One of the main purposes of my premier guitar lessons is to help improve your chord skills, fretboard knowledge, and phrasing. Here are the three most common positions, or keys, played on the c harmonica with their corresponding blues scales. 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. David barrett presents a useful and informative book of scales and scale based exercises for the harmonica. Sep 06, 2017 the blues scale is a foundational element of blues harmonica playing. Classical music, jazz tremolo harmonicas are tuned to individual major scales. Almost all music genres being born in the last hundred years come from blues above all in notclassical music. Its really a blue note over the minor pentatonic scale 1,b3,4,b5,5,b7. Understand, however, that you can perform any song in any key by simply using a differentkeyed harmonica. You can also access our site through your mobile phone. The 3d note is a b on a c harmonica, the 3d is normally a bb, and the 3d is an a. With a c harp,find c on the circle of fifths and go clockwise once, tell the band to play in the key of g. Pentatonic scales are fivenote scales that sound good over just about any kind of music.
The most common bends are draw bends, especially on the lower notes. Why learning more than one scale pattern is beneficial. For the major pentatonic scale use a jam track with a light feel, like a rhumba or swing. Quick harmonica tip how to play the blues scale in position serious about improving on harmonica. When using these bends for bluesy affect, its commonly. For playing melodies all the eight notes from of the major scale are placed in holes 4 to 7.
An essentially ninenote blues scale is defined by benward and saker as a chromatic variation of the major scale featuring a flat third and seventh degrees in effect substitutions from dorian mode which, alternating with the normal third and seventh scale degrees are used to create the blues inflection. Reference material for the first time in blues harmonica history there is an abundance of lesson material available to study. May 08, 2012 gussows classic blues harmonica videos 1,272,471 views 16. 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. What is the difference between a pentatonic scale and a. This gives you an idea of just how important it is.
F blues scale f, ab, bb, b, c, eb, f when playing a twelve bar blues in the key of bb, use the bb blues scale. How to play the diatonic harmonica in the key of c. 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. Blues scales are the most famous sounds of the xx century music. How to play the blues scale in 2nd position on harmonica. In this blues guitar lesson we will start to look at how to choose your notes in the blues scale to fit the over chords in the 12bar blues progression. The goal is to get you playing better blues by understanding what youre playing over, so in this installment im going to take you through some exercises that will allow you to become more fluent in all 12 keys. Blues scale sections learn the value of not just learning a scale up and down, but instead dividing the 2nd position blues scale into smaller bitesize chunks, which can then be used as blues riffs. 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. Find your harmonica harmonicaconfigurator table of positions tone tables pdf.
And because they use fewer notes than the standard 7note scales, pentatonics make it easier to play in multiple keys on one harmonica. The blues scale is three blow, three blow, three inhale or suck, four blow, four suck, five suck and six blow. Bb, db, eb, e, f, ab, bb the blues scale can also be used over minor chords when the minor chord is sounded for 2, 4. Jp allen gives a harmonica lesson on the basic blues scale. Guitar man demonstrates how to play a basic harmonica blues scale and how to bend a note on a harmonica. Dec 21, 2017 the pentatonic scale consists of five notes. Find blues harmonica stock images in hd and millions of other royaltyfree stock photos, illustrations and vectors in the shutterstock collection. Rock, country, blues, folk, and world music all make extensive use of pentatonic sounds. For example, if i wanted to play a blues scale in c, i would use a harmonica in the.
This is quite a bit more sophisticated than just playing through the blues scale shape and hoping for. The blues scale and its use the blues scale consists of the following. Once again, the most challenging part of the scale is switching the order of blowing and drawing between holes 7 and 6. So, when i play this scale, im visualizing the scale step that im on. Play a drone blues riff with your harmonica how to. Student guide for solotuned harmonica part i diatonic. When you play in a minor pentatonic, you are using the same notes and using the same scale as the major pentatonic scale in c but you are resolving ending. The chromatic scale lists every note available in our western european diatonic music system. Sh1 solo harmonica study 1 blues harmonica lessons. It is so fundamental that many professional players continue to practice it daily. Figure 6 piano keyboard 1 draw is the note d and the 1 blow is the note c on the harmonica. Blues harmonica blues harp riffs, licks, jamming, and.
