Blues harp
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Blues harp, properly called richter tuned harmonica and also known as 10-hole harmonica (in Asia), is the most widely known type of harmonica. In the United States and Europe, it is called a diatonic harmonica.
It has ten holes which offer the player 19 notes (10 holes times a draw and a blow for each hole minus one repeated note) in a three octave range. The standard diatonic harmonica is designed to allow a player to play chords and melody in a single key. Because they are only designed to be played in a single key at a time, diatonic harmonicas are available in all keys. Here is a standard diatonic harmonica's layout in the key of C (blow for 1 is middle C):
Although there are 3 octaves between 1 and 10 blow, there is only one full major scale available on the harmonica, between holes 4 and 7. The lower holes are designed around the tonic (C major) and dominant (G major) chords, allowing a player to play these chords underneath a melody by blocking or unblocking the lower holes with the tongue. The most important notes (the tonic triad C–E–G) are given the blow, and the secondary notes (D–B–F–A), the draw.
Contents |
[edit] Valved diatonics
The valved diatonic is one of the most common ways of playing chromatic scales on diatonics (as many feel the advanced technique called an "overblow", or "overbend", is too difficult). While chromatic is available, valved diatonic is also common, and there are reasons to use a valved diatonic rather than chromatics:
- It does not have a slide assembly (so that it has less air leakage)
- It has a wider tonal range and dynamic
- It has a smaller size and is much more suitable to use with microphone
- It's still cheaper than chromatic, even for a premade one like Hohner's Auto Valve or Suzuki Promaster MR-350v
Valved Diatonics are made by securing windsavers on draw hole 1–6 and blow 7–10; this way, all reeds can be bent down a semitone at least, but most players can easily bend down a wholetone. Alternatively, one can simply buy a factory made valved diatonics, such as Suzuki Promaster Valved.
The disadvantage of valved diatonic is that it does require one to develop proper embouchure in order to bend the notes accurately, and it's generally agreed that the sound will not be "true", making it suitable for blues and jazz but so-so for classical music.
Also, due to the valved bends being one-reed bends, the sound is less full than traditional bends, and may seem dull, making it less dynamic. One way to address this is by having an additional reed that activates when one bends a note; this is the philosophy of Hohner's XB-40.
[edit] How to bend notes
Some have acquired this skill in under a minute; some in weeks and others it may take years. There is some folklore advocating soaking the instrument to make bending easier, but it is never necessary. On any of the first four holes or the sixth of a diatonic harmonica, while inhaling, lowering the tongue bends notes.
This will take quite a bit of wind at first (beginners will often get dizzy), but over time, efficiency will reduce the effort. The tongue controls the bend (and vibrato). Three distinct tones can be coaxed out of hole 2. Hole five can essentially not be bent, and holes seven and higher bend on the outbreath, as mentioned above (useful for "straight harp"—the harp keyed to the band).
[edit] Playing the blues harp
So-called "crossharp" is the basic method, employing the harp keyed four tones above the band—F if they're in C; B-flat if they're in F; etc. The lower notes of harps in the lower keys (G through C) are easier to bend, but take more wind. Since much of crossharp is played on the inhalation, every opportunity for exhalation must be capitalized upon—blow out lots of air on every exhaled note and during every pause.
[edit] The Hohner XB-40
The Hohner XB-40 is an entirely new body design, though in practice is still a richter-tuned (diatonic) harmonica. Here the blow reeds and the draw reeds are sealed off from one another with valves, effectively creating two separate cells in the comb for each hole in the mouthpiece: one for blow and another for draw. A second reed is then placed in this cell at a zero-offset (no gapping) so that it does not sound under normal playing. However, it is placed on the opposite side of the reed-plate from the speaking reed and tuned so that it responds when the player "bends" the note downwards in pitch. This allows for every note on the XB-40 to be bent downwards a whole-tone or more, whereas on standard diatonics only certain notes (the higher-pitched in the cell) will bend at all.
|Bb|D |F |Bb|D |F |Bb|D |F |A#|
|B |Eb|Gb|B |Eb|Gb|B |Eb|Gb|B |
hole: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
-----------------------------
blow: |C |E |G |C |E |G |C |E |G |C |
draw: |D |G |B |D |F |A |B |D |F |A |
-----------------------------
|Db|Gb|Bb|Db|E |Ab|Bb|Db|E |Ab|
|C |F |A |C |Eb|G |A |C |Eb|G |
|Ab|
[edit] Special tuned harmonicas
A number of people have made specially tuned variants of the diatonic harmonica. For example, Lee Oskar Harmonicas makes a variety of harmonicas to help players used to a "cross-harp" style to play in other styles. Cross-harp players usually base their play around a mixolydian scale starting on 2 draw and ending a 6 blow (with a bend needed to get the second tone of the scale; a full scale can be played from 6 blow to 9 blow). Lee Oskar specially tunes harmonicas to allow players to play a natural minor, harmonic minor, and major scale from 2 draw to 6 blow. Below are some sample layouts (the key labels describe the scale from 2 draw to 6 blow, whereas traditional harmonicas are labelled according to the scale between 4 and 8 blow).
