Scales with a major character that are built into a c harmonica are. Figure 5 chromatic scale musicians tend to like to use the visual reference of the piano for this same information. I started playing chromatic in 1982 after a few years of saxophone and blues harmonica study under my belt. Chromatic harmonicas are also tuned to a major scale, but the. Quality 12 holes harmonica and cheap 16 holes one in the same price. Combining pure melody with full, rich chords is now easily. This book gives you easy access to playing harmonica. Rock, country, blues, folk, and world music all make extensive use of pentatonic sounds. This page shows the notes included in the major scales and how they are played on a solo layout 12 hole chromatic harmonica in key of c. The earliest harmonica recordings dating from before ww1 document proficient note bending in the 1st position, whereas 2nd position playing was not recorded until 1923, though it must have existed previously. Learn the chromatic harmonica improvise in all 12 keys. Because i consider playing single notes an intermediate level tech.
If its your first harmonica, a standard may be easier to learn on because there is a specific pattern of sucks and blows that is repeated on other standard keyed harmonicas to run through the scale. This creates a 12note chromatic scale all the notes possible in western culture music like the. Play along with songs on the radio or your cd player and really. The solotuning is ideal for playing melodies using all notes of the major scale over a full threeoctave range. That means i play driving rhythms, tongueblocked harmonies, and soaring melodies all at once on one of those pocketsized 10hole wonders.
Tremolo harmonicas are a type of harmonica, distinct by having two reeds per note. It is tuned in equal temperament, ideal for playing melodies using all notes of the major. Pictures and text clearly show you exactly how to hold the instrument and play. Each diatonic harmonica includes the notes that belong to just one key, such as the. Chromatic harmonica scales guitar lessons for beginners. A chromatic harmonica uses a sliding bar either on the mouthpiece or on the back of the instrument to direct airflow across the desired reed. It is possible, of course, to combine the two techniques. Tremolo harmonicas are tuned to a single major scale. The scales you have studied up till now major and minor are in a group called diatonic scales. Guide to playing twelve major scales with three fournote patterns on the diminished layout chromatic harmonica. The instrument baffled me at first but then i noticed that if i approached it like a woodwind instrument and applied basic disciplines such as scales and arpeggios that i began to make progress. In all the diagrams, the upper two rows are the blow notes, and. The chromatic harmonica is a type of harmonica that uses a buttonactivated sliding bar to redirect air from the hole in the mouthpiece to the selected reedplate desired.
Im going to be talking about the chromatic harmonicas, these harmonicas were invented over 100 years ago by hohner the chromatic harmonica contains all natural notes, plus all sharps, and flats which allows you to play chromatic melodies, these harmonicas are totally different from the standard diatonic harmonicas. The two basic types of harmonica are the diatonic harmonica and the chromatic harmonica. Harmonica scales for beginners while learning to play. Chromatic sans is a font for writing harmonica tablature, or tab, for chromatic harmonicas of up to sixteen holes. Figure 6 piano keyboard 1 draw is the note d and the 1 blow is the note c on the harmonica. The purpose of this article is to cover one and only one topic.
While there are 16 holes on a 16hole chromatic harmonica, they dont number the holes from 116 on the cover of the harmonica. Get a chromatic any way, its a part of playing harmonica that you shouldnt miss out on. This book uses the 12 or 16hole chromatic harmonica in the key of c, as well as the 10hole diatonic in the key of c, in standard tuning and blues harp style. A diatonic scale is a sevennote musical scale with 5 whole steps and 2 half steps, where the half steps have the maximum separation usually 2 or 3 notes apart.
This 512 x 8 qwikguide bookcd set is a quick, informative manual about chromatic harmonica. All of my notation excluding some chromatic harmonica notation is written as if you are playing on a c. Not really very useful for something youve never heard before, but very effective in allowing you to play a familiar number by the hole numbers stamped on your chromatic harmonica. A chromatic scale lists all the notes white and black keys in order, usually from c to the next c above or below.
The sampler combines the ease of playability of the chromatic harmonica. Can you see how having played the major scale a lot would help you to be able to play this song more easily. All of my notation excluding some chromatic harmonica notation is written as if you are playing on a c major harmonica. Classical music, jazz tremolo harmonicas are tuned to individual major scales. The word chromatic in music means 2 or more consecutive notes that are a half step 1 fret apart from one another. Harp tab, lyrics, midis, mp3s, images, links to more harmonica tab, biographies and more. Student guide for solotuned harmonica part i diatonic. This tuning has the major diatonic scale in the middle and top octaves of the harmonica. Tabs or tablature defined tabs are a simplified way to notate harmonica solos, harmonica parts, melodies and songs, without having to formally read music. Chromatic harmonica a guide from the harmonica company. Its fast, its fun, and learning music was never more enjoyable.
Chromatic harmonica download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. The answer relates to range a chromatic harmonica tuned to a, for example, will have a lower range at the expense of the higher notes than one tuned to c. Why not try starting with the minor pentatonic scales. Many chromatic harmonica players do not fully utilize the slider that raises the notes for a semitone and the instrument is played in cmajor, the standard key for a chromatic harmonica. Chromatic harmonica lesson 6 c major blues scale youtube.
