Breathing comes in handy when you are playing the harmonica. The harmonica is unusual in that some of the time you are breathing air in while you are playing. You are accustomed to breathing out slowly, as you do when you speak or sing, but generally when you need to get air you breathe it in quickly. With the harmonica you will need to breathe out and in, sometimes slowly, sometimes switching back and forth fairly quickly between the two. All this breathing is really good for you, and I would suggest you just go ahead and do a lot of it. There\'s no wrong way to have fun blowing in and out of a harmonica. Fill if you can make it sound like the end of a great symphony, or pretend you are Bob Dylan trying to find out a new song. Think of it like a vacuum cleaner when you want to focus the suction of the vacuum cleaner in a narrow area, you use the crevice tool, which is like a single note. When you want to vacuum a wider area, you use the wider floor brush, which is like playing several notes at once. If you breathe gently into a harmonica in this wider way, like you just did, it produces a chord that is, three or more musical tones sounded at the same time. In the beginning, making a chord on the harmonica will be easier for you than single notes.

The most common chords are pleasing and harmonious. Gentle, even breath applied to all three or four notes will help you to get this sweet tone. Vacuuming the floor the Regular Way Get out the vacuum cleaner. Plug it in. Vacuum the floor. Vacuuming the floor the Playful Way. Put on a tuxedo or evening gown. Get out the vacuum cleaner. Plug it in. Bow or curtsy to the vacuum cleaner. Pretend you are Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers, and pretend your partner, the vacuum cleaner, is Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers. Dance around gracefully while vacuuming the floor. Find what you can do with only a little breath. You will find that it helps if you use your nose as a pressure valve if you breathe in or out through your nose while you breathe in and out through the harmonica, you\'ll find that you can lessen the airflow when necessary to make sweeter tones on your harmonica, not to mention your vacuum cleaner. Use your nose to eliminate excess air from your lungs or to breathe in the air you need even as you keep playing. How to breathe the Regular Way. Get born. The Doctor slaps your behind. Breathing goes on autopilot.

Now learn how to breathe the Playful Way. Breathe like a dog get on all fours and pant but it is bad manners to sniff someones butt or stick your nose in his crotch. Try breathing like a hummingbird one thousand breaths per second. Breathe like Darth Vader. Go up to a mountaintop or to a nice park and breathe the fresh air. Make breathing more fun by filling the air around with nice smells flowers, fresh baked cookies, a wet dog. You\'ve started playing music, and you may have also done some vacuuming. Feel free to go over these songs as often as you need, because they will help you learn. If you feel inspired, pick out some other songs by ear or make up one of your own. You\'re part of a great tradition, and you are on your way to making your own music.


By Alex Berg harmonica teacher with over 30 years of experience.