Harmonica is that musical instrument that never goes out of the trend. People have been playing it for many years, but still its craze in the musical industry is the same. Among all the types of harmonica, chromatic and diatonic harmonica is very famous.
What Are Chromatic & Diatonic Harmonicas?
The chromatic harmonica is a type of harmonica that uses a sliding bar with a button to divert air from the mouthpiece hole to the preferred reed plate. When the button is not pressed, an altered diatonic major scale in the harmonica’s key is available, whereas clicking the button accesses the same scale a semitone higher in each hole.
This instrument can play all 12 notes of the western chromatic scale. A chromatic harmonica is therefore distinguished from a normal harmonica, which can only play notes in a specific musical key.
The diatonic harmonica, also called the mouth organ, blues harp, and a variety of other names, is the type of harmonica most commonly heard in blues, rock, country, and jazz music. This seemingly simple instrument has been around for many years in various forms.
The materials have evolved drastically over the previous 150 years, despite the fact that the design has remained virtually unchanged. The classic wooden comb is now frequently constructed of plastic or aluminum alloy, and computerized manufacture in the best companies assures better consistency than ever before.
How To Play Diatonic Harmonica?
Are you a beginner and want to know how to play diatonic harmonicas? If so, then you must go through the below listed steps to learn to play it.
Here they are!!
Become Familiar With Your Harmonica
To learn playing the diatonic harmonica, you must first become comfortable with your harmonica. For novices, the “C” key is recommended. Have you ever wondered what goes into making a harmonica? If not, have a look at the information below to learn more about harmonica materials.
- A bottom plate and a top plate contain 1 to 10 numbers.
- Twenty reeds (made up of 2 brass plates).
- A comb used to separate reed plates.
Harmonica position
You must first learn how to hold the harmonica properly before moving on to the notes.
- Check that you’re holding the harmonica in ascending order by counting the number of plates.
- Maintain proper finger and thumb motions.
Understand Harmonica Notes
Because if you play the harmonica without notes, it will make noise even if you have a pleasant voice. Therefore, it is essential to produce the notes from your harmonica.
Learn about the different scales
After you’ve mastered a single note, you can go on to scales, which will help you focus and control your blowing and sketching.
Develop your diatonic harmonica skills
Only until you’ve practiced a single note on repeat and believe you’ve mastered it, you should move on to play a tune.
How To Be A Professional From Beginner?
If you want to play a harmonica like an expert, then you must follow up the below described steps one by one.
Choose A Harmonica Type
First and foremost, you need to select a perfect type of harmonica for you. Since there are a lot of options in harmonicas, and all of them have their different specifications, you just need to find out the perfect one for you.
Harmonica Brand
You should go with the high quality harmonicas. Because while playing the harmonica, there is not only one skill which makes you the best player, but also, the harmonica brand/quality gives much contribution to perform better.
Understand Harmonica
After that, you need to know about the parts of the harmonica and its specifications. Before moving further, you should also learn about the techniques to play harmonica. There are two methods to play harmonica.
Here they are!!
- Pucker Method
- Tongue method
Hence, it is totally up to you to proceed with any of them.
Try A Song
After getting all the above-mentioned knowledge, you should step forward to try a song on it. Since this can help you to make more progress in playing the harmonica. Moreover, you can cover different scales in one song, it will boost up your concentration power.
Bending
Bending is a difficult skill to master at first, but once you do, it becomes second nature. This is not, however, a beginner’s technique. Before attempting bends, be sure you can perform everything listed above, especially playing single notes.
Bending is a technique for altering the pitch of a note. You vary the shape of your mouth as you inhale or exhale, controlling the pace at which the reed vibrates and the pitch of the note that plays. When playing blues harmonica, bends are commonly used.
Position
It’s possible that your harmonica has multiple keys printed on it. It most likely says C on one side, but it could also say G on the other. In which key is it? Although your harmonica is in the key of C, you can play a separate scale in the key of G.
First position or straight harp refers to the harmonica’s natural posture (in this case, the key of (C). Second position, often known as cross harp, is a fifth higher than first position (G).
Why use several positions? For two reasons: They allow you to play numerous keys on a single harmonica, for starters. Second, it gives you the option of playing scales other than the major scale. For instance, if I wanted to play a blues scale in C, I’d use an F-key harmonica.
Each position is a fifth higher than the one before it. First position on a C harmonica would be in C, second in G, third in D, fourth in A, and fifth in E. You’ll rarely utilize anything higher than fifth position, and you’ll mostly employ 1, 2, and 4.
Cleaning
As you play, the harmonica will fill with filth, this may have little effect, and excessive cleaning can be detrimental. But, at the same time, cleaning on a regular basis is beneficial.
Disassembly-Free Cleaning
If your harmonica’s comb is made of plastic rather than wood or metal, you can soak it in tepid water and dry it.
Disassembling
Unscrew the cover plate, remove the comb, and clean it with water, soap, and an old toothbrush for a more thorough cleaning. But be sure to remove all the soap; you don’t want it to taste like soap. Simply rub the wood comb with the tooth brush, if you have one. Use no soap or water. Metal can be cleaned with soap and water, but it must be completely dried to avoid rust.
Buy Diatonic Harmonica Online
Although there are several platforms, that sell diatonic harmonicas online. However, Harmo could be considered as the best harmonica store. Harmo has been providing their harmonica since 2016, and they keep the quality factor on priority while manufacturing harmonicas.
Moreover, they deal in various types of harmonicas, some of the varieties are written below.
- Mini Harmonica
- Custom Harmonica
- Diatonic Harmonica
- Keychain Harmonica
Apart from this, they also work in harmonica repair.
Summing Up
In the end, diatonic harmonicas are the best choice for beginners, since it is easy to play as compared to other harmonicas. So, if you are new in this field, you can start from diatonic harmonicas.
