Playing Single Notes
Playing single notes is often difficult at first. Most people will still have a second note sounding the first time they attempt single notes. In time the muscles around your lips will develop and single notes will be easy to play, but don’t be surprised if you have trouble at first.
To play a single note, tighten the muscles that circle your mouth to form a round hole as in the following photo. The mouth position used is similar to that used for whistling.
Although some tension is required to produce single notes, your eventual goal should be to have all muscles as relaxed as possible, using only the minimum pressure necessary. The easiest hole to begin playing single notes on is number 1 at the low end of the harmonica. This is because you only have to block the unwanted extra notes on one side of the hole.
This example demonstrates the difference between single notes on hole 1 and chords.
Here, only single notes are used. These are the notes produced by exhaling and inhaling on hole 1. The names of these notes are C and D. Since there are no rests in this example, the best place to take a breath is at the end of each whole note. This is common when playing melodies.
Once you are confident with the previous example, try this one which moves between holes 4 and 3. Because these notes have other notes either side of them this may be more difficult, so be patient and keep practicing and you will soon have it under control.
Here is the first part of Three Blind Mice played in single notes. Don’t worry if you are finding it difficult to produce single notes clearly without extra notes sounding at this stage. This is very common. It takes time for your lips and facial muscles to develop, so practice often but for short periods. Soon you will have single notes well under control and you will be able to play many melodies.
This popular melody is the main theme to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
The Three Four Time Signature
This time signature is called the three four time signature.
It tells you there are three beats in each bar.
Three four time is also known as waltz time.
There are three quarter notes in one bar of ^ time.
The Dotted Half Note
A dot written after a note extends its value by half.
A dot after a half note means that you hold it for three beats.
One dotted half note makes one bar of music in ^ time.
The following song Beautiful Brown Eyes is a typical example of the way dotted half notes are used in ^ time. As there are no rests in the first three lines of this example, you could breathe at the end of any of the dotted half notes if you need to. Listen as you play each song and try to find the most natural sounding places to breathe. The final bar of this song contains a whole rest. In ^ time, a whole rest indicates a whole bar rest.
Here is another song in ^ time. This one has a sad kind of tonality known as a minor key. This term will be dealt with in Lesson 12. Don’t be too concerned with the terminology for now, just be aware that each different kind of sound has a name in music. If you are curious, ask a musical friend or music teacher about each of the terms you encounter here.
