Difficulty: Easy but take care with the reed plates

Lesson Length: 10:21

Instructor: George Goodman

3 Tips for a Long Lasting Harmonica

1. Keep you harp in its case when you're not playing. This keeps lint and dirt from clogging up the reeds.
2. Rinse your mouth with water. You don't want to be blowing sticky spit into your harp. This will cause sticky reeds that can get stuck and not play at all until cleaned.
3. Don't eat and play. Blowing food into your harmonica gets stuck in the reeds and jam them up. I often will brush my teeth before playing.
4. Bonus tip - don't soak your harmonica in anything especially if the comb is made of wood. It can swell up and cause for painful playing.

Cleaning Your Harp

If you've got a stuck whole on your harp that you just can't make a sound out of, then you'll want to take your harmonica apart and see if you can find out what's causing the problem.

You will need a set of precision or jewellers screw drivers. You should be able to find them at any hardware store for not much. Different makes and models of harmonica use different type of screws for securing the cover plates and reed plates. The Special 20 shown in this video is dead simple to take apart. Note how the different pieces of your harmonica fit together.

Take care when handling the reed plates and in particular, the reeds. I will use a Q-tip with water or iso-propyl alcohol to gently brush around the reed plates to loosen up and get rid of debris. The Q-tip works well on cleaning up the comb as well. The cover plates can easily be washed in water.

Once you've got it all cleaned up, reassemble and you should be good as new.

Now, follow the tips from above and chances are you won't be needing to go opening up your harp again for a long time.

Peace my friend. Stay in tune.

George