As far as what I will be doing the rest of the year, I will be posting regularly, putting up more videos and maybe even posting an MP3 or two. See you soon.

It has started! Check it out and enjoy! It’s time to Learn Harmonica Basics in 30 Days!

Learn Harmonica

To help other people learn harmonica, I decided, on the 1 year anniversary of this site, that I would condense everything I have learned in 1 year of playing harmonica to 30 days. Yes, it’s true, all the time I spent playing harmonica in 1 year can be condensed into 30 days.

Why I’m doing this is the same reason I spent a year learning 30 days of information. I wanted to put the super basics into 1 place. Ok, not the super basics. I won’t be telling you how to hold the harmonica correctly but all the basics that aren’t intuitively obvious are going to be part of the challenge. I spent a bunch of time digging for this information and I figure a single place for all the basics for free was a good idea. Also, because I focus on playing blues on a Diatonic harmonica, that is what the challenge will focus on. I don’t want to exclude all the tremolo and chromatic harmonica players, I just don’t play those instruments. I welcome you all to join me as well. Maybe you will pick up a little something you can use when playing those harmonicas. Dropping a few dollars on a diatonic harp isn’t much of an expense and you never know what might come in handy.

Recomendations are coming in regards to what Key harmonica you will need. I currently think I will be focusing on C harmonica but I may decide on an A harmonica. I will let you know before Christmas so you can request it as a Christmas gift.

Finally, when will I be doing this? January 1 is my start date. Each day will have a very small lesson that will only take a few minutes. Most lessons will combine theory and application. The theory part is what strings the whole thing together but I like most other people can’t stand theory unless it has value in application so there will be something to practice in almost every lesson.

Will you become an awesome harmonica player after 30 days? I’m not, so if you do, it’s your own fault. Don’t blame me. Skill is about practice. If you practice 8 hours a day each day of the challenge, you will be better than if you practice 4 hours. I do believe in diminishing returns. You will wear your lips out if you do that much practice. I recomend 10 to 30 minutes of practice at any one time. 20 minutes every 2 hours or so will be the best but doing the lesson and practicing what it says for 30 minutes should be enough. Also, building the practice is a good idea too. Practice the current lesson and then review the previous lessons in order. Integrate them and do a jam. Doing bends, then scales, then one hole blow, then one hole draw, is no where as much fun as doing a solo involving bends and scales while blowing and drawing single holes.

Be sure to sign up for my news letter to keep track of what’s going on as we lead up to the January Challenge. I look forward to learning harmonica with you!