Blues, pop, rock, country chromatic harmonicas offer all 12 notes of the chromatic scale, permitting them to be played in all keys without any special techniques. Oct 16, 2010 blues scale practice for diatonic harmonica warm up by trying the following with bends if possible. If you use that note as the tonic and play the same notes as in the major pentatonic scale, you are playing the minor pentatonic scale. Lee oskar quickguide updated20pg lee oskar harmonicas. Pentatonic scales wildflower harmonica instruction. Thousands of new, highquality pictures added every day. Often new players are drawn to the instrument because of a desire to play the blues. For a quick summary of this topic, have a look at blues scale. 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 blues harmonica forum posted these breath patterns his name is john potts.
The extra note is the 4 draw bend also known as the the flat five. Pentatonic scales play in six different keys on one harmonica. You can get more charts in with custom tunings using my interactive scale generator here. Here are the harmonica tabs for going down the major scale. Blues music scales chart for jazz improvisation jazz theory.
A subtle but important point is how far to bend the 3d. So the root note of the major scale can be found in hole 3 blow the name of. The blues scale is a foundational element of blues harmonica playing. Learn the pentatonic blues scales on electric guitar how to. How to play a basic harmonica blues scale harmonica. The solution below shows the db blues scale, on the piano, treble clef and bass clef. 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. Then try the following go crazy insert bendsextra noteschords wherever desired.
Pentatonic scales play in six different keys on one. What is the difference between a pentatonic scale and a blues. For example, a minor is the relative minor of c major. To play the blues is a fascinating undertaking because it can be both simplistic and yet intangibly tricky to master. Im on level 3, accomp study 3 chords, and confused about the difference between the blues scale and the blues notes. You can play the blues scale with any g instrument. Figure 5 chromatic scale musicians tend to like to use the visual reference of the piano for this same information. On this page youll find blues scale guitar tab, patterns and notation that will allow you to play blues scales all over the guitar neck. I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in order to memorize the blues scales in all keys. The previous issue outlined ideas for practice, and introduced an exercise based on the major scale. Play jazz blues in 11th position on the harmonica how to. Harmonica scales for beginners while learning to play.
Blues harmonica beginner blues harp riffs and licks, jamming, and bluesharp instruction. Playing the blues scale now that you can bend notes the next thing we should look at is the blues scale. Some years back i spent much of a summer holiday playing this exercise with a metronome. The arrows and numbers below indicate how to play the blues scale. The longest musical phrase begins with a single note. This is just a series of seven notes which help the harmonica sound bluesy, so playing this scale over and over is excellent training. If the band is playing in key of g, find g on the circle of fifths andd go counterclockwise left once. Includes an explanation of harmonica notation and tablature, plus a diagram of the blowdraw notes on four of the most common types of harmonicas. The 20 notes of the diatonic harmonica cover a range of three octaves.
They are arranged in such a way that only the middle octave contains a complete eightnote scale. Although solotuned instruments are not well suited for blues. Play in g major second position 2 draw or 6 blow is tonic play in e. This pdf contains the scale charts for the blues scale in all keys for guitar in standard tuning. Referencing the chromatic scale above, this gives us the note d. Play a blues based intro to 11th position on harmonica. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. With the technique of bending, a very bluesysounding scale, called the blues scale, is possible. Blues harmonica riffs beginner bluesharp instruction and licks. But you have to find them in the middle of the bend because. Dont put it off until tomorrow or until you have the scale under better control. If you are just starting out, take a look at the beginning blues. There are two pentatonic scales, major pentatonic and minor pentatonic.
Begin by strumming a basic blues shuffle in the key of g. This course is designed to teach beginner level players the basics of playing the 12hole solotuned diatonic harmonica, which is tuned differently from the standard 10hole diatonic instrument. In order to cycle through as many areas of scale practice as possible and not get bored it is important to have a plan. Play major scale in 1st, 2nd, 3rd position harmonica how to. Blues scales blues is an irresistible tonality for a guitar player. By the 1920s, when recording companies began to look for blues acts, blues harp was a common sound in the southern part of the united states. Blues scales are used in many musical kinds for example in blues, jazz, rock and roll, funk, soul rhythm and blues, dance, pop. Notice how good the scale sounds with blues notice also that an old valve amplifier has been used to fatten up the harmonica sound. Blues scale practice for diatonic harmonica warm up by trying the following with bends if possible. Read on for a complete blues scale guitar lesson the basic blues scale guitar pattern. This time we look at the blues scale, and how it can enrich you. Bending notes are essential to play blues on the harmonica. After world war ii, a large relocation of blacks from the rural south to the urban north took place. Blues harmonica improv, what about other styles of music.