All the notes of the c major scale are built into a charp f. The following figure shows 12bar blues as a chord chart, which presents the. Those who complete this course may wish to take solotuned harmonica part ii chromatic, for which the student must have a 12 or 16hole solotuned chromatic harmonica in the key of c. This harmonica has a diatonic scale in the lower row and a chromatic scale in the upper row, just like. You can also access our site through your mobile phone. Chromatic harmonicas are also tuned to a major scale, but the slide mechanism. The harmonica is a popular handheld mouthblown instrument used in many genres of music, including rock, blues, bluegrass, folk and country. The word chromatic actually means colourful the scales are very colourful since they use all 12 different notes available instead of just 7 of them. Chromatic harmonica vs diatonic harmonica, the low down for most of my life, ive been playing the 10hole diatonic harmonica. Symphony grand chromatic c pitch range of seydel harmonicas piano view. When the button is not pressed, an altered diatonic major scale of the key of the harmonica is available, while. The most widely acclaimed harmonica tab website worldwide. Chromatic harmonica technique note positions masters of. The lion sleeps tonight is a perfect example of a cool first position tune that fits in the major scale.
Initially most harmonica players were solo performers. Play along with these accurate harmonica tab and learn the harmonica faster than you ever expected to. Chromatic tabs while not sheet music, tabs are what some slidemeisters like to call cheat music. C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 a b a a b d g b d f g b b b e b b d g b d f a b d f a blow v c e g c e g c e g c draw v d 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 b d 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 e 1 2 3. The text tab system is our default tab system for simple songs and harmonica parts where the timing is not included. This only had blow reeds and the notes were ordered chromatically. Below are the 12 minor pentatonic scales presented as chromatic harmonica tabs. In this paper we will simply consider the major scale, which is one of the diatonic scales. Always play blues harp on diatonic, but for things that tend to modulate, like pop and jazzy stuff the chromatic is indispensable.
Harmonicachromatic harmonica wikibooks, open books for. What to learn to play the chromatic harmonica in every key. Chromatic harmonicas offer all 12 notes of the chromatic scale, permitting them to be played in all keys without any special techniques. The chromatic harmonica is a type of harmonica that uses a buttonactivated sliding bar to redirect air from the hole in the mouthpiece to the selected reed plate desired. There are chromatic tremolo harmonica, which combine the slider design of the chromatic.
Basics of scales, pitch and rhythm will be covered. One natural note f has to be raised a semitone to f. The sampler combines the ease of playability of the chromatic harmonica with the. Descending chromatic scales use flats for black piano keys. Bluesmaster promaster diatonic pure harp overdrive pipe.
A scale from the italian word for ladder is a series of notes from low to high or high to low following some pattern of whole steps and half steps. Chromatic harmonica lessons chromatic harp instruction. A guitar chromatic scale contains all 12 possible pitches before arriving back at the starting note name an octave higher here are the notes in a c chromatic scale. Blues is played mostly on two types of harmonica, diatonic and chromatic. Repeated or choice notes are shown so you may make your own choice from the alternatives shown. The chromatic harmonica defined the chromatic harmonica has a button on the right side which when not pressed in, allows you to play a standard major scale in the key of the chromatic typically, the key of c, and with the button depressed, gives you all the halfsteps or notes in between. Diatonic, crossharp, and chromatic chromatic harmonica solos chromatic harmonica jazz etudes for chromatic harmonica. For this song, we are using just the first five notes of the major scale. Combining the affordability of our popular folkmaster with our world famous promaster, the. Pentatonic scales are fivenote scales that sound good over just about any kind of music. Ascending chromatic scales use sharps for black piano keys.
The chromatic scale lists every note available in our western european diatonic music system. When the button is not pressed, an altered diatonic major scale of the key of the harmonica is available, while depressing the button accesses the same scale a semitone higher in each hole. More special tunings available on demand for many models in the seydel harmonica configurator. Samplertutorial with many sound examples ca seydel sohne. One natural note b has to be lowered one semitone to b. Handy claimed to have heard harmonica train imitations as early as the 1870s. This is a stepbystep approach to the chromatic harmonica by the renowned harmonica player tommy morgan. G is the most popular key for playing a c harmonica, even more popular than c. In general, there are five main ways to get chromatic notes on a harmonica. It takes you through the fundamentals of the instrument using standard notation and harmonica tablature arrows and numbers, making the chromatic accessible to everyone. The major scale is a diatonic scale with the pattern of whole step.
After all, you might think, if you can play any note in the chromatic scale, you shouldnt need different keys of harmonicas for different keys of songs, as you do for a diatonic. A chromatic harmonica has a button on the side that gives access to more notes, so you can play any note. Simple harmonica chords for the beginning player udemy blog. And because they use fewer notes than the standard 7note scales, pentatonics make it easier to. Many chromatic harmonicas will come with 12, 14, or 16 holes, which allow the player to produce notes and harmonica chords in different keys. Mastering the chromatic harmonica, playing fluently in all 12 keys on one instrument, requires musical knowledge and considerable practice.
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