Rene Giessen, who recorded the film music for ‘Traumschiff’, ‘Tatort’ and ‘Winnetou’ (starring Pierre Brice and Lex Barker) has written this beginner’s book entitled ‘Master of Harp’, in which he shares his passion for the harmonica with his students.

In the first section, students will learn how to play a diatonic Richter harmonica. The author does not use notes here, but explains the different techniques to get the best out of each sound, for example playing with a pointed mouth, with tongue vamping and with covered holes. In the second section of the book the student will switch to a chromatic harmonica, which is used by professional musicians, to achieve a high sound quality. In this section, students will learn all about traditional notation and the theory of harmony. In two chapters the author introduces the 16-hole chromatic harmonica and the 12-hole chromatic harmonica, which extend the tonal range and playing options for the instrument.

This comprehensive book written by a master of the harmonica enables the reader to play their instrument masterfully too.

The Diatonic Richter Harmonica
Introduction
     Preliminary Exercise
     The Happy-Harmonica-System
     Playing Instructions
     Playing Songs with Chords
     Playing Single Notes
     Playing with a Pointed Mouth ("Whistle Method")
     Playing with covered Holes ("Tongue Blocking Method")
     Playing with a Rhythmical Tongue
     Which Technique is Better?
     First Technical Exercises
     Optimizing Your Sound
     The Two Most Important Qualities of a Good Sound
 The Volume
 The Oscillation (Vibrato)
     Creating Vibrato with Your Covering Hand
     Songs with a "Bluesy" Character

The Chromatic Harmonica
Initial Problems with the First Three Note Holes
Playing Single Notes

Standard Music Notation
     Don't Be Afraid of Notation!
Meter
Rhythm
     Basic Knowledge
     Controlling Your Breathing
     The Tie
     Intervals
     Overview of the Intervals
     The C Major Scale
     Expanding Your Higher Range
     The Sixteenth Note
     Dotted Notes
     The Triplet
     The Triplet Rests
     The Ritardando
     The Fermata
     Important Tips for Reading Music

Popular Music
     What is Syncopatoin?

Intervals
     Interval Exercises for Improving Hitting the Notes
     The C Major Scale over Three Octaves

The 16-Hole Chromatic Harp Chromonica III
     Expanding Your Lower Range
     Chromatic Playing

 The 12-Hole Chromatic Harp
      The Keys
      The Accidentals
      Classical and Jazz

 General Section
      Overview of Tempo - Dynamics - Phrasing
      Ornamentations
      Vibrato
      Special Effects on the Chromatic Harmonica
      Repairing of Mechanical Failure

The Three Most Important Harmonica Models
      Diatonic Richter Tuned Harp and the Diatonic Models
      Viennese Model with Detuned Octaves
      Chromatic Models