Here are the three most common positions, or keys, played on the c harmonica with their corresponding blues scales. Harmonica basics xiii harmonica lesson blues scale 1 octave in 2nd pos. David barrett presents a useful and informative book of scales and scalebased exercises for the harmonica. Dont get me wrong on this, its perfectly legitamite to use the minor pentatonic scale over dominant blues chords. How to play a basic harmonica blues scale harmonica. This is a super quick lesson on how to play the blues scale on harmonica in 2nd position. The most basic harmonica scale comprises the notes from the 4 hole blow to the 7 hole blow. Blues scales blues is an irresistible tonality for a guitar player. The e minor pentatonic scale on harmonica has a unique sound that drives most blues music. Pentatonic scales play in six different keys on one harmonica. Cross harp blues cross harp, or second position, is what you get when you play in the key of g on a c harmonica. Scale diagrams can also be labeled with either letters or scale degrees.
This weeks harmonica lesson will show you how to play the real blues scale in 2nd position. 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. Gordon is he feels, one of his most important books because of the nature of the blues scale and how it is used to improvise in many styles of contemporary music. Harmonica chord cheat sheet all major keys or scales consist of 7 notes.
Mel bay a reference chart for the 10hole major diatonic harmonica and chromatic harmonica. 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. Student guide for solotuned harmonica part i diatonic. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. Show me chords that sound good with an a blues scale. Understand, however, that you can perform any song in any key by simply using a differentkeyed harmonica. The key of the harmonica is usually stamped on the metal or painted on the wood someplace. I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in order to memorize the blues scales in all keys. I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in. Rock, country, blues, folk, and world music all make extensive use of pentatonic sounds.
Blues scale practice for diatonic harmonica warm up by trying the following with bends if possible. Heres a chart that lays out pentatonic scales in six positions click on the image to download the fullsized chart pdf a member of the modern. Often new players are drawn to the instrument because of a desire to play the blues. This pdf contains the scale charts for the blues scale in all keys for guitar in standard tuning. The fretboard is shown with the lowest pitch string at the bottom and the highest pitch string at the top unless youve tuned your instrument differently. The previous issue outlined ideas for practice, and introduced an exercise based on the major scale. Now take a g harmonica and try the g blues scale in 1st position. Then try the following go crazy insert bendsextra noteschords wherever desired. There are 20 reeds on the harmonica10 on the blow exhale reed plate and. Provides essential info for creating memorable chord progressions. Bread and butter, salt and pepper, fish and chips, harmonica and blues. Jp allen gives a harmonica lesson on the basic blues scale.
With the technique of bending, a very bluesysounding scale, called the blues. You can get more charts in with custom tunings using my interactive scale generator here. This page shows how the blues scale can be played in three different keys on a single harmonica. How to play the major pentatonic scale on harmonica. Other musicians popularized the harmonica as a rock instrument. Although solotuned instruments are not well suited for blues playing, they are ideal for playing melodies and are simpler to learn. This time we look at the blues scale, and how it can enrich you.
Harmonica wall chart wall chart mel bay publications, inc. Here are the harmonica tabs for going down the major scale. How to play pentatonic and blues scales on the harmonica. Blues scale in 12 positions the notes below are for a harp in the key of c, but the tab holds for any key harmonica e. Some years back i spent much of a summer holiday playing this exercise with a metronome. Playing the blues scale now that you can bend notes the next thing we should look at is the blues scale. The solution below shows the a blues scale, on the piano, treble clef and bass clef since the key of a appears on the circle of fifths diagram as both a major and minor key, the lesson steps explain both ways of constructing this blues scale for this key the 1st construction, using the major scale, starts at lesson 3 the 2nd construction, using the minor. Get the autocad civil 3d premium course and free download pdf book reference training manual. While some benefit will come from practicing up and down this scale, most musical passages use bits of the scale only, and not always starting from the bottom c. An example of a chromatic blues harmonica piece is blues in the dark played by the legendary georg harmonica smith. Cross harp is the sound of blues and american roots music, and its all about bending accurately.
Rhythm willie as simply a blues harmonica player might be slightly unfair, and. And because they use fewer notes than the standard 7note scales, pentatonics make it easier to play in multiple keys on one harmonica. Masterclass complete blues harmonica lesson fiddle time scales 1. 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.
