Just recently purchased a Hohner Special 20. Thought it would be fun to learn how to play. Wanted possibly to get some feed back on best way to learn; lessons, videos, on-line teachers, etc. I am a senior adult and have no plans (at least at this time) to play in a group, maybe only with friends for fun or just to keep the brain functioning. The purchase came with free lessons for 30 days from bluesharmonica . com. From what I've seen so far, the site is very intense with lessons on about everything you might want to learn. However, the first lesson deals with single notes which makes sense but by way of tongue blocking which turns out to be not as easy as it sounds. Is this the best method to use for a beginner? Looks like there are tons of teachers on the web so thought I would get some imput from the experts.

Well, I love tongue blocking and if fact is the only way I play tabs. It came naturally to me many decades ago. However I don't do blues and would think that trying to learn to bend with tongue blocking would be difficult for a beginner. So, my first question to you is, how do you really want to play. Straight ahead playing a song from a tab or memorized, blues vamping, bluesifying. Then again I do wish I had spent time learning to play pucker style, so perhaps, it would be best to learn both. Hope this helps

Speaking from a fellow beginner's point of view, I would say tongue blocking is harder to learn than puckering (lip pursing).

I'm pretty much in the same boat as yourself - happy to play solo for fun, but recently trying to learn tongue blocking. I think the general consensus is that puckering is more intuitive for beginners, but ultimately you should aim to learn both (only tongue blocking allows playing 'split notes' for example).

I also found that site somewhat intense, but I imagine it's perfect for the player who has high goals. It did inspire me to add tongue blocking to my practice routine though, which I'm hoping will prove worthwhile in the long run.

My suggestion is that you first search YouTube for 'harmonica single notes' - there are many decent lessons there for free. They will help you decide your playing style and if you need paid tuition or not.

Thanks for the tips. Have checked out some YouTube videos. Did find some good lessons. Think I'll be working on trying to achieve singles notes for a while. Keep getting bleed over to other notes. I did like one guys video (don't recall his name at the moment) but basically said not to get in a hurry. Single notes are hard to achieve sometimes. So will work on that part. Would like to find some tabs with chords.

Once you have learned single hole playing learn how to play the Penatonic Scale. It makes picking out songs easier. And how to go from the low end to the high end and back.
After playing for years I stumbled on to this and actually put some time into it and it has paid off tremendously.

Thanks railjumper, I will definitely check this out after I somewhat master single notes.

Another beginner here...started 5 weeks ago and have tried tongue blocking but with no sucess. Have listened to several videos on utube and find them very helpful. I'll be puckering for quite awhile...and probably at some point ...try the tougue block again. Getting single note has improved quite a bit since I started....but have lots of improvement to go...we just have to stick with it.

Pucker on! I've been playing for fifty year and I prefer the pucker. I just use tongue blocks for split chord intervals which sound cool when followed by single note puckering in the middle. My playing is also influenced by experience on the clarinet and sax. I like to use a lot of individually tongued notes with lots of bends in between. Just love how the harmonica lets you play the "blue notes"--the not quite minor third and sometimes the not quite minor fifth. In other words, on a c harp played crosswise in the key of g, the almost b flat, imperfectly written as -3' or the almost d flat a little below -4'. I think those are among the coolest notes ever! If you can master playing the basic blues chords (g7,c &d) and then just try random individual notes. You're sure to hear yourself playing some interesting sounds before long. Then start tabbing so you can remember your discoveries. Just keep on playing. By the time you blow out your first reed, you'll have learned a lot. BTW, if you want to improve brain function, just turn your harp around (high notes on the left). I've tried and failed, but it is supposed to be a brain expander.