Pentatonic scales are fivenote scales that sound good over just about any kind of music. Tabs or tablature defined tabs are a simplified way to notate harmonica solos, harmonica parts, melodies and songs, without having to formally read music. For this song, we are using just the first five notes of the major scale. Well look at the basic scale, and then two exercises. Begin by playing a major scale, namely 4b 4d 5b 5d 6b 6d 7d 7b, like this. While there are 16 holes on a 16hole chromatic harmonica, they dont number the holes from 116 on the cover of the harmonica. Classical music, jazz tremolo harmonicas are tuned to individual major scales. Can you see how having played the major scale a lot would help you to be able to play this song more easily. Rock, country, blues, folk, and world music all make extensive use of pentatonic sounds. With a single keystroke you can write a symbol that includes the hole number and. Tablature for scales are written as i would play them, but there can be many more possibilities. Guitar man demonstrates how to play a basic harmonica blues scale and how to bend a note on a harmonica. Harmonicachromatic harmonica wikibooks, open books for. What to learn to play the chromatic harmonica in every key.
In general, there are five main ways to get chromatic notes on a harmonica. All keys are shown, including the commonly used 12 keys of the circle of fifths diagram, and other theoretical ie. This will fatten up your blues solos, and provide a new pathway through your instrument. That is,until i caught a video of yourself playing. In addition to winslows comments above, i think scale and arpeggio education is important to help one acquire the speed and articulation that is so necessary for jazz and rock playing two areas where jason. The text tab system is our default tab system for simple songs and harmonica parts where the timing is not included. Repeated or choice notes are shown so you may make your own choice from the alternatives shown. Playing the blues scale now that you can bend notes the next thing we should look at is the blues scale.
The harmonica is a popular handheld mouthblown instrument used in many genres of music, including rock, blues, bluegrass, folk and country. 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. The scale used on a diatonic harmonica can start on. The arrangement of reeds in the typical diatonic harmonica. Here are notes charts for the 10hole diatonic harmonica in all 12 keys, with bends. On a c harmonica, these notes form a c major scale. You will get immediate access to all 110 lessons, all the backing tracks and tabs, and all the. How to play the major pentatonic scale on harmonica. Harmonica scales for beginners while learning to play. To grow your skills as a harmonica player, you need to learn how to play single notes and scales. Descending chromatic scales use flats for black piano keys. I cant overblowdraw yet so some scales in some positions are limited. Two reeds per note in the same register are tuned slightly apart to create a warm tremolo sound. Chromatic harmonicas are also tuned to a major scale, but the slide mechanism.
All the notes of the c major scale are built into a charp f. Symphony grand chromatic c pitch range of seydel harmonicas piano view. Now that you have a good understanding of bending hopefully. Chromatic harmonica lesson 6 c major blues scale youtube. You should choose the quality 12 holes one due to its good sound especially when recording.
Finish up by learning two simple songs on harmonica. Basics of scales, pitch and rhythm will be covered. One natural note f has to be raised a semitone to f. Below is a chart showing all harmonic minor scales not on the circle of 5ths. Its also common for a player to choose the harmonica thats keyed to the fifth to make the mixolydian. 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. All these cutting edge components combine to produce. Chicago blues legend, little walter, discovered very early that blues can be played on a chromatic harmonica and many of his recordings demonstrate his amazing ability to play in 3rd position on a chromatic. You can also get yourself ready by purchasing a 12 hole chromatic harmonica in key of c.
This beginnerfriendly course will help you to familiarize yourself with the notes. Bluesmaster promaster diatonic pure harp overdrive pipe. For the moment, i practise major and minor pentatonic scales and the blues scale in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 11th, and 12th position it takes 2 hours every day. It was salzedo who decided that scales, arpeggios, and etudes were not necessary for learning to play the harp, in spite of the fact that he himself was a virtuoso harpist who had studied with alphonse hasselmans at the paris conservatory, who made vigorous use of scales.
The chromatic harmonica has been designed to provide you all the sharp and flat notes at the simple push of a slide. I started playing chromatic in 1982 after a few years of saxophone and blues harmonica study under my belt. Usually theyre not toomany steps fourths or fifths away from c. You can also access our site through your mobile phone. Acoustical and physical dynamics of the diatonic harmonica.
Im getting a lot of people registering for the site but not purchasing the course. How to play a basic harmonica blues scale harmonica. More special tunings available on demand for many models in the seydel harmonica configurator. Learn the note names all harmonic minor scales in table form, in all 12 circle of 5ths keys, including single and double accidental theoretical keys. The base is very wide, and the top is at the point. A hollow arrow indicates a note played with the slide pressed in. The major pentatonic scale does not work on the whole 12 bar sequence. In all the diagrams, the upper two rows are the blow notes, and.
Chromatic tabs while not sheet music, tabs are what some slidemeisters like to call cheat music. Blues is played mostly on two types of harmonica, diatonic and chromatic. Harmonica note charts in 12 keys with bends glenn weiser. Jun 28, 2011 i played for years with a great harmonica player in a duo but he emigrated a long time ago. Chromatic sans is a font for writing harmonica tablature, or tab, for chromatic harmonicas of up to sixteen holes. Jan 23, 2016 c major blues scale on the chromatic harmonica. All of my notation excluding some chromatic harmonica notation is written as if you are playing on a c major harmonica. Chromatic harmonica scales guitar lessons for beginners. Scales with a major character that are built into a c harmonica are. Aug 03, 2016 introduction the major scale is a great way to practice your singlenote technique and learn to move around on the harmonica. We can also hear it in famous pop songs by stevie wonder and eurythmics.
