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By JP Allen
If you want to master single notes on your harmonica then this article has 4 tips that
reveal the not so obvious secret! Having a solid single note technique is critical to your
being able to play harmonica with a beautiful, crystal clear sound. First check out my
intro video here, then read the rest of this page to get more on the nitty gritty for
playing single notes

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Harmonica Mouth Position

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How to Bend Notes

If youre having a challenging time hitting your single notes with accuracy, youre
probably not using the lip-blocked single note that is explained in this article below.

After 25 years of teaching harmonica, I can confidently say that though there are
other great single note techniques, learning the lip-blocked single note will be your
quickest route to sounding great on the harmonica.

When you start playing the harmonica, you will notice that it is easy to play two or
three holes at the same time. But hitting one clean single note can be challenging. This
is because the holes on a harmonica are so small and close together! In this lesson,
Im stoked to help you develop a solid foundation that will ensure you dont get stuck or
frustrated.

There are primarily two ways to play single notes:

1. Tongue-blocking
2. Lip-blocking
The Deep Relaxed Embouchure for Single Notes

The mouth position that we will be using to play single notes is the Deep Relaxed
Embouchure. Heres a quick review of this technique:

Step 1. Place your harmonica deep in your mouth.

Step 2. Tilt the harmonica 30 degrees down into lower lip so that the lower lip
unfolds.
Step 3. Keep the upper lip relaxed and deep.
Keeping the upper lip relaxed is very important. My experience of teaching thousands
of harmonica students has taught me that those who tightly pucker their lips will be
unnecessarily challenged. We only use the lower lip to block out the undesired holes
and the upper lip remains TOTALLY RELAXED (seals the air and goes along for the
ride):

Playing a Single Note

Lets try playing a single note on hole 4 blow:

Step 1. Put the harmonica in your mouth, with a deep relaxed embouchure
(explained above).
Step 2. Slightly pucker your lower lip by bringing the corners of your lip closer
together. The idea is that your lower lip should block out holes 3 and 5, while only
playing hole 4. The upper lip should be completely relaxed.
Step 3. Take the harmonica out of your mouth and look in a mirror. Your lips should
look like the photo in Tip #2 below
Cannot Get a Clean Sound?

If you are having difficulties getting a clean single note, here are some tips that would
really help you out:

Tip #1

Tip #1 Increase
The Tricky 2 and 3 Draw
Tip #2
the tilt angle -
Holes 2 and 3 draw are notoriously difficult for
Tip #3 (Step 1)
Increasing the
beginners to play single notes on. When you
angle of the
try playing them, it is quite likely that you will
Tip #3 (Step 2) harmonica
get a weak sounding airy note. Dont worry,
sometimes
Tip #3 (Step 3)
nothing is wrong with your harmonica. These
makes it easier
holes are usually very easy to bend, and so
Tip #4 to get single
you can accidentally bend them while trying to
notes. When you
play a single note. For more on how to
tilt the harmonica
remedy this, read on
up, the natural
curve in your
lower lip will Why Do My Harmonica
automatically
Notes Sound Bad?
block out the
undesired holes
Its very unlikely that your 2-draw, 3-draw and
while leaving only
upper register reeds (8, 9, and 10) are faulty.
one hole
The odds are very high that your harmonica is
unobstructed.
working fine. All you need to do is make a
You will have to
small adjustment in your technique. Here are
experiment with
your three main goals:
the tilt angle to
find the sweet Drop the jaw (so your teeth are as far apart
spot. Once you as possible)
get the knack of
it, try reducing Open wide on the inside of your mouth by

the angle. simultaneously yawning and saying ahhh

(like the doctor says, open wide and say
 ahhh)

Maintain the Deep Relaxed Mouth Position so you can still play a single note (Often
times when students drop the jaw they loose their single note. You need to learn to be
able to play a single note while your jaw is dropped. So ultimately, you will find a mouth
position that enables you to have TOTAL FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT OF THE JAW
while still easily being able to play a single note. Remember! The key is to angle the
harmonica into the lower lip, so that lower lip obstructs the undesired holes (see this
page for more info on the Deep Relax Mouth Position)

So what are you doing thats not helping? Ill take a educated guess. The problem is
that youre teeth are too close together and youre probably lifting the back of your
tongue and its creating a slight jet stream with pulls the reeds into a bent position. This
is a very normal problem and it happens to over 90% students in the beginning.

