First Position Jamming Can Be Entertaining ….

When starting out on the harmonica it pays to practise jamming to a diverse number of classics. So many beginners give up in frustration because they cannot bend a note and the harmonica is put down as one of those I tried it once experiences. Alternatively they manage a couple of bends after a while and get bored of everything sounding samey ‘da da da duh’ followed by ‘Woke up this morning… etc.’. Also they hear the perfection of ‘Blues’ or ‘Country’ harmonica masters and despair of ever being or sounding original. Here is the inspirational cure.

Take a classic which you have never heard played on the harmonica and jam to it. Don’t think about will the harmonica work with this piece or not, just start playing in empathy with the piece. In other words with the melody in your head work around the melody with what sounds good. To execute ‘Wish You Were Here’ by Pink Floyd. You will need to be able to play single notes of the major scale and the major pentatonic:

key B =exhale D =draw

Major Scale G A B C D E F# G

4B 4D 5B 5D 6B 6D 7D 7B

Pentatonic G A B G E G

4B 4D 5B 6B 6D 7B

So now go and dig through your CD collection and find a piece to practise jamming to.