Progress Report On The Status Of Goal Achievement

Time Referenced: (How/Steps)

Week 1: Master the correct way of holding a Harmonica, the correct method of producing a single note and be able to play Doh, Re, Mi, Fa, Soh, La, Ti, Doh correctly with a Harmonica (Achieved)

Week 2: Able to play the 1st song (Marry Had A Little Lamb) correctly with a Harmonica (Achieved)

Week 3: Able to play the 2nd song (Harmonica March) correctly with a Harmonica (Achieved)

Week 4: Able to play the 3rd song (Little Bee) correctly with a Harmonica (Achieved)

Week 5: Able to play the 4th song (Painter) correctly with a Harmonica (Achieved)

Week 6: Able to play the 5th song (Long Long Ago) correctly with a Harmonica (Achieved)

Week 7: Able to play the 6th song (London Bridge) correctly with a Harmonica (Achieved)

Week 8: Able to play the 7th song (Three Blind Mice) correctly with a Harmonica (Achieved)

Week 9: Able to play the 8th song (Allegro) correctly with a Harmonica (Achieved)

Week 10: Able to play the 9th song (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) correctly with a Harmonica (Achieved)

Week 11: Able to play the 10th song (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - Variation 1) correctly with a Harmonica (Achieved)

Week 12: Able to play the 11th song (Love Me Tender) correctly with a Harmonica (Achieved)

Week 13: Able to play the 12th song (Little White Boat) correctly with a Harmonica (Achieved)

Week 14: Able to play the 13th song (Song Of Joy) correctly with a Harmonica (Achieved)

Week 15: Able to play the 14th song (Home On The Range) correctly with a Harmonica

Week 16: Able to play the 15th song (Edelweiss) correctly with a Harmonica

The Events & Competitions Of Harmonica

A big harmonica competition is held in the autumn every four years in Trossingen, Germany, home of the Hohner harmonica company. The last World Harmonica Festival was in 2005 and - if all goes well - the next will be in 2009. However, there is a Harmonica Masters Workshop held every year.

Another international harmonica event is held in the summer every two years in cities in the Asia Pacific Region, which is called Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival. Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival(APHF, Chinese:亞太口琴節, Japanese:アジア太平洋ハーモニカ大会) is one of the world largest harmonica event. It helds every two years. The first APHF was held in Taipei in 1996. The next festival is to be held in summer 2008 in Hangzhou, China.

In Hong Kong, Schools Music Festival is held every year for school students to compete in different music classes. Harmonica classes include band for primary and secondary schools, ensemble for secondary school, duet for secondary school, solo (junior, intermediate, and senior), and concert work (open).

Every August there is a harmonica contest in Idaho. The contest has been running for eighteen years since 1989. The contest is held in Yellow Pine about 150 miles outside of Boise, Idaho and is called the Yellow Pine Harmonica Contest.