Single Notes Exercise

Practice going from a Blow note to its corresponding Draw note:

Going Up

And Back Down Again

Im going to reiterate the above three points in hopes of being more clear:

Try adjusting the position of your tongue. Experiment with moving it into a variety
of different positions to see if this helps. My suspicion is that you are raising the back
of the tongue and you need to open your mouth wider. The reason I am bring attention
to the back of the tongue is because students often think they are dropping the back
of their tongue but they are only dropping the front of their tongue.

Try OPENING WIDE, DROP THE JAW and say ahh or ohh.

In order to drop the back of the tongue, it is very helpful to DROP THE JAW. Open as
wide as you can while still allowing the lips to maintain their seal on harmonica. If when
you drop your jaw you can no longer play a single note, check to make sure you are
still angling the harmonica into your lower lip or go back and make sure you are
properly using The Deep Relaxed Mouth Position.

Dropping the jaw is the key

I would also recommend that you play at a moderate volume. A lot of times students
suck (and blow) too hard when they are first learning and this only makes the problem
worse. Try playing more softly and see if this helps.

JP Allen

JP Allen believes that anyone can learn to play harmonica. Are you a beginner or
intermediate who is looking for an especially easy approach to getting good
fast? Do you think it would be fun to play blues or some of your favorite songs
with minimal practice? Then CLICK HERE for JP's Beginners Harmonica Lessons, the worlds only
100% play-along harmonica video lessons.

Comments (39)

TOM REED

Hi JP: thank you for the lower lip method for single note playing

Reply

JERRY

howdy jp. i am a harp appreciative. i ordered one from musicians friends

recentely along with other stuff so i could get free shipping so here i am.
im looking foreward to learning some harp an your free lessons are great i
will be a player/customer when i get the techniques down . thanks a ton,
jerry

Reply
 JP ALLEN

Great Jerry, enjoy! jp

Reply

KMOOREBEAST

Where is how to play harmonica notes on here?!?!?!

Reply

JP ALLEN

On the page, left box, 4th down How to Play Single Notes. jp

Reply

CHRIS

Ive been at it a week. I just figured out how to play The Rose last night one
of my all time favorites. Single hole hits are progressing. I think its just a FEEL
thing, like anything else really.
Chris

Reply

JP ALLEN

Great news Chris!! Im glad to hear youre getting a feel for it. jp
 Reply

ED

Hey there when i get the harmonica deep inside my mouth and do the
technique there will be a lot of saliva inside my mouth..can you help me how do
i control my saliva..its make me hard to play it.
Thank you.

Reply

JP ALLEN

Hey Ed, heres some suggestions:

1. Adjust the harp by pulling it out slightly.
2. Adjust the position of your head by slightly looking up.
3. I know when I start producing a lot of saliva its from not
knowing the riff or song really well. Keep practicing
until you know the riff real good.
jp

Reply

ED

Hey there thanks i try that method actually i got another problem that is when i
play harmonica and trying to hit single note and sometime succeed then
problem is i dnt know what number or what hole i was blow or draw at for
example if i at hole no 4 im not sure which hole is the no 6 ect.
Hope you can help me. Thanks

Reply
 JP ALLEN

Just keep practicing at it Ed and check out my video lessons for more
help. jp

Reply

DYLAN

JP,
Im having a lot of trouble bringing the corners of my lower lip together. When I
try it, my upper lip gets tight. What am I doing wrong?

Reply

JP ALLEN

Hi Dylan,

If your lips are getting tight, I would encourage you to relax a little bit more.

If youre using the Deep Relaxed Embouchure, as explained on this page

and in more depth in My Video Lessons then your lips should not be
getting tired. ONLY the lower lip very slightly contracts to bring the corners
of the mouth SLIGHTLY closer together.

Its okay if youre a little sloppy in the beginning while learning single notes.
Id rather you be RELAXED than develop the bad habits that come with
tension (and trying too hard with the mind). So please relax and enjoy
yourself and youll get it in time I PROMISE! jp

Reply
 TURKEY

hey, IM A GREAT PLAYER NOW,AND IM ONLY 12 AND BETTER THEN MY

TEACHER!!!! THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH

Reply

JP ALLEN

Right on! Keep it up. jp

Reply

LOLA

I just got a harmonica as a gift yesterday, and found it so hard blowing a single
note. I tried your technique a couple of times and finally got the single notes
right AFTER I dropped my jaw and relaxed my lips! thanks so much for sharing
this. Ill keep on practicing until Im great at it.

