What is Harmonicas for Health?
This is a basic blues harmonica class designed for seniors that focuses on using the harmonica to improve your health by improving your breathing. The primary objective of the class is to learn enough harmonica techniques that playing harmonica becomes a fun part of your daily wellness routine. The more you play, the better you breathe, the more oxygen all your cells get, the better you feel. A free harmonica will be provided to all that sign up for the class, and handouts, guides and songs to play will provided each week.
There no mistakes when you are having fun!
You may contact Mad Dog Friedman at maddogATmaddogharpDOTcom
(Change the "AT" to "@" and the "DOT" to ".".)
Who is Mad Dog Friedman?
His CD with Blue Lightning won the Colorado Blues Society’s Best Self-Produced CD contest in 2018. Friedman routinely plays over 100 shows a year with his current band, Mad Dog Blues.
As a teacher, Friedman has over 30 years of classroom experience mostly as a science teacher and curriculum leader for the Thompson School District. His responsibilities as an educator included developing, managing and evaluating professional development programs that trained hundreds of district and regional teachers and administrators in science inquiry, educational technology and standards-based education.
Wow! What a great article and interview from the Boulder Daily Camera about Mad Dog Friedman published on May 6, 2022!
Listen to over 200 of Mad Dog Friedman's Harmonica Songs on Spotify (for free):
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Here is a link to to medical study supporting the use of harmonicas to improve your breathing.
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What do we do in Harmonicas for Health?
Harmonicas for Health Course Outline
Week 1 – Basic warm up and breathing exercises, how to hold a harmonica, how to “cup” the harmonica, how to play a blow note, how to play a draw note and making the harmonica sound like a train. (You will need a diatomic harmonica in the key of C to participate. Harmonicas from the instructor or online for $10.) Download Week 1 Handouts.
Week 2 – Playing one note at a time and how to use harmonica tabs. (Try www.HarmonicaTabs.net to find harmonica tabs for about any song you want. Also Trubo Tabs has great tunes for beginners.) Download Week 2 Handouts.
Week 3 – Advanced breathing techniques, mastering single note play, introduction to bending a note and more tabs. (Check out this great video on getting one note at a time from harmonica.com.) Download Week3 Handouts.
Week 4 – Harmonica theory, playing your harp in other keys than it was made in, playing the blues and more help with bending. (Check out this great video on playing a blues scale on the harmonicafrom harmonica.com.) Download Week4 Handouts.
Week 5 – Other beginning & intermediate harmonica tricks and techniques and techniques. Download Week 5 Handouts.
Week 6 – Advanced harmonica techniques and playing along with your costume-made jamming CD. Play Along Backing Tracks for C Harmonicas
Also you can play along with or download our Play Along Backing Tracks for C Harmonicas at https://maddogfriedman.bandcamp.com/album/harmonicas-for-health-play-along-backing-tracks-for-harmonics-in-the-key-of-c.
Check this great video about Harmonicas for Health from the Longmont Times Call:
A big thank you to Hohner Harmonicas for donating starter harmonicas to help make Harmonicas for Health happen!
