How to learn harmonica without any musical foundation

How to learn harmonica without musical foundation

1. If you want to learn to play harmonica well, you must first learn music theory

Playing harmonica is a form of artistic expression of harmonica music. , Beginners must fully understand the status and role of music theory knowledge in the art of harmonica music, and in particular, they must train and develop their own listening ability, sense of rhythm and understanding of the content of the music. Without any one of them, it is impossible to perform the music charmingly. Accurate listening ability is the basis for learning all musical instruments. Not only must you accurately hear single syllables, but you must also learn to hear thirds, fifths, and octaves. Each piece of music is organically combined with a certain rhythm and beat. Different pieces of music have different rhythms, such as waltzes, marches, serenades, etc. Therefore, we must play according to the arrangement and requirements of the harmonica score in order to accurately express the artistic conception of the music. It is often heard that some people play the accompaniment randomly, which makes people feel disorganized after listening to it. This is due to the lack of rhythm.

2. You must train yourself to have the correct playing posture

According to the accumulated experience of harmonica seniors, the correct posture not only requires a graceful appearance, a straight head and a straight body, Keep your abdomen and chest straight, relax your whole body, and hold the harmonica naturally with both hands. Your eyes and face should be natural and vivid, and expressive with the ups and downs of the music. Do not tap your feet or nod your head to beat the time during the playing.

If you have formed bad habits, you should gradually correct them: first of all, you must fully understand the importance of correct posture when playing, discover your own correctness, and play in front of the mirror. You can also ask experienced comrades to correct you while you are correcting.

3. How to master luck

The harmonica is produced by the impact of the airflow of breathing on the reed vibration. The intensity and length of the airflow directly affect the expressiveness of the harmonica. Beginners often ignore this point and play hard as soon as they get the harmonica. This not only easily damages the reeds, but also fails to produce a good tone and even makes noise. . Beginners often feel that the airflow is not enough when playing, so they must learn to master the breathing method and how to breathe.

Breathing adopts combined thoracoabdominal breathing, that is, breathing that uses the chest, diaphragm and abdominal muscles to control the breath simultaneously. The advantage of this method is that it can give full play to the role of the respiratory organs, expand the chest cavity, increase the volume of breath, and facilitate the adjustment of air flow. In this way, even if ventilation is reduced, the playing can be smooth and easy.

For ventilation, the place where the music should be ventilated should be planned in advance, and the mouth and nose should be breathed together. It is mainly used in places where you feel that the air volume is not enough when you continuously blow or inhale the melody of the music. Places requiring ventilation should be marked on the music score. Be good at discovering patterns to solve the problem of good luck.

How to practice luck and learn from the experience of predecessors are summarized as follows: 1. Breathe slowly and exhale slowly. Inhale slowly, pause briefly, and exhale slowly. The person's consciousness is required to introduce the airflow into the abdomen. The whole process should be even and controlled, without any stiffness. This method is suitable for the performance of lyrical and smooth music. 2. Breathe in quickly and exhale slowly. Inhale quickly, pause briefly, and exhale slowly. 3. Slow inhalation and rapid exhalation. Breathe slowly, pause briefly, and exhale sharply. The two methods 2 and 3 are suitable for ventilation exercises. The airflow is required to be even during slow inhalation and exhalation, and to be flexible during rapid inhalation and exhalation. 4. Rapid inhalation and rapid exhalation. Inhale quickly, exhale quickly. It is suitable for music that is fast, strong, and has alternating blowing and sucking sounds.

4. Practice basic skills well and proceed step by step

Beginners are often eager for success and think practicing scales and etudes is boring, but like to play music; if they have not learned a certain playing method, they will learn it. Another way to play, this often leads to more detours. Because the harmonica playing methods are interrelated, for example, the small and large accompaniments are composed of the upbeat accompaniment and the back-beat accompaniment. You must first learn the up-beat accompaniment and the back-beat accompaniment before you can learn the small and large accompaniment. The same goes for broken chords. You should first learn how to play chords of thirds, fifths, and octaves before you can learn how to play broken chords.

If you don't know how to play octave chords, it is impossible to play broken chords. Therefore, beginners must start from simple and easy-to-learn content and practice basic skills well to avoid detours.

15 basic harmonica playing methods

1. Accompaniment: Hold seven holes in the mouth, six holes on the fret on the left side of the tongue, and play a single note through the hole on the right side of the lip. When encountering accompaniment marks When speaking, release your tongue once and then quickly cover it back to its original position, making a clang sound as the accompaniment.

2. High-pitched accompaniment: There are seven holes in the mouth, six holes on the right side of the tongue, and one hole on the left side of the lip to play a single note. The tongue movement is the same as when playing ordinary single notes.

3. Chord playing method: also called air accompaniment. The method of playing is the same as that of ordinary accompaniment, which is to extend the open time of the tongue.

4. Hand Tremolo: Hold the piano in your left hand, close the palms of both hands, and flutter your right hand continuously to make a "wow" sound, which is hand tremolo.

