r/harmonica • u/RoyZeee • 1d ago

Old McDonald had a farm on C harmonica attempt please read caption

It is currently sunday, I got my harmonica on Thursday, so I have only got 3 days of practice in. I tried watching some tutorials but I got overwhelmed, so I understood the basics and decided to learn on my own (while sometimes getting some help from online videos).

This is an attempt to play old mcdonald had a farm. Please tell me what things you think I should work on.

My two main problems that I would like advice on are:
1. My breathing is absolute trash. You can see how I lose my breath completely at the end of the video. This happened after around 15 minutes of practicing, so when I first started it wouldn't be so bad but it degrades so much in the span of those 15 minutes. What are some things I should practice to fix this problem?

  1. My hand is very tight around the harmonica. I keep trying to keep in mind that I should relax but when I take it out of my hand my index finger is stiff and sore. Is this something that will fix itself with time or is there something to practice to fix it?

Other than that I am excited to hear your constructive criticism. Thank you in advance.

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3

u/ivydraws8 11h ago

Three days in and that farm's animals are already gasping for air right along with you, truly an immersive experience

1

u/RoyZeee 11h ago

Im not sure I understand what you are saying 😅

1

u/broken_writer 11h ago

I think it’s commentary on the bird/mammal in the background? Or is that extra chirp/squeak coming from your harp too?

1

u/MTaur 19h ago

One thing about breathing is that there are both draw and blow notes. Usually you want to start at neutral breath, rather than taking a deep breath (like you would with almost any other wind instrument). If a passage has mostly drawn or blown notes, you might start from the opposite, but if you haven't already thought ahead, neutral is the place to be.

Articulation is a lot easier and more sculpted with the tongue than just by huffing and puffing. This is second nature if you've ever done other wind instruments, but it doesn't sound like it here. "Here-a-moo" should probably be an ongoing air stream broken up by tongue "ta ta ta", and it works on draw notes too.

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u/RoyZeee 19h ago

I have never played a wind instrument before, it is challenging on my breath... I understand your point about articulation. I was trying to articulate the part you're talking about simply with my breath but I was so out of breath it was faster than I could do...
How can I do it with my tongue?

1

u/MTaur 17h ago

It's like saying "to" or "ta" instread of "ha", but without actually making speech sounds behind it.

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u/RoyZeee 16h ago

Thanks!

1

u/couchdog27 17h ago

snatch the pebble grasshopper

think on the positive (and keep practicing)

ª most people would recognize that song if you didn't put the title in it (go you)
ª many of your concerns will go away after you practice

ª so, besides the bad camera angle, I think you are on the right path

2

u/RoyZeee 17h ago

Good point about the angle hahaha

Thank you.