Top 10 easy harmonica songs for beginners (with tabs)

Are you a new harmonica beginner? Are you finding easy harmonica songs for beginners? Ok, that is cause i open this topic with “Top 10 easy harmonica songs for beginners” which i collected from internet. I hope it can help you.

All notes are mainly in the middle register of the harmonica: holes 4 to 7, the easiest information to play.

These are simple songs, but to play them well you should have good control of all the notes in the middle register, both individually even though moving between holes.

It is also advisable to apply articulations using syllables like “TA” and “DA” when doing repetitions of blow and draw notes, respectively. These articulations separate the notes and give them a far more defined starting sound or accent.

For example, when we play a hole 4 blow and then repeat it, instead of blowing twice (with two separate airflows), we shall only blow once, and by using the syllable “TA” as an articulation, the continuous airflow will be interrupted when your tongue fastly hits the hard palate, separating the notes. As a result, the sound of the repeated note will undoubtedly be clearer.

In 9 of these songs you will see that on the tabs there are as much articulations as repeated notes.

The songs are arranged by difficulty, and each song has a slow practice version and an original tempo version. It will be useful to learn each song bit by bit, and play it all together.

Playing a song with the clean sound is more important than playing it fast.

“This Old Man” and “Jingle Bells” have several articulations and many passages with hole leaps, which make them even more demanding for a beginner.

When you jump holes, you must not move your mouth too far from the harmonica; just try to keep the gap to a minimum to land right at the biggest market of the hole you want to play next. When you jump from holes 6 to 4, you could accidentally play hole 5 by falling short, or hole 3 by leaping too much. At first, problems with playing hole leaps are very common because you may not really have a good reference on the harmonica yet, but you will improve this with repetition!

The tablature I use is the arrow system – up arrows for blow notes and down arrows for draw notes. Learn more about different tablature systems in this article: “How to read harmonica tabs”

Top 10 easy harmonica songs for beginners

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1. Happy Birthday

Happy birhday harmonica tab

6 6 -6 6 7 -7
Hap-py birth-day to you,
6 6 -6 6 -8 7
Hap-py birth-day to you,
6 6 9 8 7 -7 -6
Hap-py birth-day to _ _
-9 -9 8 7 -8 7
Hap-py birth-day to you.

You can see other version here.

Slow Tempo (80 bpm)

Original Tempo (110 bpm)

2. Home Sweet Home

4 -4 5 -5 -6 6 -5 5
6 -5 5 -5 -4 5
4 -4 5 -5 -6 6 -5 5
6 -5 5 -5 -4 4
6 7 -7 -6 6 6 5
6 -5 5 -5 -4 5
6 7 -7 -6 6 6 5
6 -5 5 -5 -4 4
-5 5 -5 -4 4

You can see other versions here.

Slow Tempo (65 bpm)

Original Tempo (80 bpm)

3. Jingle Bells (First part)

5 5 5
5 5 5
5 6 4 -4 5
-5 -5 -5 -5 -5 5 5 5 5 -4 -4 5 -4 6
5 5 5
5 5 5
5 6 4 -4 5
-5 -5 -5 -5 -5 5 5 5 5 6 6 -5 -4 4
3 5 -4 4 3
3 3 3 5 -4 4 -3
3 -5 5 -4 6 6 6 6 -6 6 -5 -4 4 6

You can see more versions here

Slow Tempo (80 bpm)

Original Tempo (110 bpm)

4. This Old Man

6 5 6 6 5 6
This old man, he played one,
-6 6 -5 5 -4 5 -5
He played nick-nack on my drum.
Chorus: (Repeat after each verse)
5 -5 6 4 4 4 4
With a nick-nack paddy whack
4 -4 5 -5 6
Give a dog a bone,
6 -4 -4 -5 5 -4 4
This old man came rolling home.

You can see more versions here.

Slow Tempo (120 bpm)

Original Tempo (160 bpm)

5. When the Saints Go Marching In

4 5 -5 6
4 5 -5 6
4 5 -5 6 5 4 5 -4
5 5 -4 4 4 5 6 6 6 -5
4 5 -5 6 5 4 -4 4

You can see more versions here.

Slow Tempo (120 bpm)

Original Tempo (160 bpm)

6. Oh Susanna

4-4 5 6 6-6 6 5
I came from Al-a-bam-a

4 -4 5 5 -4 4 -4
with my ban-jo on my knee;

4-4 5 6 6 -6 6 5
I’m goin’ to Lou-‘si-an-a

4-4 5 5 -4 -4 4
M-y true love for to see.

4-4 5 6 6 -6 6 5 4
I-t rained all night the day I left

-4 5 5 -4 4 -4
The weath-er it was dry;

4 -4 5 6 6 -6 6 5 4
Th-e sun so hot I froze to death,

-4 5 5 -4 -4 4
Su-san-na, don’t you cry.

-5 -5 -6 -6 -6 6 6 5 4 -4
Oh, Su-san-na, oh, don’t you cry for me;

4 -4 5 6 6-6 6 5
I-ve come from Al-a-bam-a

4 -4 5 5 -4 -4 4
with my ban-jo on my knee.

You can more other versions here.

Slow Tempo (90 bpm)

Original Tempo (140 bpm)

7. Camptown Races

6 6 6 5 6 -6 6 5
De Camptown ladies sing this song,
5 -4 5 -4
Doo-da, Doo-da
6 6 6 5 6 -6 6 5
De Camptown racetrack’s two miles long
-4 -4 5 -4 4
Oh, de doo-da day.

Refrain
4 4 5 6 7
G’wine to run all night
-6 -6 7 -6 6
G’wine to run all day
6 6 6 5 6 6 6 -6 6 6
I bet my money on a bob-tailed nag
-4 -4 -4 5 -4 -4 4
Somebody bet on the gray

You can see more other versions here.

Slow Tempo (80 bpm)

Original Tempo (100 bpm)

8. Mary Had a Little Lamb

5 -4 4 -4 5 5 5
Ma-ry had a lit-tle lamb
-4 -4 -4 5 6 6
Lit-tle lamb, lit-tle lamb
5 -4 4 -4 5 5 5
Ma-ry had a lit-tle lamb
5 -4 -4 5 -4 4
Whose fleece was white as snow

You can more other versions here.