Reply

JP ALLEN

Right on Lola! jp

Reply

SAM

hi Jp thank you verry much man for all these great lessons they are really
awesome but i have a question i cant hold the harmonica when i use the lip
blocking emboucure because my index finger will get in the way and knock out
my lips from position so can you halp me please ?
sorry for my bad english .

Reply

JP ALLEN

That is a common problem with some. Just try moving your finger forward
on the top plate making adjustments. jp

Reply

MARLENE

Okay thank you. i want to try to play. my harmonica has a push slide on the
end. So not sure what to do with that.

Reply

JP ALLEN

That would be a chromatic harmonica, which is a wonderful instrument. I

only teach diatonic though. jp

Reply

BING FUTCH

Thanks for getting me on track with single-notes. Ill definitely be checking out
the rest of your site!

Reply
 JP ALLEN

GreatIm glad this article was helpful for you. jp

Reply

EDWARD S.

Something as simple as tilting the harp upwards changed everything!!!!!! Thank

you!!

Reply

JP ALLEN

It sometimes is just as simple as a turn of the wrist. Glad you got it! jp

Reply

NICHOLAS

Hey JP I am new to your harmonica lessons and I really want to learn.

I registered for your free lessons but I have a problem.
The lessons dont seem to work on iPad.
Please help me.

Yours sincerely, Nicholas

Reply

JP ALLEN
 Hey Nicholas, please fill out this form so that we can help you directly:
http://www.harmonica.com/contact. jp

Reply

GENESIS

Thanks it was my first try and I did good

Reply

JP ALLEN

Glad to hear that. jp

Reply

MICHAEL FLYNN

Hey JP great lesson. I love Ode to Joy but my scales still sound like a cat
being drowned. Im going to pick up your DVDs next week . Thanks for all the
freebies:)

Reply

JP ALLEN

You got it Michael! jp

Reply
 TONY STEPHENS

Hi JP, I have your DVD set on playing harmonica. It is very good. I started out
as a U blocker, that is how I first got the single notes. U blocking just comes
easy to me and I still use it. I have been learning to play for 5 years now. I think
one is always learning.
Thanks Tony

Reply

JP ALLEN

U block definitely has its applications. I encourage you to try my method

as well and you will be able to use both at will.
jp

Reply

MALCOLM

Hi jp
I purchased your lessons a week ago I am very pleased with my progress so
far,i do have COPD and I am hopeing that taking up the harmonica helps me,i
am 60 years old and I hope I havnt left it to late,
im on a weeks holiday at the moment so I have been able to watch and
participate from lesson 1 through to 7 at least 3 times a day and im loving every
minute of it I think your lessons are money well spent and im keeepin up with
you all the way
by the way that harmonic minor in A what a beautifull sound i loved it so much i
went and bought one it came today im not going to play it untill i can put a tune
together
well thanks again J P ill let you know how i get on
by for now malc
Reply

JP ALLEN

Hey Malcom, Im am so happy to hear you are enjoying the lessons and
taking care of your COPDharmonica has been said to help with this
condition. Enjoy, and please contact us for the gypsy lesson using the A
minor harp. http://www.harmonica.com/contact
jp

Reply

SIDDHANT

Hey Jp,
This is really cool stuff,Thanks for this tips.
I have trouble while playing single note that it sounds to airy.The air to note
ration u were talking about any suggestion on this..

Thanks buddy

Reply

JP ALLEN

You could be overblowing or even underblowing. Please go to my website

and check out the free tutorials so you can work on your jet stream. jp

Reply

PRATEEK S
Hi JP

I am a beginner currently owning Hohner 1501BX. I am learning the single

notes with the pucker technique and doing okay except 2,3 which is a little airy.
But wanted to know if learning the lip blocking technique is equally important?
What should be my next target once the single notes are coming off okay?
Ideally how long should i practise the single notes before moving forward?
Please guide.

Tx
PS

Reply

JP ALLEN

Hey PS, Im happy youre working with my single notes lesson, in it I go

over the Deep Relaxed mouth positionI strongly encourage you to use
this over the puckering technique, although it can be useful sometimes.
Feel free to move forward while often coming back to single notes and
improving your skills. Have fun! jp

Reply

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