When Can I See You Again Melodica
Larn How to Play the Melodica
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Why is this such a great instrument you may ask? Well, let me tell you lot all the reasons I love the melodica, and why you should too:
It is small and portable, information technology is 100% acoustic so you tin can play information technology anywhere, information technology has a huge range of 3 total octaves with all chromatic notes, it plays from soft to loud dynamics, and information technology has incredible emotional and expressive playing abilities such as vibrato, crescendos, diminuendos, and much more.
You tin can play any melody and melody on the melodica, simply what makes information technology even more versatile than many other acoustic wind instruments, is that you tin play harmonies and even full chords with it. That ways that y'all tin can use information technology both for leading melodies, or for backing parts.
I promise you feel excited, now that you have learned how amazing the melodica actually is. How versatile and wonderful of an instrument it is. Let's beginning your learning journey and take a chance where yous will acquire how to play the melodica, correct now!
Melodica – Quick Introduction
Let's starting time by having a quick look at this musical instrument. With the melodica, you get a pianoforte-like keyboard, merely you also get a hose and mouthpiece, plus in most cases a shorter mouthpiece without a hose. This is what yous blow air into, to create the notes you want to play.
When you don't use your melodica, I recommend that yous disconnect the hose and mouthpiece, and blow difficult into it to get rid of excess moisture. Most melodicas also take a button on the backside, which you tin printing, and the accident into it without holding down any central. This fashion you can get rid of some of that moisture inside the melodica as well. Because moisture volition build upwards inside it as you play.
Now, 1 great thing about the melodica compared to for example a guitar, is that you never have to tune it before playing. Y'all can just choice it upwardly, connect the hose, and start playing. I recommend that when you kickoff learning, endeavor out both the hose and the shorter mouthpiece, and come across which ane you adopt.
In virtually cases, beginners will use the hose, since you lot can then put down the melodica on a desk in front of you and clearly see all keys. If yous prefer holding the instrument in your mitt while playing, there is usually a strap on the back. But even if there is non, you can still easily hold it with your pollex on the bottom, and fingers on summit. Then that is the quick overview of the melodica. Let's continue learning at present.
The Keys and Range
Allow'due south beginning have a look at the keys and layout of the melodica. I recommend that you become the standard 37 fundamental version, which is the one I have here. In that location are of class different brands and models to choose from. If yous desire to know what model this is that I am playing, it is chosen the Hohner Performer Melodica 37 Black.
And so, the layout of the keys is like a piano keyboard, and the standard range is from this lowest note, which is F3. To this highest F, which his F6. That ways you have a full three octave range.
If you play the lowest C on your melodica, that is the aforementioned C as the middle C on a piano. This is bang-up, because that means the range of your melodica is like to a female person soprano vocalist in range, and therefore perfect for playing melodies to any music and vocal you can imagine.
How to Play Notes
The Melodica may look like a keyboard instrument, simply it is in fact a wind instrument. Merely like for example a flute or trumpet, you need to blow air into it in lodge to make a note. Pressing the keys down does non make a sound by itself.
Y'all can too recollect of this similar to playing a guitar. On a guitar yous accept i manus that chooses what frets and strings to press down, which is essentially choosing what notes to play. And and so you take your other hand, where you utilise your fingers or a pick to pluck a string, or several strings, in order to make the sounds.
So to play notes on the melodica, you but press downward a key, and then accident into the tube or the mouthpiece. Also, if you release the keys, you can no longer blow air into the melodica. It will feel stuck, considering the air stream is blocked inside the melodica if no key is pressed. This means that in club to play the melodica, you demand to both accident and press keys, and practice your skills in timing them both together.
Another of import lesson to acquire is that you will need different bravado pressure for each notation of your melodica. The lower notes require more forcefulness to vibrate and make a sound, compared to the highest notes. Try this out for yourself, try playing the lowest F, agree a long notation. And so compare to the highest note. Getting full volume on the high note is much easier every bit you can experience for yourself. This becomes fifty-fifty more clear if you play 2 or more notes at the same time. The more notes you add, the more air pressure you need. Attempt information technology out and feel the difference yourself.
