The music theory behind the harmonica is pretty complex, and if you listened to my conversation with Nate about harmonicas you might have found your head spinning a little! Here's a quick breakdown of the music theory behind harmonicas. Send this to a friend who plays and see what they say!
Some key terms (literally)
First, we need to understand blow notes and draw notes. Blow notes are the tones that sound when you blow into the harmonica. There are only 3 blow notes on the harmonica. Meaning, all 10 holes are simply the notes of the chord (for example, C-E-G) repeating.
Draw notes are the tones that sound when you inhale. This chord is a 9 chord, which is 5 different notes. On a C harmonica, the 9 chord would be G-B-D-F-A (V9 for music theory nerds).
The blow and draw sound a little different, so different genres may favor one over the other.
Positioning
Depending on your level of playing, you can play certain notes together in what are called positions.
Straight harp/first position: A standard key that matches the key of the song. Main notes are blown notes. Draw notes are color.
Cross harp/second position: the most common position for Blues. Main notes are draw notes.
Double cross/slant harp/third position: Dorian mode, used frequently in folk songs including Irish.
Fourth position: Relative minor of straight harp. Used in minor songs.
Fifth position: Minor cross-harp of the relative minor. Used to bring minor flavor to cross harp.
Keep in mind that in order for this chart to mean anything, you have to be a good enough player to be able to play the different positions. If you're dabbling, you can get really far with straight harp and cross harp.
Listen to my conversation with Nate for our full theory conversation and a bunch of cool facts about harmonicas!
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