Playing in Other Keys
Everything on the recording accompanying this book uses a C harmonica. However, many times when you play with other musicians or play along with your favorite albums, other keys will be used which are not available on a C harmonica.
Once you are comfortable playing the C harmonica it is a good idea to get a few others in different keys. The playing techniques are identical regardless of the key you are playing in, only the actual pitch of the notes changes. This means that once you can playa song on the C harmonica, you can transfer it directly to any other harmonica and play the same holes with the same breathing and it will sound just as good. If you are playing an A harmonica in first position, you will be playing in the key of A major. If you are playing a D harmonica in first position, you will be playing in the key of D major. This means that if you are playing with a guitarist for example, you can easily find the correct key for many songs simply by choosing the harmonica with that key written on it.
For cross harp playing however, it can sometimes be confusing trying to find the right harmonica to fit with what the other musicians are playing. In this situation it becomes more important to know the sounds on the harmonica as scale degrees. E.g. if a guitarist is playing a Blues in E (a common key for Blues), you would use an A harmonica to play cross harp in second position. The notes found at holes 2, 3, 6 and 9 would all be E notes on the A harmonica. If you know that the notes at these holes are the first degree of any scale in the cross harp position, this makes it easier to understand why the A harmonica is the one chosen for a Blues in E. If you used any other key harmonica, the notes at these holes would not be E and the harmonica would not work for a Blues in E. There are actually more positions you can use on each harmonica, but these are more advanced and are not dealt with here. The following chart lists all the keys used in music along with the correct harmonica for playing second position cross harp with each key. The easiest way to check if you are using the right harmonica for the key is to play holes 2, 3, or 6 and see if it is the same note as the key you want by testing it against a guitar or keyboard chord. If the guitar plays a D chord, your note should be a D note, if the guitar plays an F chord, your note should be an F note, etc. You can usually tell by ear if you have the correct note or not.
Second Position Keys Chart
When playing in third position, it is more common to play in a minor key. However, third position will also work for a standard Blues which uses seventh chords (e.g. G7, D7, etc.). This means that the guitar key shown in the chart below (e.g. C) could be either the key of C or the key of C minor. G could represent the key of G or the key of G minor, etc. To choose the correct harmonica to play in third position, you will need to use a harmonica which is named one whole tone (two semitones) down from the guitar or keyboard key (e.g. for the key of C you would use a B harmonica, for the key of G you would use an F harmonica, etc.). The more you play with other musicians, the easier it gets to pick the right harmonica for the musical situation.
Third Position Keys Chart
Cleaning the Harmonica
If you play a harmonica regularly, it will need cleaning after a while to keep the holes and the airways under the reeds clear and in good working order. The best way is to soak the harmonica in a bowl of warm water.
Turn the harmonica over and shake it several times while fully submerged to remove any air trapped inside it. Leave the harmonica soaking for about an hour, and then alternately shake it and dip it in the water several more times. Also, use a small implement to clear out any unwanted matter if necessary. The next step is to run the harmonica under a cold tap several times and shake it and then tap it on a semi hard surface to clear the water out. Finally you should try exhaling and inhaling through all of the holes until you are confident they all sound properly. If not, shake and tap the harmonica some more until all of the water comes out.
Harmonicas with a plastic body respond better to cleaning than the wooden bodied type, as the wood will often swell and can cut your mouth when sliding between notes.
When playing in fourth position, you are playing in the relative minor key of whatever the key of the harmonica is. The chart below shows which key harmonica to use for the minor key of any song. There are exceptions to this, because there is more than one type of minor scale, but this chart will help you pick the correct harmonica most of the time. The other types of minor scales are explained in the section on Chromatic harmonica playing. This is worth looking at and going through with a teacher even if you only intend to play diatonic harmonica. The more you know about how music works, the more musical situations you will feel comfortable playing in.
Fourth Position Keys Chart
It is worth knowing that the harmonica you choose is the relative major key of the guitar key. Look at the chart below which contains all twelve relative major and minor keys and notice that it corresponds with the fourth position chart shown above. The theory of relative keys, and keys in general is discussed in more detail in the next section of the book, which deals with chromatic harmonica playing. This knowledge is necessary for the chromatic harmonica because it is possible to play in all keys on the one harmonica.
Relative Keys Chart