When yous feel ready, allow'due south learn about how you tin shape each note when you play, in the adjacent lesson.
Shaping the Notes
There are two master means to play a note on your melodica, legato vs staccato. Legato means connecting the notes with no gap in betwixt. And staccato means playing the notes with clear separation between them. If you lot are playing ane note and want to go to some other, you can keep blowing air, so but change keys. This will change notes without whatsoever interruption betwixt them, which is chosen "legato" in music terms. Information technology will make the performance of feel smoother, which works peachy on some parts depending on the song you play.
And when you desire a clear separation betwixt the notes, yous need to terminate your air flow and and so start it again, when you play the next note. You can think of a notation start equally saying for example "tu" or "hu". Since "tu" has a strong consonant, information technology will make the start of the note more pronounced, compared to "hu" which is softer. Endeavor playing fast repetitions with your air flow while belongings the same key. Start by doing "tu, tu, tu", and so attempt "hu, hu, hu" and then you can conspicuously hear and feel the difference.
Then compare this to playing legato, meaning continued notes, where y'all tin simply hold the air-stream nearly like yous are holding a vowel similar "uuuuu". But of course you don't actually need to hum the note with your vocal cords. Simply hold a consistent air-stream.
At present go ahead and practice each variation: uuuu for legato, hu for soft absolute notes, and tu for the most clear separation in rhythms. A lot of the expression when you play the melodica, volition come up from the variation you create, in the way y'all shape each note of your operation like this. Alright, permit's go on in the side by side lesson now.
Playing Rhythm
Now there are two chief ways to play rhythmic notes on your melodica. The kickoff is when you lot proceed holding the air period, and then simply use the keys to play rhythm on. This will create a shine sounding rhythm with the notes very connected to each other. The other way is to utilize your air menstruum to cease and re-trigger the air flow, in gild to create the rhythm. Again, you lot can think of this as saying "tu" or "hu" depending on how accented you want the notes to be.
At present if you desire to play really fast, I have a tip for you. Instead of doing just "tu, tu, tu". Effort out "tu-ku, tu-ku" is it will experience easier to play very fast rhythms that way.
Finally, I desire you to do irresolute it upward as you play the notes in your functioning. Going betwixt difficult accents, soft accents, legato connected notes, rapid rhythmic notes and all in between. Because how yous shape the rhythm of your notes will also make a huge difference in how musical your performance feels. Y'all need that variation to create an interesting sound that changes in the operation.
Accenting Notes
There are two chief ways to accent a notation on your melodica. The first is with the dynamics, significant but playing the note louder. The other is to play information technology slightly longer than the surrounding notes. Often they are used in combination, meaning an absolute note will be louder and a flake longer.
Accenting notes is really important both in melodic playing, where you often accept some notes in the melody that accept the most overall impact in the melody. But fifty-fifty more important in rhythmic playing, where y'all can create a groove past picking how strong the accents should be, as well as which notes should exist accented.
Practice shaping the accents by holding downwards ane single fundamental and play a rhythmic riff, where you lot try out irresolute the rhythmic experience by choosing and shaping your accents.
Next endeavour this practice routine, but with harmonies and chords instead of a single primal. And likewise alter betwixt 2 or more chords or harmonies, to get a musical performance.
Finally effort to practice accenting specific notes in a melody, by forcing more than air force per unit area on that specific note, either only at the get-go, or during the whole note.
In one case you feel prepare, allow'due south move on to the next lesson on your melodica.
Playing Chords and Harmonies
The melodica is groovy as a melodic instrument, since you can shape the notes, the dynamics and and expression over time to create your own musical functioning. Just what is even better, is that at any time you lot can choose to press down more than than 1 fundamental, and past doing and so play a harmony, or even a full chord.
You can offset by practicing playing in octaves, but to go a experience for this. The first matter you will notice is that as soon as you press down more than i key, you will need to push more air into your melodica. And the lower yous get, the more than air yous demand.
This is also true when y'all add more than than 2 notes, to create chords. Endeavor out playing any simple major or minor triad. For example C Major: C, E and Chiliad. Practice playing a few chords, and get a experience for how much air you need to push to play those chords.
