I am new to playing the harmonica. I've practiced for around 4-5 hours or so on my Hohner Special 20 in the key of C. Here's my question:
I am trying to play a single note via puckering. I am having very little success (some but very little). Any suggestions on how to do this better? Also, how long should I expect to practice (approximately) before I can play single notes with relative ease? Thanks!!

Put your lips in the whistling position, quite deep in the mouth but relax a bit, dont blow hard from the mouth, breathe... more from the stomach, you should be able to get single notes within an hour or so. If you are having trouble, try tongue blocking, there is lots of help in previous forum posts on this subject, if you go back to the older posts. I prefer tongue blocking, but you should try both.

Pagan's right, but let me try to explain the same thing he said another way:

Look in the mirror. Blow some imaginary eraser particles off of an imaginary sheet of paper. See that little hole at the FRONT of your lips? That AIN'T where you play the harmonica from.

Look in a mirror again and suck an imaginary malt through an imaginary straw. See that little hole at the BACK of your lips? THAT"S where you play the harmonica from.

When playing single notes, keep that hole little, but your lips should still feel soft and relaxed.

And listen to Pagan: Don't blow and suck through the harp...It's more like breathing through it.

Oh, yeah: And drop your jaw a little.



Post Edited (2008-06-15 02:27:33)

The hardest part of learning to play harmonica for me was getting that first single note! it can be frustrating as hell, but like riding a bike it's simple after the first time you get it.
little hint, it helps to tilt the harmonica slightly up. not only will this make single notes easier, but it will lengthen the life of your harmonica, as its less harsh on the reeds.

thank you very much this helped me get it on the first try after i've been trying all day other methods

right, my harmonica booklet ("Bending the Blues" says every single note method except the pucker teqnique sucks. it describes the few others, but at the top it says in bold "if you do NOT know what THESE methods are, DONT READ IT"