Junior harmonica

4 Hole Harmonica 

Golly Speedy!

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The Hohner Speedy harmonica

When you start harmonica, it can be hard to play ten holes. So Hohner make a special harmonica with the four most important ones. The holes are bigger too, so it’s easy to play. It’s called Speedy and it’s great for learning new songs. To hear Speedy, click the green button.

Now see if you can play all the notes. Each hole has a number from 1 to 4. B is blow (breath out). D is draw (breath in).

1B   1D   2B   2D   3B   3D   4D   4B

We give each note a name too.

C     D     E     F     G     A     B     C 

You can see our tune printed on top of the harmonica! Speedy comes in blue, pink, black or yellow and is easy to carry in your pocket or in your school bag.

Harmonica Trivia 

Harmonicas In Space

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Houston we have a problem

In December 1965, the Gemini 6 space mission was launched by NASA with two astronauts on board. One of the astronauts, Wally Schirra Jr, was a harmonica player. When the mission was over and the astronauts headed back to earth for Christmas, they played a trick on their friends at mission control.

Wally said he could see another space craft with a man dressed in a red suit at the controls. The team at NASA were confused and worried; could it be a Soviet Russian spacecraft? Then Wally played Jingle Bells on his tiny four-hole Little Lady harmonica while someone, perhaps his co-pilot Tom Stafford, also shook some mini sleigh bells. A reply came back from NASA; ‘You’re too much!’

To infinity and beyond

So the harmonica was the first musical instrument to be played in outer space. To stop his harmonica from floating around the capsule, Wally attached it to his space suit with a strip of velcro and some thread. The four hole Little Lady is also the smallest harmonica in production. It’s only 3½ centimetres long!

Tunes to Play 

This Old Man

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This old man, he played three, he played short harp beautifully..

Welcome to the Toot Suite where junior harmonica players learn songs, check out top harmonica tips and share crazy harmonica facts that will amaze and amuse.

Here’s a tune everyone knows. It just uses three holes, but there are two jumps to learn for everything to sound right. Take your time. See how clearly you can play each note.

Purple music is for four hole harmonicas. Orange music is for ten hole harmonicas. Numbers tell you which hole to play. D means draw (breath in). B means blow (breath out).

Listen to the whole tune first. Play it a second time and try humming or singing along. Next, learn to play each chunk. Finally, put the song back together. See if you can play right through without stopping.

Here’s the whole tune. Click the green button to play.

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