The blues scale is three blow, three blow, three inhale or suck, four blow, four suck, five suck and six blow. For now, if you have a chromatic harmonica try the five hole splits on both types of harp. Rock, country, blues, folk, and world music all make extensive use of pentatonic sounds. The key of the harmonica is usually stamped on the metal or painted on the wood someplace. Harmonica player this magazine has been around since 1996. To play the blues is a fascinating undertaking because it can be both simplistic and yet intangibly tricky to master. Bendingprocessonthe101hole diatonicharmonicawith the. I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in order to memorize the blues scales in all keys.
This page shows how the blues scale can be played in three different keys on a single harmonica. Blues scales blues is an irresistible tonality for a guitar player. Acrobat can size the pages of a pdf to fit the selected paper size. Understand, however, that you can perform any song in any key by simply using a differentkeyed harmonica. Blues harmonica blues harp riffs, licks, jamming, and. If you blow out exhale on any three holes of the harmonica. If you want to play along with a band or an original recording, you will need to find out the key of the song and use the appropriate key harmonica refer to the blues dvds for understanding how to do this.
Bendingprocessonthe101hole diatonicharmonicawith thevisual aidofmagneticresonanceimaging mri bydavidbarrett. Harmonica basics xiii harmonica lesson blues scale 1 octave in 2nd pos. You can play the blues scale with any g instrument. The second position blues scale is 2d 3d 4b 4d 4d 5d 6b. To view and print adobe acrobat pdf format documents, you need the free adobe acrobat reader. Sep 06, 2017 the blues scale is a foundational element of blues harmonica playing. Although solotuned instruments are not well suited for blues playing, they are ideal for playing melodies and are simpler to learn. Specifically, using a c harp i will provide harmonica tablature to play the blues scale in c first position, g second position, and d third position. You can get more charts in with custom tunings using my interactive scale generator here. The presentday harmonica was invented in 1821 by a german. Harmonica chord cheat sheet all major keys or scales consist of 7 notes. Guitar man demonstrates how to play a basic harmonica blues scale and how to bend a note on a harmonica.
The story of the harmonica began with the chinese emperor nynkwya, who invented a freereed instrument called the sheng sublime voice in 3000 b. If youre practicing the blues scale, then choose a bluesy jam track, or even better, a minor jam track, this way if you accidentally step outside of the blues scale, or play a bent note out of tune like the 3, youll know it right away. Below are some of my very own harmonica licks in tabulature form. I suggest you print these out on a4 paper, and fold. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. Fun blues harmonica jam here are dave gages sons, brody and alex, now called the brothers gage, back when they were 10 and 12 year old kids. This is just a series of seven notes which help the harmonica sound bluesy, so playing this scale over and over is excellent training. The harmonica is classified by the note on which the scale starts.
These licks are to be played with a harmonica in the key of c. Harmonica course volume 6 101 blues riffs hello and welcome to the 6th in our series in which we offer you 101 blues riffs to learn, use, modify, and take over their ownership. Also check this lesson to hear how the blues scale sounds. Harmonica publications blues harp, diatonic, chromatic. Now take a g harmonica and try the g blues scale in 1st position. Scale or resize printed pages in acrobat and reader adobe support. This course is designed to teach beginner level players the basics of playing the 12hole solotuned diatonic harmonica, which is tuned differently from the standard 10hole diatonic instrument. Adapted from blues and rock harmonica by glenn weiser. Playing the blues scale now that you can bend notes the next thing we should look at is the blues scale. One natural note f has to be raised a semitone to f. The reader is available from the adobe web site, for. Major key degrees of scale all major keys or scales consist of 7 notes. The harmonica and irish traditional music by don meade.
But first lets look at what notes are available on the c harmonica. If youre trying to learn a song and its not going well, move on to a different song thats easier for you. The notes of the scale can be reordered to create solos in the blues without regard to chord changes. This early instrument is considered the forerunner of the modern harmonica. It is so fundamental that many professional players continue to practice it daily. Figure 6 piano keyboard 1 draw is the note d and the 1 blow is the note c on the harmonica. Blues scale practice for diatonic harmonica warm up by trying the following with bends if possible.
It would be cool to have a video with a bunch of blues harmonica licks that we could practice and apply. Harmonica instruction study chart of harmonica keys. For everyone from beginners to intermediates lee oskar 3 blues jam factory. Figure 5 chromatic scale musicians tend to like to use the visual reference of the piano for this same information. The blues harp cheat sheet this cheat sheet provides chords, cross harp key, 12 bar blues progression, and blues scale harmonica tabs covering all 12 keys. May 08, 2012 harmonica basics xiii harmonica lesson blues scale 1 octave in 2nd pos. An example of a chromatic blues harmonica piece is blues in the dark played by the legendary georg harmonica smith. Bobs blues harmonica the harmonica is a very powerful instrument.
Blues harmonica for dummies gives you a wealth of content devoted to the blues approach. Often new players are drawn to the instrument because of a desire to play the blues. On a c major chromatic harmonica it sounds like this. How to play a basic harmonica blues scale harmonica. Blues scales for chromatic harmonica these scales are designed to get you started playing the blues in all twelve keys. This pdf contains the scale charts for the blues scale in all keys for guitar in standard tuning.