Country tune: Identical to standard Richter Tuning, except hole 5 draw is raised a semitone
Natural Minor (cross harp, 6 blow to 9 blow) / Dorian (straight harp, 4 blow to 7 blow):
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
-----------------------------
blow: |C |Eb|G |C |Eb|G |C |Eb|G |C |
draw: |D |G |Bb|D |F |A |Bb|D |F |A |
-----------------------------
Harmonic Minor (straight harp, 4 blow to 7 blow)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
-----------------------------
blow: |C |Eb|G |C |Eb|G |C |Eb|G |C |
draw: |D |G |B |D |F |Ab|B |D |F |Ab|
-----------------------------
Major (cross harp, 6 blow to 9 blow), Lee Oskar Melody Maker (this will be labeled as "G": Melody Major's key indicate cross harp's key, starting from draw 2)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
-----------------------------
blow: |C |E |A |C |E |G |C |E |G |C |
draw: |D |G |B |D |F#|A |B |D |F#|A |
-----------------------------
The Melody Maker designed and marketed by Lee Oskar is a particularly interesting evolution of the harmonica, since it allows a player accustomed to playing "cross harp" (in mixolydian) to play in a major key (which is what the standard layout is designed for in the first place). Rather than providing the standard C major and G dominant chords, the Melody Maker provides a G Major 7 (2–5 draw), a C Major 6th chord (1–4 blow), an Am or Am7 chord (3–5 or 3–6 blow), a D major chord (4–6 draw) and a C Major chord (6–10 blow). If we are in the key of G, then, the melody maker provides the I chord, the IV chord, the V chord and the II chord, allowing II–V–I progressions as well as I–IV–V progressions.
It is also possible for a harp player to tune the harmonica himself. By making small scratches in a reed, the note played can be changed. It is possible to either get a higher or a lower note. Some harp players make extensive use of these modifications. One of the most famous examples is the harp solo on "On the Road Again" by Canned Heat, on which the harmonicist gets the minor 3rd crossharp on the sixth drawn reed, which is normally the major 2nd crossharp.
[edit] The 12-hole and 14-hole diatonic
Hohner had made a few non-standard harmonicas. All of them have more than 10 holes and are labeled "grosse richter". For 12 holes, Hohner makes the M364 Marine Band, as well as the M36460 Marine Band Soloist. The Marine Band Soloist is solo tuned, with 3 full diatonic octaves with all notes of the major scale of the key of C and, since it can bend notes in the same way a regular diatonic harmonica in the middle octave, some players use this for blues (and even jazz) instead of the more well known solo-tuned harmonicas, the chromatic harmonica, since the bended notes sounded very different from true semi-tones. (For layout, see below at Chromatic harmonica, key out) In this configuration, blues players usually play in third position, the D-minor blue scale.
In addition to the M364 models with 12 holes, there is also the Hohner Marine Band M365 14 hole harmonica. The 12 and 14 holes Hohner harmonicas general dimensions which are a bit bigger than regular diatonic harmonicas. The M36401 and M36501 harmonicas (in the key of C) are pitched one octave lower than the standard 10 hole C diatonic. Thus, hole 4 blow is the same pitch as hole 1 on a regular diatonic harmonica in the key of C. The Marine Band M36408 and M36508 (in G) are similar to a usual G diatonic, having the higher end expanded.
Holes 1 through 4 and 6 are draw bendable, and holes 8 through 14 are blow bendable. Special attention to the extra holes 11–14 where the bending capabilities are, in theory, extended a lot (from A down to E in whole 14, for example), but quite limited in fact.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
------------------------------------------
blow: |C |E |G |C |E |G |C |E |G |C |E |G |C |E |
draw: |D |G |B |D |F |A |B |D |F |A |B |D |F |A |
------------------------------------------
There is also the Steve Baker Special (M3658) manufactured by Hohner, a special tuned 14 holes diatonic. Below, the layout of the Steve Baker Special in the key of C:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
------------------------------------------
blow: |C |E |G |C |E |G |C |E |G |C |E |G |C |E |
draw: |D |G |B |D |G |B |D |F |A |B |D |F |A |B |
------------------------------------------
They come in 5 keys:
- C Low – M36581
- D Low – M36583
- F Low – M36586
- G – M36588
- A – M36590
This harmonica opens up lots of interesting possibilities, especially for blues harmonica, like extended tongue block octaves playing, the possibility to play the exact same 2nd position rifs in two octaves, etc.
[edit] The Suzuki Overdrive
The Suzuki Overdrive is a richter-tuned diatonic harmonica designed to facilitate overblowing. The Overdrive is constructed with individual air-chambers for each reed in the covers. Holes at the ends of each chamber are located to allow the player to block off the air flow with their fingers and thus silence that reed. This isolates the other reed which shares the same comb chamber and allows that reed to be overblown or bent as if it were the only reed in its cell. This allows for many techniques and manipulations of the reed that can be difficult to perform on a standard diatonic harmonica. [1]
