Whoever said practice makes perfect got it partially right. Practice the wrong things or practice the right things in a sloppy way and you will never make “perfect” no matter how much you practice.

This gives us two questions to answer about practice: 1. What? 2. How?

Let’s start with question number 1. What to practice. I am going to give you a list of what I think are the top twelve harmonica skills to develop through practice. You can use these ideas to make a checklist, or you can use these ideas to start discussions or arguments. Whatever floats your boat is great if it helps you clear up your own thinking- have at it!

My contribution on question number 2. – how to practice is this: I will tell you why I think a set of diatonic harmonicas is the best exercise equipment for any harmonica player. The issue of sloppy practice will have to wait for another time.

OK, why is the “short harp” or diatonic harmonica is the best harmonica to start with, no matter what harmonica you choose as your main axe, and why is it such a great harmonica to practice on in general?

I think of the diatonic harmonica as a piece of exercise equipment as well as a musical instrument. You can develop breath control faster on diatonic harmonicas compared to other harmonicas because there is nothing between your breath and the reeds in the harmoinica. You don’t need to deal with slides, windsavers, or double reeds.

The direct connection of your breath to diatonic harmonica reeds gives you sensitive, precise feedback. If your technique is off, you will find out fast. You will shut reeds down, bend notes when you don’t want to, or not bend when you want to. When you can play chords and notes free and clear on low as well as high range diatonic harmonicas, you will find it much easier to control other harmonicas.

No matter what kind of harmonica you play, you have to learn how to breathe through the instrument before you can do anything else effectively. When you play chord rhythms on the low end of a diatonic harmonica you have nothing to distract you from breathing through the instrument, hearing and feeling the results. The lower pitched diatonic harmonicas give you the best overall workout for controlling your breath as you practice chord rhythms.

What follows here is my personal list of the top twelve skills that you use when you play the harmonica. This list is focused on physically training your muscles to build control, strength, speed, timing, and endurance. Constant improvement, however slight, in these areas will give your playing power and grace, and make you an ever more effective channel for music to flow through you and out of your harmonica. If you play other harmonicas, you will have other skills to add to the list. The most obvious one is using the slide on a chromatic.

I also encourage people to tackle bending notes and tongue articulations (the “tucka tucka” kind of rhythms that make use of the tip of the tongue forming t’s and d’s and other hard consonants) LAST. Yes, I know these techniques are sexy and flashy, but they are so much easier and natural to do when you have a basic control of your breathing and strategic relaxation. Actually, I did not even include tongue articulation in the list, because I decided ahead of time to stop at twelve skills, something had to give, and that is just the breaks of the game.

So, with no further ado, here we go:

1. Balanced Rhythmic Breathing – matching the in-breath and out-breath in volume, tone, and timing

2. Controlling your air supply. The ability to empty or fill the lungs as needed while playing the harmonica, regardless of how many blow or draw notes you may be playing in a row

3. Strategic relaxation: The ability to keep your throat and upper body relaxed and open as your resting or default position. Disconnecting all muscles that don’t help you play the instrument.

4. Precise control of breath shifts. The ability to shift from in-breath to out-breath, out-breath to in-breath instantly with the least amount of effort.

5. Precise control of starting and stopping air flow with the diaphragm. The ability to completely stop the in-breath and out-breath with perfect timing as you keep your throat and tongue from blocking the air flow in any way.

6. Precise control of starting and stopping air flow in the throat.

7. Precise control of dynamics. The ability to play the full range of volume from your instrument and shift from loud to soft, soft to loud at will.

8. Control of tone color by manipulating the throat and tongue to increase and decrease the size of the vibrating mass of air.

9. Control of sideways movement from one chamber to another. This requires mastering the combination of hand, mouth, tongue, and jaws.

10. Tongue blocking – The ability to play chords, intervals, and create textures by controlling the off and on movement of the tongue to the mouthpiece of the harmonica.

11. Tongue switching – the ability to control the sideways movement of the tongue to play interval jumps or create textures.

12. Control of pitch – the ability to bend and over-bend notes, in-breath and out-breath, to play the complete range of shades of pitch available on any diatonic harmonica. Another way of saying this is that you have mastered bending blow and draw notes, overblows and overdraws.

I hope it helps you to think of how you are using your practice time.

Harpe Diem!