In one case you commencement to become a feeling for playing harmonies and chords, I want you to showtime practicing playing rhythms with those harmonies or chords. This way you tin can actually employ your melodica as a bankroll rhythm and harmony instrument, instead of a solo tune instrument.
You lot can even play information technology in a similar way you would an acoustic guitar that yous strum chords on. Simply of course, instead of strumming, you use your tongue and air flow to create the rhythm of your chords. Attempt information technology out, exercise playing a chord progression, or harmonic progression, with rhythmic interest. And brand sure to exercise the unlike annotation attack aspects, such as "tu", "hu" and "uu".
When you experience ready to proceed, let'south go along in the adjacent lesson.
Master the Dynamics
Now it is finally time for ane of the greatest things well-nigh the melodica. And that is that you can change the dynamics, meaning the volume and tone when you play, over the duration of whatsoever notation. You can play from very soft, to very loud. And the style to practice this is to blow air softly, and then blow harder as you lot hold down whatsoever key.
I want y'all to exercise this over the whole range of your melodica. You will experience that all notes, especially the lower notes, has a kind of a resistance shelf y'all need to pass over offset, before you showtime to hear the annotation clearly. After that little bump, you tin kickoff to blow harder and harder, and hear how the dynamics is getting louder and louder. And how the tone changes as you practice so.
Exercise this for notes in the low, to mid, to loftier range of your melodica. You want to develop a good feeling for the dynamic range of all notes on your melodica.
And then do doing the opposite, which is to start blowing difficult at the offset of the note, and so gradually decreasing the pressure to make the note softer and softer. Congratulations, you accept now learned how to make crescendos and diminuendos on your melodica. Which are fancy music theory terms that mean to gradually increase the loudness, or gradually decrease the loudness.
Finally, try showtime increasing the dynamics, and during the aforementioned note you and then subtract the dynamics. This is often chosen a dynamic swell in music. You can think of this equally creating a irksome moving ridge of changing loudness for the note. And just like a bend in existent life, a dynamic bend in music tin can be performed and shaped in space means.
All of these dynamic changes: crescendo (louder and louder), diminuendo (softer and softer) and swells (louder, then back to softer over again), are some of the greatest means to add emotion and expression into music. It is similar breathing soul into each note, and makes a huge difference in how musical your operation will audio.
Add Emotions with Vibrato
How tin y'all add your soul, and your emotions, into the notes of your melodica playing? Well, 1 of the key elements of emotion in music performances is vibrato. Vibrato essentially means to add a pulsing moving ridge to the notes. There are two dimension you can change here: the first beingness how fast the pulse is, from slow to fast. The other how deep the curve of the pulse is, from light to strong.
The fashion you exercise vibrato on whatever wind instrument, including a melodica, is to create that pulse with your air flow. Basically, y'all create the vibrato past going back and forth between a stronger air menstruum and a softer air menstruum. Practice this for yourself now, starting with a boring pulse, and then going to a faster pulsing vibrato. Focus only on the tempo of that vibrato pulse, the speed.
The next aspect is the depth of the vibrato, meaning the difference between the lowest part of the curve and the loudest peak of the bend. A stronger vibrato has a bigger difference in dynamics during the note pulse. Become ahead and practice this at present too, starting out with a very strong and deep pulse. And then practice doing light vibrato, meaning more light and subtle changes in the vibrato dynamics.
There is too a faster form of vibrato you tin can practise on the melodica, which I call "tremble vibrato", where you literally tremble your air catamenia just like you are freezing. Call up of saying "huhuhuhu" very fast. Information technology may take some practise to go a consequent tremble vibrato, simply it can be a slap-up way to add that unique emotional texture when you desire it in your performance.
Add together Spice with Grace Notes
Grace notes tin be used on any instrument to add some flare and spice in your performances. Because they are non real notes, but rather, light transition notes just before the actual next annotation. Permit me give you lot an example: if you beginning playing a Yard notation, so the adjacent existent annotation is C above it. Instead of playing it directly like that, you can add in a quick grace note simply before you play the note yous are transitioning to. It can be any note, just most frequently it is a note very close to the final annotation. And then in this case it could for example be a quick affect of the B key before the C.
