JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Music Theory and Education What harmonica key?

Here's a question that I don't quite understand. When I play a song in the key of C, let's say - I would tend to use a Marine Band harmonica in the key of C. That makes sense to me. But I sort of remember someone at one time telling me that a harmonica player would use a harmonica in a different key for getting a blues sound.
Why? How does a real harmonica player know which harmonica to use for different keys?

The typical ten hole harmonica, like the Hohner Marine Band, gives you a scale by alternately blowing and drawing...blow, draw, blow, draw, blow, draw, draw, blow,...gives you do re mi fa sol la ti do. This is the system used by european button accordions (sometimes called "harmonicas") with squeeze-pull for hundreds of years.

When you draw a single-reed harmonica such as the Marine Band, you can "bend" (portamento) some of the notes on the draw. This is done by creating an air pressure differential between the outside and your mouth cavity. It's this bend that makes a sound useful to the blues player. The bend works on the draw, so you dont get a bend on do, mi, sol, or ti...which are the notes you'd most like to bend in blues.

Sooooooo.

Blues players started playing what is called "cross harp". They play in a key that gives them bends in the useful notes. The standard cross harp is in the key of the 4, IV, or fa of the key in which you want to play. In other words: you play blues in E with a harp in A, if you play blues in C you need a harp in F, if the Blues is in F you need a harp in Bb, and so on.

There are other cross harp keys you can use if you are an extremely proficient harmonica player. I've heard that the great player, Howard Levy (Bela Fleck and the Flecktones), can play Jazz in any key with a harp in one key.

A good beginner's blues cross harp riff is the beginning riff to the Beatles' "Love Me Do". Delbert McClinton taught this to John Lennon.

If you have a new harp and want it to bend easier, soak it for a short while in water. (The old blues players would use beer don't drink the beer later.) This can cause the wood blocks to expand, pushing up into the mouth area with painful results. Some players trim these off at the metal edge with a knife...don't do this after drinking the beer.

Happy harpin!

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Mike Dunbar Music

P.S.
There is a joke in Nasville. We call a harmonica a "mouth banjo".

[This message has been edited by Mike Dunbar (edited 10-24-2002).]

I seem to recall that diatonic scale played on a ten hole, Blow, draw, blow draw, blow draw, draw blow occurs from holes 4 through 7. Don't apply that to holes 1-3 or 8-10, it won't work. Tony "Littile Son" Glover did a great Blues Primer for the Hohner company which used to accompany the Blues Harps which laid it all down. The world of 10 hole harp has come a LONG way and there's lots of info available as well as "kinds" of harps to cloose from. Tj

Yeah, I love the Koerner Ray and Glover Elektra stuff. They had a cool a capella version of the work song, "Linin' Track".

I don't have a harp handy, but I believe above and below the diatonic scale they put in a scale without the seventh degree, see the post on Hexatonics in this forum. This is because each hole shares two notes. Notice the "do" shares the "re" in the beginning and the "ti" at the end. As I recall, hole seven has the only "ti".



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Mike Dunbar Music

Thanks Mike and TJ - you guys are the best. Oh, and Brian is also the best for setting up JP Folks.

Hi Tom,
Mike and songman give good info above.
I get paid to play harmonica, and sure can remember starting out with no musical theory to lean on at that time.

I figure you may be at the place where I was, and could benefit by just jammin with the harp in various keys. Here's a hint.

try noodling around with your C harp to tunes in the following keys:

C (1}

Dminor(2}

Eminor (3), sometimes called "country cross harp")

G ( 5 ) blues "cross harp" position)

Also get to know the Nashville number system and chart out all the keys. Check in the music therory forum here, I noticed there a lot of posts on the topic. Having this chart will give you a visual reference to help figure out how this all works.

have a good one

Peter Taos NM

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I edited this as per my lower post

[This message has been edited by eyesound (edited 10-25-2002).]

Good stuff Peter,

I love Taos.

I'm going to bump the number sytem posts up to the top. They explain the Nashville number system, but they also give a good explanation of key, scale, and theory in general. Any questions, just post 'em.

Mike

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Mike Dunbar Music

Add Peter to that "you're the best" list above.

Just an ask on those positions Peter.
Looking at the chart that comes with all Lee Oskar harps, I see he lists for a c harp:
Fist position Straight Harp Major C.
Second position cross harp Dominant G.
Third position Dorian D minor.
Fourth position Minor A minor.
Regards
Graham

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http://www.songramp.com/homepage.ez?Who=grahamhenderson

Hi Graham,
yes you are correct....what I was trying to get at for Tom was the 4 most basic positions, without resort to music theory or modalities.

1st and 2nd and 3rd were supposed to refer to the Nashville number system, as a memory aid as to which harps would work for which keys, not to the modes.

Tom, hope I did not confuse you, but you'll find your C harp will play in the keys I mentioned. And Graham is right, there are standard "positions" so-called,for the harmonica, and I should have used a different term.

happy playing

Peter Taos NM

Thanks Peter. I was still a bit asleep when i asked this morning but sometime during the day the penny dropped. You are cross harping the E minor one I figure.
last week i played with a band they went to an A minor number and I went along to it reasonably well sucking an F harp. Tried a C sttraight to start with but didn't like it. The F worked for me.
I never had any lessons but somewhere along the way using my harp for company driving around, I figured I liked sucked notes more than blown ones. Wasn't until I tried playing with a group I knew there was something not working. Was then someone told me about cross harp.
Been fun ever since.
I love this theory section I tell ya.
Regards.
Graham


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http://www.songramp.com/homepage.ez?Who=grahamhenderson

G'day Graham,

Next time they play in A minor, you could try using a G harp, a D harp, and the F you already tried. They will all fit.


have a good one

Peter Taos NM

Thanks Peter. Am fortunate enough to get a fair bit of stuff from Lee Oskar from time to time.
His, To Graham. Harmonically yours. Lee Oskar autographed poster will remain a treasured object I am sure.
Some good reading among it too, quite a bit not available in any books i have read.
Reading the bit on soaking a new harp to swell the wood I wonder if this is still applicable as even the last marine band I saw was now plastic bodied instead of the old wood.
Marine band was the last of the wood body harps that I know of.
A good flush under some pretty warm water does always make the harp brighten up though me thinks. Something to do with it being gummed up with spit and dust i guess.
Regards.
Graham




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http://www.songramp.com/homepage.ez?Who=grahamhenderson