How to Play a Hohner C Harmonica
Hohner has been making harmonicas since Matthias Hohner founded the company in 1857. Hohner makes a wide variety of harmonicas, but one of the most popular models, and one of the easiest for a beginner to pick up, is the key of C diatonic harmonica. The C harmonica comes in many different price ranges. The most popular of the C harmonicas is the Special 20, introduced in the 1970s, and now the model upon which many other harmonica brands base their designs. Learning to play the Hohner C harmonica is easy, even if you have little or no musical talent, and can be a fun way to entertain your family and friends.
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Things You'll Need
- Hohner Harmonica (key of C)
- Beginning harmonica book
- Easy harmonica tablature
Instructions
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Get familiar with your Hohner harmonica. It has ten holes, with two reeds per hole. One is a blow hole, the other is a draw hole. This is the set up for most diatonic harmonicas. Blow into the first hole. The note you produce is a C. Now draw air in on the first hole. The note you produce is a D. Blowing across all ten holes on your harmonica, from left to right, produces these notes: C, E, G, C, E, G, C, E, G, C. Drawing across all ten holes from left to right produces: D, G, B, D, F, A, B, D, F, A.
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2
Place your Hohner harp to your mouth and play a C scale. The notes of a C scale are: C, D, E, F, G. A, B and C again. Cup the harmonica in both hands as you play these notes at the location shown above. Start on the first C, on the left of your harmonica, and play the notes in the order they appear from left to right, blowing and drawing (sucking in) as required.
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3
Experiment with bending notes. This can be done only on the draw reed on holes one through six or the blow reed on holes seven through ten. Try bending the D note on the first hole. Draw in to get the note, then pull your tongue into your mouth, away from the hole, and relax your jaw. It will take a little practice, but you'll hear when the note begins to bend. Practice this same technique on the blow and draw holes. When you are familiar with the technique, play a C scale again, bending the notes intermittently.
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Play simple harmonica tablature TAB). You can find Hohner harmonica tabs at a music store or online at no charge (see resources). It's easy to read tab. A number by itself tells you to draw the note at that hole. A number with a greater than sign (>) tells you to blow the note at that hole. An alternative is a + for blow and a - for draw. A lowercase b indicates bend. The more music you play, the better you become, so find some harmonica tabs and start playing today.
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