5. How to play the harmonica: narrow your lips, hold the upper single hole in your mouth, tighten the air when playing, and quickly rock the harmonica back and forth with your right hand.

6. Mandolin playing method: Also known as tongue tremolo playing method, the upper part of the mandolin is held in the mouth, the shape of the mouth is round, the tongue swings left and right or up and down inside the lips, producing a rapid staccato sound, the effect is like The finger of the plucked instrument.

7. Third harmonics: You can play it by holding the three holes in your mouth without covering the tongue.

8. How to play the violin in three degrees: Hold the three holes on the top of the violin in your mouth, without covering the tongue. The hand movements are the same as the violin playing method.

9. Octave harmony: There are nine holes in the mouth, five holes in the middle of the tongue, and octave harmony is played on the lips.

10. Harmony of fifths: Hold five holes in your mouth, three holes in the middle of your tongue, and play the harmony of fifths on your lips.

11. Drumming sound: The tip of the tongue rolls at the root of the upper teeth, making a continuous rolling sound.

12. Echo: The movement of the hand corresponds to the tremolo, and when the right hand is opened, a "wow" sound is played.

13. Arpeggio: Starting from an octave lower than the original note, use your right hand to quickly push the harmonica to the left to the original note. If there is a tennator mark on the note, the harmonica will be pushed slower, and when the note is reached, it will be extended with a tremolo.

14. Lianyin: the second tone repeats rapidly.

15. Tremolo: The second tone is repeated continuously, and the harmonica is pushed left and right quickly with the right hand.

Suggestions for learning the harmonica without a musical foundation

Posture: As the saying goes: When you sit, you have a sitting posture, and when you stand, you have a standing posture. The same goes for playing the harmonica. Maintaining a good posture can ensure that you breathe smoothly, save effort and feel comfortable. Generally speaking, it doesn't matter whether you are sitting or standing, but you must keep your back straight, do not shrug your shoulders, do not hunch your back, do not press your stomach, and do not tilt left or right to ensure smooth airway. This will ensure that you won’t feel uncomfortable when practicing for a long time and that your breathing will be smooth and even. This is important. Maybe you will see some masters using various postures. Theoretically speaking, as long as the seven breaths are not affected, you can stand on your head without any problem. However, they are masters! They have gone through a lot of practice and can freely control their own situations. I was just confused when I started practicing, and now I'm in all kinds of pain T_T.

Breath: Generally speaking, there are two ways of breathing: chest breathing and abdominal breathing. When breathing from the chest, your shoulders will be raised, your breathing will be very shallow, and your abdomen will barely move. It is said that most adults use chest breathing when breathing (heard). The other is abdominal breathing. When breathing, the abdomen will expand and the shoulders and chest will hardly move. This is what we usually call deep breathing. The feeling is about the same as smelling a flower. So which kind of harmonica should you use? Generally, abdominal breathing is used, which can ensure that your breath is long and stable. You may not be used to it at first, and you may even see stars in your eyes. It will get better over time. I quote Teacher Xiaosong’s words to describe the specific method:

When inhaling, let the air flow into the abdomen. Feel the breath sinking, the diaphragm expands, and the abdomen bulges. When exhaling, the opposite is true. While inhaling, learn to use your nose to control your breathing.

In addition, when playing, the breath should be even and stable, and should not be intermittent or strong and weak. These are common problems in breathing. Just practice more.

Remember not to be lazy and blow casually, the breath is the most important thing!

Monophone: How do you say this? It has something to do with the taste. I have seen some people find it difficult to play a monophono. It takes about a week of practice to do it. If you unfortunately get stuck in this place, don't be discouraged. Keep at it and you will be fine. It doesn't matter if you are big or small. Of course, there are also some perverted lucky ones who can do it in 5 minutes as soon as they get it. If you fall into this category, don't be proud. Generally speaking, the requirements for single tone are clear, pure, and full. Experts can tell if there is a problem as soon as they make a move, and a certain level of a person's level can be seen from a person's single tone. At the beginning, some people may think that the piano will be blown out, or they may have other ideas. When blowing it away, they did not use enough airflow, resulting in the sound air, such as the hairspring and the reed not fully vibrating, and the resulting There will also be pitch problems (although the harmonica is a fixed-note instrument, its frequency actually fluctuates around a certain value due to factors such as breath). Be sure to keep your voice loud and clear. Of course, don't blow too hard. If the air leaks out or the sound is distorted, it will be bad if you try too hard. Be clear, without any noise, and make sure you only play one note at a time. Difficulties you may encounter include: 1. Air leakage and noise: First confirm whether it is aligned. You can lick it with your tongue to ensure that there is only one hole in the mouth. Then contract your lips and place them naturally on the harmonica without pouting. It can usually be solved by trying a few times. 2. Howling or strange voice: mouth shape problem. Keep your tongue flat, don't pull it back, and open your throat. When blowing, people will instinctively shrink back, which will block the airway, causing an effect similar to muffled sounds (ten holes, chromatic scale) or whistling sounds. 3. Trembling and unstable voice: insufficient muscle strength. Practice more.