An introduction to playing blues on a diatonic harmonica in the key of c blues jam factory a playalong course for new blues players the ben hewlett harmonica course arranged and sung by paul lennon l. Fasttrack harmonica book pdf free download as pdf file. Then by opening and closing your hands with each syllable, you will be producing a waawaa sound. The blues harp chart this chart provides harmonica tabs, chords, cross harp key, 12 bar blues progression, and blues scale harmonica tabs covering all 12 keys. G is the most popular key for playing a c harmonica, even more popular than c.
This is a super quick lesson on how to play the blues scale on harmonica in 2nd position. I created the chart to give a more visual description of these breath patterns. Pentatonic scales are fivenote scales that sound good over just about any kind of music. To scale your page content you can try reprinting the file using the adobe pdf printer but you may lose valuable content in your file like. Because blues is a simple, consistant form of music, it is a great place to begin your improv regardless of which musical styles you to play. Reference material for the first time in blues harmonica history there is an abundance of lesson material available to study. Although solotuned instruments are not well suited for blues. Changing the sound using the hands you can use your hands to add effects to your music. Here are the harmonica tabs for going down the major scale. I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in. Harmonica world a harmonica magazine published by the national harmonica league. Some years back i spent much of a summer holiday playing this exercise with a metronome.
So, when i play this scale, im visualizing the scale step that im on. Special playing techniques known as bending and overblowing permit expansion of the tonal range to include notes not found in the scale as well as exciting slides and. By rapidly opening and closing your hands you will be producing a. This gives you an idea of just how important it is. If you cant yet manage bends, then just play 2d 4b 4d 5d 6b. This fasttrack book and cd teaches chords, scales, and riffs, 87 songs and.
Pentatonic scales wildflower harmonica instruction. How to resize pages in a pdf file using acrobat xi acrobat users. Scales with a major character that are built into a c harmonica are. After world war ii, a large relocation of blacks from the rural south to the urban north took place. We call this section basic blues harmonica improv, but the information here applies to most types of popular music you would like to jam to. They are optimized for printing rather than viewing on screen. Blues harmonica improv, what about other styles of music.
For the major pentatonic scale use a jam track with a light feel, like a rhumba or swing. This weeks harmonica lesson will show you how to play the real blues scale in 2nd position. Its a great time to upgrade your home music studio gear with the largest selection at. The previous issue outlined ideas for practice, and introduced an exercise based on the major scale. George goodmans harmonica cheat sheet is a combination of three great tools to kick start your harmonica playing. Harmonica scales for beginners while learning to play.
Heres a chart that lays out pentatonic scales in six positions click on the image to download the fullsized chart pdf. Jerry portnoys blues for big nate additional helpful material. These play along harmonica lessons for developing or intermediate harp players are inspired by some of the best harmonica players we know. The blues scale is a foundational element of blues harmonica playing.
And because they use fewer notes than the standard 7note scales, pentatonics make it easier to play in multiple keys on one harmonica. The c harmonica was meant to only be played in one key originally in this case, the key of c. Chicago blues legend, little walter, discovered very early that blues can be played on a chromatic. The real blues scale in 2nd position harmonica lesson how and. Pentatonic scales play in six different keys on one. I have done this with the files i had in original format i did not have all of them.
By the 1920s, when recording companies began to look for blues acts, blues harp was a common sound in the southern part of the united states. Introduction blues guitar overview introduction 12 bar blues in emajor 12 bar blues in amajor emajor revisited some other blues progressions some. Use the chart to find out whether the note is played by blowing or drawingdair. Oct 16, 2010 blues scale practice for diatonic harmonica warm up by trying the following with bends if possible. The scale used on a diatonic harmonica can start on any one of the twelve notes used in western music. Achieve greater fluency on the blues harmonica, with awardwinning mat walklate using the c diatonic harmonica, mat covers topics like note bending, solo development, vibrato and playing in alternative positions to create great sounding solos over the 12 bar form. Fasttrack harmonica book pdf harmonica blues scribd. This video shot in 2015, is an unedited take playing an improvised blues and country based jam and having a bunch of fun. The chromatic scale lists every note available in our western european diatonic music system. One natural note b has to be lowered one semitone to b. Standard diatonic harmonicas are available for all twelve, some in both high and lowpitched versions. What about the blues scale in the upper register would love to see a video on that. Cup your harmonica in your hands in such a way that you can enclose it completely to muffle its sound. The notation illustrates the three ranges of the harmonica low holes 14, middle holes 47 and high.
Please find below downloadable scale degrees and position diagrams for diatonic harmonicas using natural bends. George goodmans harmonica cheat sheets is a combination of four great tools to kick start your harmonica playing. This time we look at the blues scale, and how it can enrich you. Free sheet music for harmonica diatonic download pdf. Once again, the most challenging part of the scale is switching the order of blowing and drawing between holes 7 and 6. Though one such hohner richter model is indeed called the blues harp, the original blues harmonica was the marine band 1896 classic, which is still manufactured today much as it was over 100 years ago and remains the instrument of choice for an enormous number of blues harmonica players worldwide. You can also access our site through your mobile phone.
Each riff will be played for you at a fast speed, then a slower speed and then in most cases, at an intermediate speed. Jp allen gives a harmonica lesson on the basic blues scale. All the notes of the c major scale are built into a charp f. For additional charts, information on positions, and harmonica theory, visit the members area theory section. A c harmonica can be played in the key of c in what is called first position and in the key of g in what is called 2d position.
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