playing the c harmonica

Please help us continue to provide you with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker. It's in the key of E. With a little bending, you can play a blues scale or a minor pentatonic scale, or even a phrygian minor scale, although all these scales in various modes (that's what those long fancy words are called) are a bit outside the scope of most harmonica music. Sound confusing? Playing the harmonica in a key a fourth below its intended key. Here's a few great pop songs that feature harmonica: So, on a C harmonica, 1st position would be in the key of C, 2nd in G, 3rd in D, 4th in A, and 5th in E. You will rarely use anything beyond fifth position, and you will usually stick to 1, 2, and 4. Don't use soap or water. Fifth position is less common than the rest, and it's about as far as you'll ever need to go. Although not the most technical player, some of Dylan's classics with harmonica include "Blowin' In the Wind," "The Times They Are a Changin'" and "I Want You." They are very easy to play and sound great. One of the first things you’ll wanna learn on the harmonica, and which will open up the world of playing songs for you, is how to deliberately only play one note on the harmonica – instead of hitting a couple of notes at the same time – which is essentially the “default” sound of the harmonica.There are two main ways to The diagram above should make things much clearer. Your harmonica is technically in C, but you can play a different type of scale in the key of G. The natural position of the harmonica (in this case, the key of C) is called first position or straight harp. Put the harmonica in your mouth, with a deep relaxed embouchure (explained above). There are quite a few good ones around the internet, but I thought there should be an instructable. The music and techniques are the same, which makes the Hohner Echo an ideal starting harmonica for anyone interested in playing. Arnold loved playing his harmonica. At this point you can probably guess what come next if you blow into hole 7: a B, right? Pressing the slide on a B note produces a C. Remember that each 4-holed section completes an octave. Learn more... A chromatic harmonica is a type of harmonica with a slide attached to it that raises the pitch of each note. You can either use the harmonica roll or read from the sheet music and tablature. wikiHow, Inc. is the copyright holder of this image under U.S. and international copyright laws. Led Zeppelin – Stairway to Heaven (switches between the keys of C Major and A Minor – both will work with your C harmonica) Songs in The Key of A Minor. This restarts the note immediately when you remove your tongue. On one side it probably says C, but on the other side, it might say G. Which key is it in? *Here's a hint: if you happen to get Lee Oskar harmonicas (although you can probably try this even if you don't), call Lee Oskar and ask a harmonica question. Don’t get discouraged if you have trouble in the beginning. He enjoyed playing the organ and his guitar. On a C harmonica, it would be in the key of D. You can use third position to play a blues scale or a Dorian minor scale (which is almost a minor scale and can be used to play a lot of minor things. This image is not<\/b> licensed under the Creative Commons license applied to text content and some other images posted to the wikiHow website. Question We use cookies to make wikiHow great. Get a Bb instead, it's more common and allows you to play blues in F instead of F#. Take a look at this chart for more info on good harmonicas for beginners. Both are sort of rarely used. Anyway, this "information" includes a very nice case that holds 7 harmonicas, for free. The upper lip should be completely relaxed. Here's how to just play one note. the octave of C can be played by blowing holes 1 and 4 together at the same time. To turn a blues scale into a minor pentatonic scale, remove the fourth note. Okay. wikiHow, Inc. is the copyright holder of this image under U.S. and international copyright laws. After getting that tricky transition down, then work your way normally back to the first hole. We know ads can be annoying, but they’re what allow us to make all of wikiHow available for free. Special tunings: Some harmonicas come with different scales like minor scales and scales made for playing in more than one key. While inhaling or exhaling, you change the shape of your mouth, changing the speed at which the reed is vibrating and the pitch of the note that plays. Tuning the harmonica on your own is difficult, so don't try it unless you're experienced. For a chart of all the notes on each hole, visit. This image is not<\/b> licensed under the Creative Commons license applied to text content and some other images posted to the wikiHow website. When I did, they asked me if I wanted them to send me some information, and I said yes. That's why playing the harmonica involves a combination of inhalingandexhaling (also called blowing and drawing). This image may not be used by other entities without the express written consent of wikiHow, Inc.
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