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. This page shows piano and treble clef diagrams of all harmonic minor scales, starting from note c. Please note there isnt any additional content or benefits available from the site until you actually pay for the course. How can practicing the chromatic harmonica make me a better diatonic player. And because they use fewer notes than the standard 7note scales, pentatonics make it easier to play in multiple keys on one harmonica. Look at your personal plan for developing mastery of the instrument and knowledge of music as a pyramid.
This harmonica has a diatonic scale in the lower row and a chromatic scale in the upper row, just like. In this course we will combine major 7th chords with major scales in all 12 keys. Then try the following go crazy insert bendsextra noteschords wherever desired. In order to understand how bending works on the harmonica, the pitches of both blow and draw reeds need to be mappedboth reeds are involved in the bending process. G is the most popular key for playing a c harmonica, even more popular than c. The most basic harmonica scale comprises the notes from the 4 hole blow to the 7 hole blow. In this paper we will simply consider the major scale, which is one of the diatonic scales. Chromatic harmonica download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. All of the material covered in this course pertains to the solotuned diatonic harmonica. Chromatic harmonica techniquethe pyramid explained. Chromatic harmonica techniquethe pyramid explained masters. Begin this lesson by learning how to play the bluesy, jazzy e minor scale on harmonica.
These tabs are written specifically for this type of harmonica, other types like diatonics, wont work. Sep 10, 2017 using draw bends to get the sharps and flats on powerchromatic makes playing in all 12 keys easier and smoother than on a standard chromatic. Each diatonic harmonica includes the notes that belong to just one key, such as the. I played for years with a great harmonica player in a duo but he emigrated a long time ago. This creates a 12note chromatic scale all the notes possible in western culture music like the. Oct 16, 2010 blues scale practice for diatonic harmonica warm up by trying the following with bends if possible. And because they use fewer notes than the standard 7note scales, pentatonics make it easier to. The blues scale is three blow, three blow, three inhale or suck, four blow, four suck, five suck and six blow. Quality 12 holes harmonica and cheap 16 holes one in the same price. The chromatic harmonica contains many duplicate notes, resulting in alternate hole choices. A major scale is a group of consecutive tones from one letter name to its repetition in which all. Below are the 12 minor pentatonic scales presented as chromatic harmonica tabs. When you play more than one key of harp, the idea of positions is helpful. Chromatic harmonicas can be purchased through the buy harmonicas page at our store.
How to play pentatonic and blues scales on the harmonica. Using draw bends to get the sharps and flats on powerchromatic makes playing in all 12 keys easier and smoother than on a standard chromatic. Scales and arpeggios jason ricci has an excellent discussion on the importance of learning scales in davids interview on this site. I had always wanted to learn the harmonica but couldnt really get into it. Harmonic minor scales chart other single accidental keys.
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 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. Using an eb harmonica a brief overview of how to play and use the pentatonic scale in three positionskeys over a typical blues progression. Chromatic harmonicas offer all 12 notes of the chromatic scale, permitting them to be played in all keys without any special techniques. How to play chromatic harmonica songs, tabs, scales. You reach the next numbered position on your harmonica by counting up five scale steps from the key of the harp. Pentatonic scales wildflower harmonica instruction. The major scale is a diatonic scale with the pattern of whole step.
You can play the blues scale with any g instrument. The chromatic harmonica hes been very popluar in jazz with larry adler, toots thielemans or gregoire maret. There are some notes which jar with the iv chord so i suggest that you practice playing it over the 1st 4 bars of the 12 bar sequence i chord and then revert to the blues scale for the iv chord. Major scale exercises wildflower harmonica instruction. 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. Join harmonica academy thanks for joining harmonica academy. Learn the chromatic harmonica improvise in all 12 keys. The arrow tab system is used primarily for scales where the timing. 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. When the button is not pressed, an altered diatonic major scale of the key of the harmonica is available, while. Detailed in figure 4 are the notes of the c major diatonic harmonica. Chromatic harmonica lessons chromatic harp instruction. Ascending chromatic scales use sharps for black piano keys. It will help you learn your scales and build dexterity and slide coordination.
The two basic types of harmonica are the diatonic harmonica and the chromatic harmonica. The major scale is a great way to practice your singlenote technique and learn to move around on the harmonica. The lion sleeps tonight is a perfect example of a cool first position tune that fits in the major scale. This is beneficial to the studying harmonica player to think and become proficient in one key when picking up any other key of harmonica, the blows, draws and general techniques are the. Then, identify all of the other possible harmonica modal scales. Blues scale practice for diatonic harmonica warm up by trying the following with bends if possible. You will get immediate access to all 110 lessons, all the backing tracks and tabs, and all the other content from freshman, sophomore, junior and senior year. The purpose of this article is to cover one and only one topic.
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