Goal and Task Analysis

By some accounts, the harmonica is the most popular instrument in the world. One famous manufacturer, Hohner, has produced more than one billion since 1857. In the harmonica's "golden age," several popular bands were composed entirely of harmonica players. According to one estimate, 40 million Americans have played the diminutive instrument.

Goal

One of the reasons for the harmonica's popularity is that it is an easy instrument to learn. Many people learn to play it by ear much in the way people learn to whistle a tune.

The goal of this module is to show a beginning player:

• How to play Beethoven's Ode to Joy on a diatonic harmonica in the key of C
• How to use the tools learned to play many other popular songs

Outline

Learning to play Ode to Joy will involve the following steps:

1. How to recognize a diatonic harmonica in the key of C
• A diatonic harmonica is defined by a very specific pattern of twenty notes.
• Each diatonic plays one key.
2. How to blow and draw through harmonica holes
• Every hole plays at least two notes, one blown and one drawn.
• This lesson will not address more than one blow and one draw per hole.
3. How to use an online instrument tuner to gain confidence
• It's easier to learn if you trust your ear.
• An online tuner provides immediate feedback for free .
4. How to read harmonica tablature
   • Tablature maps the blows and draws to the notes.
   • There are many different styles of tablature.