The List Of Famous Harmonica Bands & Famous Harmonicists

Famous Harmonica bands

1. Borrah Minnevitch and his Harmonica Rascals

2. Troupe da Gaita

3. The Harmonicats

Famous Harmonicists

Blues players

1. Billy Boy Arnold

2. Dan Aykroyd, as Elwood Blues

3. Carey Bell

4. James Belushi

5. Norton Buffalo (Steve Miller Band: Chromatic, Diatonic)

6. Howlin' Wolf (real name: Chester Burnett)

7. Paul Butterfield

8. James Cotton

9. Jim Conway

10. Cyril Davies

11. Garrett Dutton (G. Love & Special Sauce)

12. Paul deLay

13. Carlos del Junco

14. Harmonica Frank

15. Jazz Gillum

16. Alan Glen (the Barcodes, Yardbirds, Dr Feelgood, Nine Below Zero)

17. Marla Glen

18. Tony "Little Sun" Glover

19. Slim Harpo

20. Taylor Hicks

21. Bill "Watermelon Slim" Homans

22. Big Walter Horton

23. Paul Jones (The Blues Band, Manfred Mann)

24. Lazy Lester

25. Noah Lewis

26. Dutch Mason

27. John Mayall (Bluesbreakers)

28. Delbert McClinton

29. Hammie Nixon

30. Jean-Jacques Milteau

31. Charlie Musselwhite (Diatonic, Chromatic)

32. Sam Myers

33. Rod Piazza (Chromatic, Diatonic)

34. Roly Platt Versatile Blues, R&B, Country player - Canada

35. Jerry Portnoy (Diatonic)

36. Snooky Pryor

37. Annie Raines

38. Jimmy Reed

39. Jason Ricci

40. Curtis Salgado

41. George "Harmonica" Smith

42. Powell St. John

43. Les Stroud

44. Sugar Blue

45. Greg "Fingers" Taylor (Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band)

46. Sonny Terry

47. Big Mama Thornton

48. Captain Beefheart (a.k.a Don Van Vliet)

49. Little Walter

50. Junior Wells, (Muddy Waters)

51. Sonny Boy Williamson I

52. Sonny Boy Williamson II

53. Kim Wilson (The Fabulous Thunderbirds)

Folk

1. Donovan

2. Bob Dylan

3. Ramblin' Jack Elliott

4. Jesse Fuller

5. Arlo Guthrie

6. Woody Guthrie

7. Mel Lyman (Jim Kweskin Jug Band)

8. Rory McLeod

9. Sonny Terry

10. Vikki Thorn (The Waifs)

11. Neil Young

12. León Gieco

Rock

1. Ryan Adams

2. Teddy Andreadis (Live harmonicist for Guns N' Roses during the Use Your Illusion Tour)

3. Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull)

4. Gem Archer (Oasis)

5. Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day)

6. Tim Armstrong (Rancid)

7. Beck

8. Bono (U2)

9. David Bowie

10. Gary Brooker (Procol Harum)

11. Jack Bruce

12. Bertrand Cantat (Noir Désir)

13. Gene Clark (The Byrds)

14. Alice Cooper

15. Sheryl Crow

16. Burton Cummings

17. Rivers Cuomo (Weezer)

18. Rick Davies (Supertramp)

19. Magic Dick (Richard Salwitz of the J. Geils Band)

20. Roger Daltrey (The Who)

21. Rick Danko (The Band)

22. Bob Dylan

23. Melissa Etheridge

24. Andrew Farriss (INXS)

25. Jon Foreman (Switchfoot)

26. Peter Garrett (Midnight Oil)

27. Ian Gillan (Deep Purple)

28. David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)

29. John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

30. Tom Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

31. Levon Helm (The Band)

32. George Harrison

33. Kelly Hoppe (Big Sugar)

34. Mick Jagger

35. Billy Joel

36. Brian Jones (Rolling Stones)

37. Adam Lazzara (Taking Back Sunday)

38. Arthur Lee (Love)

39. John Lennon

40.Lemmy (Motörhead)

41. Huey Lewis (Huey Lewis & The News)

42. Richard Manuel (The Band)

43. Johnny Marr

44. Matt Mays

45. Ron McKernan (Grateful Dead)

46. Van Morrison

47. Lee Oskar (War)

48. Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath)

49. Tom Petty

50. Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin)

51. John Popper (Blues Traveler)

52. Keith Relf

53. Billy Lee Riley

54. Robbie Robertson (The Band)

55. Joe Satriani

56. John Sebastian (The Lovin' Spoonful)

57. Nicky Shane

58. Southside Johnny

59. Bruce Springsteen

60. Chris Squire (Yes)

61. Ringo Starr

62. Ray Thomas (Moody Blues)

63. Scott Thurston (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers)

64. Steven Tyler (Aerosmith)

65. Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam)

66. Stevie Wonder

67. Neil Young

68. Pete Yorn

69. Warren Zevon

Country Music

1. DeFord Bailey

2. Buddy Greene

3. Charlie McCoy

4. Terry McMillan

5. Mickey Raphael

6. Bobbejaan Schoepen

Irish music

1. Patrick Clancy (The Clancy Brothers)

Jazz

1. Philip Achille (Chromatic, Saxophonist, Piano and Double bass)

2. Larry Adler (Chromatic)

3. Carlos del Junco

4. Max Geldray (Goon Show)

5. Howard Levy (Diatonic)

6.Chris Michalek (Diatonic)

7.Jean "Toots" Thielemans (Chromatic)

