What you'll learn

play Jingle Bells on your harmonica. You will also be able to learn all the songs in the INSTANT HARMONICA series so look out for the courses coming up

Course content

7 sections • 10 lectures • 43m total length

Introduction4:51
In this lecture I am introducing the course to you.

You will find out what there is to learn and how you will learn it.

I'll give you an idea of my teaching method and if you have taken other courses of mine you will be quite familiar with the mix of expert teaching, great harmonica knowledge, a humble yet ironic style, and my English sense of humour - which you may or may not like; I hope you do - it just bubbles up, I can't change it now.
How to get single notes (in case you can't already)2:07
Any course in my INSTANT HARMONICA series needs only two things:

a harmonica (key of C, 10 holes, diatonic)

and the ability to play single notes - but I'll show you how to do that now in this lecture

Make your mouth into the shape you might use if you whistle - it's known as the pucker, pursed lip or kiss shape. Allow your lower lip to drop and push the harmonica in a little; the further it goes in the better it will sound! Relax your lips to let the harmonica in and gradually try to get the shape that gives you a single note.

Some people use a pencil or straw to model the shape you need so try that as well.

I have a bigger course with five lectures on this subject if you want to go deeper - it's called 'INSTANT HARMONICA - how to get single notes in 5 easy steps' so dive in and take that one if you like

The more complicated way is called 'tongue blocking' but I will not go into it here except to say you use your tongue to block the holes to the left (or sometimes the right) side of the hole you want to play. Here's another of my courses that explores the use of the tongue in harmonica playing - 'Killer Harmonica sounds using the tongue and bending notes'

First few notes3:18
In this lecture we will recap the first few notes.

Learn to sing it first.

Next try playing the first 4 notes very slowly.

Add the 5th note.

Repeat until you can get it.

Next play it with the backing track - it's in this lecture

Jingle Bells 1 Copy .wav is the singing version at full speed

Jingle Bells 2 Copy .wav is the very slow version with harmonica

Jingle Bells 3 Copy .wav is the medium version with harmonica

Jingle Bells 4 Copy .wav is the full speed version.

Start with the singing version and sing through it a few times.

Then use the vey slow version to play along with. Don't knock yourself out.
Finishing the first line4:22
In this lecture we will learn the other notes in the first line.

Play them with me on the video and gradually speed up.

Get it into 'muscle memory' by repetition so you can concentrate on the actual music rather than the mechanical process involved.

Repetition and patience.

Play from the top please.

Repetition and patience.

Use the slow backing track - or try the medium speed.

Repetition and patience.

Second line, first half3:35
This lecture teaches you the second line, or at least the first part of it.

Listen to the backing track and sing it over a few times to get it into your ears.

Now let's zoom in and look at the first two notes: 6draw 9draw.

This is quite a big jump and is harder breathing in.

Spend some time jumping between 6 and 9 as I demonstrate on the video.

Repetition and patience.

Repetition and patience.

When you are ready you can move on to the next three notes which are 8blow, 8draw and 9blow.
Second line, second half4:41
This lecture recaps the first part of the second line and teaches you how to complete the second line.

Third line5:55
Great news - line three is pretty much the same as line one!

The only thing is that you will need to go with the flow and mirror the lyrics as you play.

So as you play music generally you can sing the words in your head and play the notes on your instrument.

Ben Webster (the famous tenor sax player) came off stage one time muttering 'Forgot the dang words'. What he meant was that he planned his solo to be phrased in keeping with the lyrics but got it wrong and was dissatisfied with his performance.

Keep playing with the backing tracks.

Repetition and patience.

Outro and wrapping up the course4:53
Well I guess this wraps it up but first let's play the whole song - the verse plus the chorus.

I assume you have taken Jingle Bells part1 already - if not you can delay this part until you have.

But I'm guessing most people will start with part 1 so if that's you we will now put the two pieces together.

In this lecture I'll also show you a groovy way to end the piece.

Please leave some Udemy feedback and share on your social media - I would appreciate that very much.

Bonus - learn the scale of C (try it an octave lower if this is too easy)4:20
Have a go at the scale of C. It's a brilliant little Doh Re Me tune and will be very helpful.

Extend it by missing out notes F and B (5draw and 7draw) and you will have a different scale remaining - this is called the C major Pentatonic Scale and is your favourite friend when you are improvising. CDEGA are the notes.

Start those exact same notes on A and go up to A and you have there the 'A minor Pentatonic Scale' - ACDEGA. This is even more useful than the previous scale for improvising.

If you can already play this scale give yourself a challenge and start it from hole 1 blow.

You will find the bending requirements are rather intriguing!

Requirements

You only need a C diatonic 10 hole harmonica for this course

Description

INSTANT HARMONICA – play the wonderful Jingle Bells (part 2) right now!

Part 2 - this course - is the verse - 'Dashing through the snow...' etc

Part 1 is the famous bit, the chorus - 'Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way...'etc

If you have a tune that you would like me to teach please message me.

Take this course and play the tune instantly. No musical experience needed.

You will pick it up straight away without needing any music skills. This is easy to play and really fun to learn. You will be proud of your achievements and happy with the results.

'INSTANT HARMONICA' is a new series of courses where you learn one tune per course. You will find it is taught in a friendly and encouraging manner and most importantly is it taught v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.

Ben Hewlett is a very experienced music teacher who is able to be very patient and methodical. Each lecture will introduce you to the next group of notes – usually just 4 new notes and that's it.

This method is very easy for you to pick up the tunes as they are repeated over and over again until you have got it. You can even re-run the video if you find it useful.

Take one course and learn your favourite tune. The try another. Remember you can always get your money back if you wish but otherwise you have lifetime access to the course.

Imagine how amazing it will feel when you whip out your harmonica and play this tune – your friends and family will carry you shoulder high in triumph. Hopefully they don't carry you out of town and dump you in the river, but hey, swimming's good as well.

The health benefits of playing the harmonica are well documented – google it. Your lungs get exercised, your lung capacity increases, aerobic movement is good for you, playing music makes you smarter they say.

You will have fun on your own and with your friends, and more oxygen to the brain will make you think you are having a good time so it's all good.

Who this course is for:

This course is for complete beginners; you don't need any musical experience, I'll walk you through the whole thing very slowly step by step. If you are an advanced player you will cover the whole thing very fast and you may find it is too slow for you

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Intro and overview of the course2 lectures • 7min

First line2 lectures • 8min

Second line2 lectures • 8min

Third line1 lecture • 6min

Fourth and final line1 lecture • 6min

Finishing off1 lecture • 5min

Bonus - scale of C1 lecture • 4min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: