Difficulty: Easy

Lesson Length: 5:31

Instructor: George Goodman

Sound great faster. Here are some tips that will enable you to get better, faster.

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

8 Tips To Get Good Fast

You can get good on the guitar and harmonica fast. Of course, that depends on your practice habits. Here are 8 great tips for getting the most out of your practice time.
1) Schedule practice time - the best way to get into a routine of practicing is to practice at the same time of day and stick with it. It's kind of like starting a new exercise routine. If you schedule a specific time and endeavor to keep at it, you're much more likely to have success. Unlike exercise, however, practicing the guitar and harmonica is fun.

2) Put in the time - 45-60 minute practice sessions 4 to 5 days a week will enable excellent progress. Obviously, the more quality time you put into your playing, the quicker you will progress. By quality time, I mean time where you're wide awake and concentrating and playing with proper posture. Lazy, tired practice will not get you results as quickly. It's hard to practice well for a long time - your brain tires. That's why 45 - 60 minute sessions is plenty. Any more than that and your brain will tire and you will get diminishing returns.

3) Practice at your own pace and have fun. Everyone learns at their own pace. Don't sweat your pace of learning, just keep at it and you will become an excellent player. And remember to have fun. This is not your job. It's supposed to supply release from your job.

4) Impromptu Practice - regular practice should be in a regular place where proper posture and breathing techniques can be learned. Impromptu practice can occur in many different places especially on the harmonica because it is so portable. If you ever have 10 minutes sitting in the car, pulling out your harmonica can make the time pass more quickly and make you feel good that you're utilizing otherwise wasted time. This only works though, if you carry your harp with you.

5) Listen and play - One of the best ways to get good fast is to listen to others and try to do what they're doing. While becoming a musician, your ears will also be in training. Listening and transcribing or learning licks is probably the best way to train your ears. It requires concentration and deep listening and will enable you to become a good musician fast.

6) Slowdowner Software - an excellent aid to learning licks is by using software that slows down a recording so that fast passages of music can be analyzed and learned more easily.
I use Windows Media Player for this on my PC.

7) Record yourself playing to allow you to critically hear what you're really playing. It may be difficult at first to listen to yourself play. You’ll hear the bad notes. The sound you hear in your head when playing is different than the sound actually coming out of your harmonica and may be a bit odd at first as well. But recording what you play will give you a realistic experience of your playing and allow you to critically evaluate your playing to hear what you need to work on.

8) Jam with others – this is what it’s all about. Getting together with friends and making some noise (I mean that in a good way). This will help you learn how to blend in with other musicians as well as aiding in ear training and learning rhythms. The harmonica is very flexible in that you can play melodies as well as comping rhythm. When it’s not your time to solo, you don’t want to be playing over top of the other musicians. You need to find spaces that would benefit from a lick or come up with rhythms that blend in without overriding someone else. Listen for and try to be able to anticipate the chord changes. And don’t get caught up in your own playing and ignoring what is going on with the rest of the band. Keep listening and responding to the music that’s going on.

Keep at it – you’re only going to continue to get better if you keep playing. There will be times when you make more progress than others. There will be times when you aren’t progressing as fast you would like. Keep at it and there will be a time when your playing will blow you and others around you away.