Harmonica Guide
My personal harmonica shorthand:
"»" means "blow"
"«" means "draw"
"«bd" means "draw bent".
So «bd(34) means "draw bent on
holes 3 and 4."
If you're a beginner, the first step is to be able to blow
and draw clean single notes on holes 1 through 6. Holes
7 through 10 are harder to play cleanly, but fortunately
you'll rarely need to play up there, if ever. The next step
is to be able to bend your drawn notes - drawing from the
back of your throat hard so that the note goes flat.
All of the notes you can play on a C harp
Blowing across all of the holes gives you a C major
chord, and drawing gives you a G9 chord - a G7 with
an A on top.
| hole |
blow» |
draw« |
draw bent«bd |
| 1 |
C |
D |
C#/Db
|
| 2 |
E |
G |
F#/Gb
|
| 3 |
G |
B |
A#/Bb
|
| 4 |
C |
D |
C#/Db
|
| 5 |
E |
F |
E
|
| 6 |
G |
A |
G#/Ab
|
| 7 |
C |
B |
-- |
| 8 |
E |
D |
-- |
| 9 |
G |
F |
-- |
| 10 |
C |
A |
-- |
Straight harp - key of C
| diatonic chords
| |
blow |
draw |
| C |
I |
»(any) |
«(12) |
| Dm |
ii |
»(any) |
»(any) |
| Em |
iii |
»(23)
»(56)
»(89)
|
«(234) |
| F |
IV |
-- |
«(56)
«(910) |
| G7 |
V |
»(23)
»(56)
»(89) |
»(any) |
| »(any) |
«(67) |
|
| secondary dominants
|
A7 |
V of ii |
»(23)
»(56)
»(89)
|
«(23)
«(67)
|
«bd(1)
«bd(4) |
|
D7 |
V of V |
»(12)
»(45)
»(78) |
«(any)
|
«bd(2) |
| E7 |
V of vi |
»(23)
»(56)
»(89)
|
-- |
«bd(6) |
|
The harmonica was invented in Germany to play oom-pa
music. Some American folk musicians continue to play
straight harp, though most play cross. Just by blowing
and drawing, you'll probably be able to figure out
simple major-key folk songs like Oh Suzannah, Amazing
Grace, etc.
Bob Dylan is an extremely adventurous straight harp
player. His style isn't to everyone's taste, but his
playing is well worth listening to, especially on
Blonde On Blonde. Neil Young is another great straight
harp player.
Cross harp - key of G
| diatonic chords
| |
blow |
draw |
draw bent |
| G |
I |
»(23)
»(56)
»(89) |
«(1234)
«(78)
|
-- |
| Am |
ii |
»(any) |
«(67) |
-- |
| Bm |
iii |
-- |
«(34)
«(678)
|
-- |
| C |
IV |
»(any) |
«(12) |
-- |
| D7 |
V |
»(12)
»(45)
»(78) |
»(any) |
«bd(2) |
| vi |
»(23)
»(56)
»(89)
|
«(234) |
-- |
|
|
secondary dominants
| blow |
draw |
draw bent |
| V of ii |
»(23)
»(56)
»(89)
|
-- |
«bd(6) |
| V of V |
»(23)
»(56)
»(89)
|
«(23)
«(67)
|
«bd(1)
«bd(4) |
| V of vi |
-- |
«(34)
«(67)
|
-- |
|
Blues-related chords
| blow |
draw |
draw bent |
|
G7 |
blues I |
»(23)
»(56)
»(89) |
«(any) |
-- |
|
C7 |
blues IV |
»(any) |
«(12) |
«bd(1234) |
| F |
bVII |
»(any) |
«(456)
«(8910) |
-- |
|
Bb |
bIII |
»(any) |
«(12)
«(45)
«(89)
|
«bd(3) |
Cross harp is the heart and soul of harmonica playing. Any
time you're playing blues, you should be playing cross harp
- same thing goes if you want a bluesy sound on rock, country,
folk etc. One nice thing about cross harp is that it's forgiving
- you can slop just about any note over any chord and it'll
sound fine if you play it with authority.
Every harmonica player needs to listen to Little
Walter Jacobs, especially his Chess
recordings with Muddy
Waters. Little Walter wrote the book on blues cross harp.
Minor harp - key of Dm
diatonic chords
| |
blow |
draw |
draw bent |
|
Dm |
I |
«(any) |
«(any) |
-- |
| Em |
ii |
-- |
«(234) |
-- |
|
F |
bIII |
«(any) |
«(456)
«(8910)
|
-- |
|
Gm |
iv |
«(any) |
«(12)
«(45)
«(89) |
«bd(3) |
|
G7 |
IV |
-- |
«(any) |
-- |
|
Am |
v |
«(any) |
«(67) |
-- |
|
A7 |
V |
-- |
«(23)
«(67)
|
«bd(1)
«bd(4) |
|
Bb |
bVI |
«(any) |
«(12)
«(45)
«(89) |
«bd(3) |
| C |
bVII |
«(any) |
«(12) |
-- |
|
secondary dominants
| |
blow |
draw |
draw bent |
| E7 |
V of V |
»(23)
»(56)
»(89)
|
-- |
«bd(6) |
| Bb7 |
bVI7 |
»(any) |
-- |
-- |
Theory-savvy people will note that playing minor-key harp
limits you to Dorian mode. Normal diatonic harmonicas are
very awkward on songs with a natural minor or harmonic minor
feel. (You can get special harmonicas for those scales, though
they're not easy to find.)
Other keys
To play straight harp (folk, country), your harp
should be in the same key as the song. To play cross harp
(blues, country, rock, funk) or to play in a minor key, use
the charts below:
| cross harp - blues,
funk, rock |
|
minor key harp |
| For songs
in: |
Use harp
in: |
For songs in: |
Use harp
in: |
| C |
F |
Am |
G |
| G |
C |
Em |
D |
| D |
G |
Bm |
A |
| A |
D |
F#m/Gbm |
E |
| E |
A |
C#m/Dbm |
B |
| B |
E |
G#m/Abm |
F#/Gb |
| F#/Gb |
B |
D#m/Ebm |
C#/Db |
| C#/Db |
F#/Gb |
A#m/Bbm |
G#/Ab |
| G#/Ab |
C#/Db |
Fm |
D#/Eb |
| D#/Eb |
G#/Ab |
Cm |
A#/Bb |
| A#/Bb |
D#/Eb |
Gm |
F |
| F |
A#/Bb |
Dm |
C |
A few more things
In my experience, the harps you use most often
will be C, G, D and A. You can always add harps in other keys
as necessary. I play Hohner Special 20's, which I think sound
the best and play most easily. Your mileage may vary.
Jazz-oriented players like Stevie Wonder and Toots
Thielmans are playing a different instrument called chromatic
harmonica. It allows you to play all twelve notes, but is
quite a bit more difficult than normal harp.
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