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. On a c harmonica, these notes form a c major scale. Collection of free tablature and sheet music for harmonica in pdf format. Pentatonic scales wildflower harmonica instruction. Using an eb harmonica a brief overview of how to play and use the pentatonic scale in three positionskeys over a typical blues progression. The sequence 2d 2d 2d will be hard for many, but worth practising to get it right. Second position blues solos often start with a 4d note. Reference material for the first time in blues harmonica history there is an abundance of lesson material available to study. You can play the blues scale with any g instrument. For the major pentatonic scale use a jam track with a light feel, like a rhumba or swing. E blues scale on harmonica with ben harmonica hewlett in this lesson with professional player ben hewlett, get to note bending and converting the e minor pentatonic scale into an e blues scale on harmonica.
If you blow out exhale on any three holes of the harmonica. Harmonica instruction study chart of harmonica keys. Pentatonic scales are fivenote scales that sound good over just about any kind of music. If you are wishing to order the pdfmp3 files please go to the correct page as this product is for the pdf file only. The solution below shows the db blues scale, on the piano, treble clef and bass clef since the key of db appears on the circle of fifths diagram as a major key, lesson 3 explains how to construct the blues scale based on the major scale, for this key for a quick summary of this topic, have a look at blues scale. Harmonica articles, harmonica videos, learn about the harmonica. Also try the 3rd position blues scale, that is, 4d 5d 6b 6d 6d 7b 8d. You will learn single notes, chords, rhythms, tongue blocking, blues scale notes, use of the button. This is the basics of blues chromatic harmonica playing. Use the chart to find out whether the note is played by blowing or drawingdair. Once again, the most challenging part of the scale is switching the order of blowing and drawing between holes 7 and 6. Bobs blues harmonica the harmonica is a very powerful instrument. The bluesbased british rock invasion of the late 1960s repopularized the blues, and helped to establish the harmonica as a rock as well as a blues instrument. Chicago blues legend, little walter, discovered very early that blues can be played on a chromatic.
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. The real blues scale in 2nd position harmonica lesson. Learn what notes make up the scale and how to play it. So, when i play this scale, im visualizing the scale step that im on. These play along harmonica lessons teach blues harp players 101 fantastic blues riffs for the diatonic harmonica in c. First identify the tonic or root notes, which are 1b, 4b, 7b 10b. These licks are to be played with a harmonica in the key of c.
It is so fundamental that many professional players continue to practice it daily. Includes an explanation of harmonica notation and tablature, plus a diagram of the. For now, if you have a chromatic harmonica try the five hole splits on both types of harp. The major pentatonic scale does not work on the whole 12 bar sequence. The blues scale is a foundational element of blues harmonica playing. You can also access our site through your mobile phone.
Below are some of my very own harmonica licks in tabulature form. After inserting an image or importing a pdf file, often time the objects and dimensions will not show their true length being that the image is. Blues harmonica blues harp riffs, licks, jamming, and. The music of rhythm willie can be at once a blues harmonica fans. With the technique of bending, a very bluesysounding scale, called the blues scale, is possible. Guitar man demonstrates how to play a basic harmonica blues scale and how to bend a note on a harmonica. Essential scales document, the c blues scale which is both the i chord blues scale in first position, and the iv chord blues scale in cross harp, correct. Harmonica wall chart wall chart mel bay publications. How to properly scale an image or pdf after inserting into autocad. Harmonica scales for beginners while learning to play. But first lets look at what notes are available on the c harmonica. This gives you an idea of just how important it is. The blues scale is three blow, three blow, three inhale or suck, four blow, four suck, five suck and six blow.
Blues harmonica improv, what about other styles of music. You can hear the scale here play it over the jam track, see where the notes fit. To play the blues is a fascinating undertaking because it can be both simplistic and yet intangibly tricky to master. So, by blues scale, we mean r, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7, o, correct. There are some notes which jar with the iv chord so i suggest that you practice playing it over the 1st 4 bars of the 12 bar sequence i chord and then revert to the blues scale for the iv chord. On a c major chromatic harmonica it sounds like this. 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.
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