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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