Sandra L. Cooper, author of Harmonica Boot Camp is married to Dennis M. Cooper who has played the harmonica for over 40-years, professionally since 2001.

At a number of harmonica seminars and camps that Dennis held or participated in, Sandra noticed that the more advanced the instructor, the less likely they were to notice the confused and sometimes dazed stares of people new to the instrument during certain parts of the events.

Sandra started sitting out with the attendees and when confusion began to overtake the room, she would hold up her hand and ask whatever question it was that everybody in the room was confused about, but no one wanted to ask. She would also have the instructors slow down and repeat steps in plain english when instructors started using musical lingo that beginning players didn't understand.

If Dennis had been a faith healer, rather than a harmonica performer and instructor, Sandy would have been the member of the audience that jumped up from her chair and shouted "Praise the Lord! I can See!"

At these events Sandra and Dennis were often asked to recommend a good beginners book. They answered to the best of their knowledge and almost every time they'd name a title the reply would either be "Too complicated. I don't understand it." or "Too basic. They only teach a couple of campfire songs."

Sandra decided to write a basic instruction manual for absolute beginners by having Dennis explain the concepts to her and then translating them into easy to understand steps. As the book developed, it became clear that an audio CD with examples of playing and a narrative would be a most helpful addition and complete the learning package.

Harmonica Boot Camp will help you:

Breathe correctly (the most important thing)
Play with the correct embouchure (big word for how to wrap your lips around the harp)
Play in first position (mostly blowing in)
Play in second position (mostly drawing, Blues and Country style)
Read harmonica tablature (a common way to learn songs without reading music)
“Jam” with other musicians (without making a fool of yourself)
and much more in only 54 pages with an 80-minute audio CD!