How to Practice Harmonica

 How to Practice Playing the Harmonica (or any instrument) (or anything really)

Here are some techniques for practicing the harmonica.

1. Play slowly enough so you don't make any mistakes. Musical instruments rely on muscle memory and, if you make mistakes, your body will learn the mistakes.
2. Chunk it. Break a large complex piece into smaller chunks and practice each chunk. Once you have the smaller chunk down, work on linking it together with larger chunks. If you try to play the whole song, you may notice that you always make the same mistake on one part. If you practice like this, you are practicing your mistakes.
3. Work on the hard parts first. After you go through a new song, you will probably identify some parts that are harder. Work on those first, then integrate them into the song.
4. Spend some time learning new techniques like bending, vibrato, and overblow. As you learn new techniques, try integrating them into the song.
5. Play using a metronome or with a beat of some sort, although a metronome is probably better.

I usually have several songs or riffs I am trying to learn. At some point in the song is a "difficult-part" that is hard to put into muscle memory for some reason. It is best to start with the "difficult-part" and repeat it many times, then gradually work it into the rest of the song by adding the phrase just before the difficult part or just after. Sometimes I like to start at the end of a song and keep adding more phrases until I am playing the whole song. For example, starting at the turnaround, then back up 4-8 bars and play to the end. That way, you don't only practice the beginning of the song. I often spend some time overblowing, or working with the hole 3 draw bends. I may also work on memorization if I am playing it from music or tab and I want to memorize it. I also work on speed if it is a piece that requires speed. I usually try to spend some time lip pursing and tongue blocking.

Where to Practice

If I spend too much time practicing at home, my family can get irritated, especially if I am practicing overblows! So I try to break it up a little, spending some time practicing on the front porch, in the backyard, or on a walk in the woods. The deer seem very curious when they hear me play. When I have a collection of songs that I know pretty well, I will go to the park to practice and see if I can get some love.