Classical music

1. Larry Adler (Chromatic)

2. Robert Bonfiglio (Chromatic)

3. Angelo Dos Santos (Chromatic)

4. Sigmund Groven (Chromatic)

5. Tommy Reilly (Chromatic)

The Musical Instruments Related To Harmonica

The concertina, diatonic and chromatic accordions and the melodica are all free-reed instruments which were developed alongside the harmonica. Indeed, the similarities between harmonicas and so-called "diatonic" accordions or melodeons is such that in German the name for the former is "Mundharmonika" and the later "Handharmonika", translated simply as "mouth harmonica" and "hand harmonica"; the names for the two instruments in the Slavic languages are also either similar or identical. The harmonica shares similarities to all other free-reed instruments by virtue of the method of sound production.

There also exists the unrelated glass harmonica, which is often confused with being a harmonica made of glass. In fact, it is a musical instrument formed of a nested set of graduated glass cups mounted sideways on an axle and partially immersed in water. It is played by touching the rotating cups with wetted fingers, causing them to vibrate.

The Medical Use Of Harmonica

"Playing" the harmonica requires inhaling and exhaling strongly against resistance. This action helps develop a strong diaphragm and deep breathing using the entire lung volume. Pulmonary specialists have noted that playing the harmonica resembles the kind of exercise used to rehabilitate COPD patients such as using a PFLEX inspiratory muscle trainer or the inspiratory spirometer. Learning to play a musical instrument also offers motivation in addition to the exercise component. Many pulmonary rehabilitation programs therefore have begun to incorporate the harmonica.

The Care & Maintenance Of Harmonica

1. Don't eat and play the harmonica.

2. Don’t drink sticky, heavy drinks before playing the harmonica.

3. Rinse the mouth out well, or brush the teeth if necessary, before playing the harmonica.

4. Don't share the harmonica with others.

5. Tap the harmonica out gently after playing the harmonica, tapping out the excess saliva - holes down, and wipe the harmonica with alcohol swabs.

6. Keep the harmonica in the box or in some other clean place (pocket,purse) if you aren’t playing.

7. Take note when putting the harmonica down - pay attention to where the harmonica is put: the harmonica is small and easily misplaced.

The Techniques Of Harmonica

Techniques available for the harmonica are numerous. Some are used to provide additional tonal dynamics, while others are used to increase playing ability. Using these techniques can change the harmonica from a diatonic instrument that can play one key properly into a versatile instrument. Some techniques used include: bending, overbending, overdrawing, position playing and vibrato.

'Vibrato' is a technique commonly used while playing the harmonica and many other instruments, notably string instruments, to give the note a 'shaking' sound. This technique can be accomplished in a number of ways. The most common way is to change how the harmonica is held. For example, by opening and closing your hands around the harmonica very rapidly you achieve the vibrato effect. Another way is to use a 'head shaking' technique, frequently used in blues harmonica, in which the player moves the lips between two holes very quickly. This gives a quick shaking technique that is slightly more than vibrato and achieves the same aural effect on sustained notes.

In addition to the 19 notes readily available on the diatonic harmonica, players can play other notes by adjusting their embouchure and forcing the reed to resonate at a different pitch. This technique is called "bending", a term borrowed from guitarists, who literally "bend" a string in order to create subtle changes in pitch. "Bending" also creates the glissandos characteristic of much blues harp and country harmonica playing. Bends are essential for most blues and rock harmonica due to the soulful sounds the instrument can bring out. The famous "wail" of the blues harp typically required bending. In the 1970s, Howard Levy developed the "overbending" technique (also known as "overblowing" and "overdrawing".) Overbending, combined with bending, allowed players to play the entire chromatic scale.

In addition to playing the diatonic harmonica in its original key, it is also possible to play it in other keys by playing in other "positions", using different keynotes. Using just the basic notes on the instrument would mean playing in a specific mode for each position. Harmonica players (especially blues players) have developed a set of terminology around different "positions" which can be somewhat confusing to other musicians.

Harmonica players who amplified their instrument with microphones and tube amplifiers, such as blues harp players, also have a range of techniques which exploit the properties of the microphone and the amplifier, such as changing the way the hands are cupped around the instrument and the microphone or rhythmically breathing or chanting into the microphone while playing.