons you may want to take. It is designed to give you much more confidence to play blues harp with other people informally.
In this course, you will learn 7 blues bass-lines so you can understand the structure, and ‘what sounds great where’
You will play along with music tracks using these bass-lines and hear real bass players playing the same notes that you are learning
Finally, the course will refresh the draw bending technique and look into positional playing especially the best three positions for blues.
There’s a lot to learn here-it will be fun as well as challenging.
Conclusion
Sincerely, there’s a whole lot to learn from these courses. You can be sure to have tremendous growth in your journey of playing the harmonica.
If you have any questions about any of the harmonica lessons listed here, you can reach out to us in the comment section. Cheers!
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