Difficulty: Beginner

Lesson Length: 3:36

Instructor: George Goodman

Every self-respecting musician should know how to play Happy Birthday. Learn it here while working on single notes with the lip pucker.

A C harmonica is the first one you need to follow along with the lessons on the site. I often play a Hohner Special 20 Harmonica in the key of C through a Shure Green Bullet microphone Model 5200 and Fender Super Champ amplifier

Lip Pucker and Happy Birthday

I am using my C harmonica and Happy Birthday starts on blow 6 so let’s start there.
If you put the harmonica in your mouth without puckering your upper lip then you will play more than one hole when blowing or drawing. If you pucker out your top lip though you can form a channel in your lip that only allows one hole to sound. Try it out in a mirror and form a channel by puckering out the top lip.

Now let’s practice the single note lip pucker technique to the song Happy Birthday.

6 6 -6 6 7 -7
6 6 -6 6 -8 7
6 6 9 8 7 -7 -6
-9 -9 8 7 -8 7

There’s Happy Birthday. Now if you carry a harmonica with you, you can lead the sing-a-long at the next birthday party.
Work on those single notes and control your breath from deep down and I’ll see you in the next lesson.

Cheers, George