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Thus, while a chromatic harmonica is well-suited for playing lead or melody, diatonic harmonicas have a greater advantage when playing harmony or accompaniment. As the chromatic harmonica is designed to play melodies in any key, many 16-hole and special version chromatic are only made in the key of C.
Thus, even though a player could play any melody in any key (within a three octave range) on a C diatonic harmonica, most harmonica players (especially those who focus on blues and/or diatonic harmonicas) prefer to match the possibilities of glissandos, register and dynamics of a given melody to a harmonica. Thus, the common practice is still ...
The lower portion of the harmonica is designed to play the tonic and dominant chords on the blow and draw respectively (in the key of C, this would be the C major and G major chords). The remainder of the instrument is tuned to, in this example, blow entirely in the key of C major, with each successive note following the sequence C E G
Another method is to play in the key one whole tone above that of the harmonica. On a C-tuned harmonica, this would mean playing in the key of D. This is known as "slant harp" or "third position" playing, and results in the harmonica playing in dorian mode. This is much less intuitive as it requires the ability to bend notes completely ...
While the Richter-tuned 10-hole chromatic is intended to play in only one key, the 12-, 14-, and 16-hole models (which are tuned to equal temperament) allow the musician to play in any key desired with only one harmonica. This harp can be used for any style, including Celtic, classical, jazz, or blues (commonly in third position).
Tablature (or tab for short) is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering or the location of the played notes rather than musical pitches. Tablature is common for fretted stringed instruments such as the guitar , lute or vihuela , as well as many free reed aerophones such as the harmonica .
This tuning has the major diatonic scale in the middle and top octaves of the harmonica with two chords in the lowest octave: the tonic in the blow and the dominant or fifth chord in the draw. This is very effective for chordal playing behind relatively simple folk melodies in either the tonic or the fifth of the key of the harmonica.
The harmonica was seen as a cheap instrument, easy to learn and play, [9] that could provide young people with both a social outlet and the basic musical knowledge to stimulate their interest in learning more "important" instruments such as piano and violin. In 1924, approximately 10,000 boys participated in the citywide harmonica contest, and ...