Type of Harmonica

• The type of harmonica that these lessons are intended for is, a ten hole "diatonic harmonica". It is often referred to as a Blues Harp by players. It's the one that all the cool Bluesy stuff is played on. Blues Harps come in about 12 different keys, depending on the manufacturer or brand name. For the purposes of learning, it is better to begin with a Key "C" harmonica. This is because all beginners instructional material for harmonica tends to be in the key of "C"

• Some popular brands of Harmonica are ; Lee Oscar, Hohner, Suzuki, Bushman.

• The diagram below represents the front of your harmonica, the lowest pitch note being number 1

Explanation of Tablature

For the purposes of learning and if you are not familiar with reading sheet music we are going to use Harmonica Tab or tablature to describe the notes or holes we are playing on the harmonica. This pictorial form of notation is used to tab harmonica a lot of songs in the List of Songs to Learn but a more conventional form is used throughout the rest of the site.

• The symbol means blow into hole number six.

• The symbol means blow in to hole number four.

• The symbol means inhale from hole number six.

• The symbol means inhale from both five and six.

• The symbol means inhale and bend the note by a semitone.

• The symbol means draw bend number three by a full tone, and so on, and so on.

The more conventional form for tabbing harmonica is to use plus and minus sings and to use commas to indicate bends

• -6 would mean inhale on hole 6.

• +4 would mean blow into hole number 4.

• -4' would mean a half tone bend on hole 4.

• -2" would mean full tone bend on hole 2.

• -3"' would mean bend hole 3 down one and a half steps.

• +8' means blow bend hole 8 down one semi tone.

How to hold your Harmonica

What Notes are on a Key "C" Harmonica

• There are two notes in each hole, a blow note and a draw note. Study the diagrams below and you will notice that some notes are missing.

• "F" and "A" on the lower octave, and "B" on the upper octave are missing. These notes can be played by bending the higher pitched note in that hole, but don't worry about this technique for now.

• Put your mouth over the front of the harmonica covering holes 2 to 4. Then put your tongue on the separator bar between holes 2 and 3. This should block holes 2 and 3, leaving hole 4 open. Blow or inhale on hole number 4.

• You should get a clear single note, no double notes. Practice this until you get clear single notes every time. And then practice the "C" scale below.

• Notice the change in direction at holes 6 and 7.

Some Basic Music Theory

• The C major scale goes like this:

C     D     E     F     G     A     B     C 

• This means the same as:

do     re    me    fa     sol     la    te   do

• And it looks like this on sheet music score:

• There are also a lot of half notes or semi tones in between these notes. These half notes or semi tones are also known as sharps and flats.

C#  =  C sharp          Bb  =  B flat

• C#, is a note half a tone above C   and   Bb, is a note half a tone below B. So from this we can figure out that, C# is the same note as Db

• The full range of notes and semi tones on a c scale are:

C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C 

• This can also be written as:

C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, Ab, A, Bb, B, C

•  And this full range of notes and semi tones looks like this on sheet music score:

• Notice that there is only a semi tone between E and F, same as for B and C. And now look at the G major scale.

G     A     B     C      D     E     F#   G

• And the A major scale:

A    B    C#     D     E     F#    G#    A

• Study these scales and compare them with the full possible range of notes and semi tones. There is a pattern or sequence for major scales, the notes go up in steps.

whole-step, whole-step, half-step, whole-step, whole-step, whole-step, half-step

• See if you can write out some other major scales yourself.

• For some more advanced music theory check out MusicTheory.net

Cross Key Playing

• This simply means playing your Harmonica in a different key than it was designed for. Blues on Harmonica, is most commonly played in second position. This means that you will play your "C" Harmonica in the key of  "G".