The affair about grace notes, is that you lot should only use them sparingly, almost like you sprinkle them around in the complete performances every once in a while. Similar adding some berries on your final cake. Don't over-practice it, and try to add together them with intention, whenever you truly feel similar adding some spice in your functioning feels good. Practise playing a few notes, so adding a quick grace annotation in between 2 of them to get a feel for this.
When you lot commencement playing real tunes, you will presently develop an instinct for adding these grace notes every now and and so, even when they are not shown in the music sheet, or any form you employ for learning your songs. You can recollect of them like vibrato, dynamic curves, legato vs staccato notes, and all other aspects of expression and emotion you tin can add in your melodica performances…the artistic freedom you have as a musician.
Exercise Session 1 – Rhythm & Timing
One of the most essential skills to develop is your timing and co-ordination when playing your melodica, since you need to synchronise your keys with your air stream. And then I have a few practice routines for you lot to develop your rhythm and timing skills on your melodica:
- Single Note Rhythms
- Scale Walks and Turns
- Octave Spring Scale Walks
- Melodic Rhythms
- Chords & Harmony Rhythms
Practice Session 2 – Note Transitions
Variation in the transition between notes is a huge aspect of musicality and expression in your performance. Call up of it this way: The space in between the notes, can have almost as much emotional impact, as the actual notes themselves. So your next practice session is to focus on note transitions in your performances.
- Overlap Legatos
- Synced Legatos
- Soft Staccatos
- Absolute Staccatos
- Grace Notes
Exercise Session 3 – Dynamics & Emotion
This is the most creative and inspiring aspect of playing whatsoever music instrument. Adding your emotions and expression into your performance. The main fashion to practise this on your melodica is to shape the dynamics of each notation, also as adding emotional aspects such as vibrato.
- Crescendos, Diminuendos & Swells
- Accents & FortePiano
- Static Vibrato
- Evolving Vibrato
- Tremble Vibrato
Congratulations
Congratulations my friend! You have learned all the essential techniques you lot need, in order to play the melodica. Not only play information technology, but play information technology beautifully, with soul and emotion. You take learned how to play melodies, harmonies, and even chords on your melodica.
Y'all have learned how you can play anything in a rhythmic style, or a connected legato style, and alter it upward to add variation in your music. You have learned how to shape the notes and set on parts with tonguing and hard or soft consonants.
You lot take learned how to shape the dynamics over time, pregnant the loudness curve of each notation, from crescendos to diminuendos, to swells and everything in between.
You have learned the amazing techniques of vibrato to add emotion to any annotation. And how to add together flare and variation with grace notes. Now it is finally time to put all your work into practice. It's time to play tunes on your melodica.
Play any Song on Your Melodica
One of the greatest things about the melodica, is that you lot can play every single note over a span of three octaves. That is more about professional singers. This ways y'all tin literally play any song e'er created, on your melodica. It too means that you tin can use any sheet music with a leading melody in the treble clef, and play it back on your melodica.
Of class, this means you demand some skills in reading music. Only since this is a class for beginners, I want it to exist even more than accessible for you, so I have created a few short videos with famous songs from pop civilisation and soundtracks, where I utilize falling piano notes as your reference, since information technology is the most visual and easy way to larn tunes for beginners.
These are not complete songs, but at least it will give you some instant gratification and lots of fun getting started with some practical playing on your melodica. After you finish this grade, if you want to learn any song in the world, in that location are plenty of music sheets online, too as falling piano notation videos on YouTube you lot can use for learning. At present, let's play some tunes!
- The Lord of the Rings – The Hobbit Theme
- Star Wars – The Force Theme
- The Hobbit – Misty Mountains
- Indiana Jones – Primary Theme
- Forrest Gump – Feather Theme
- Pirates of the Caribbean – Master Theme
- Jurassic Park – Main Theme
- The King of beasts King – Circumvolve of Life
- Aladdin – A Whole New World
- Braveheart – Theme
Source: https://professionalcomposers.com/learn-how-to-play-the-melodica/
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