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Harmonica - Harmonica types

Harmonica - Harmonica types: Encyclopedia II - Harmonica - Harmonica types

Harmonica - The diatonic harmonica. The diatonic harmonica is the most widely known type of harmonica. It has ten holes which offer the player 19 notes (10 holes times a draw and a blow for each hole minus one repeated note) in a three octave range. The standard diatonic harmonica is designed to allow a player to play chords and melody in a single key. Because they are only designed to be played in a single key at a time, diatonic harmonicas are available in all keys. Here is a standard diatonic harmonica's ...

Harmonica: Encyclopedia II - Harmonica - Harmonica types

Harmonica - Harmonica types

Harmonica - The diatonic harmonica

The diatonic harmonica is the most widely known type of harmonica. It has ten holes which offer the player 19 notes (10 holes times a draw and a blow for each hole minus one repeated note) in a three octave range. The standard diatonic harmonica is designed to allow a player to play chords and melody in a single key. Because they are only designed to be played in a single key at a time, diatonic harmonicas are available in all keys. Here is a standard diatonic harmonica's layout in the key of C (1 blow is middle C):

       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10
       -----------------------------
blow: |C |E |G |C |E |G |C |E |G |C |
draw: |D |G |B |D |F |A |B |D |F |A |
       -----------------------------

Harmonica - The Chromatic harmonica

The Chromatic harmonica uses a button-activated sliding bar to redirect air from the hole in the mouthpiece to the selected reed-plate desired. This harp is used for Celtic, Classical, and Jazz, as well as many other styles. Traditionally these are made so that when the button is not pressed, an altered diatonic major scale of the key of the harmonica is available and depressing the button accesses the same scale a semi-tone higher in each hole, thus giving an instrument capable of playing the 12 notes of the Western chromatic scale.

Chromatic harmonicas are usually 12, 14 or 16 holes long. The 12-hole chromatic is available in 12 keys, but due to the fact that the entire chromatic scale is available by definition, most professionals stick with the key of C—which is perhaps easier to remember, since slide in will automatically be the sharps of the associated note. In the standard 12-hole chromatic in C the lowest note is middle C, while 16-hole variants start one octave lower.

For the 16-hole variant, the layout is as follows:

       `1 `2 `3 `4  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12
       -----------------------------------------------
blow: |C |E |G |C |C |E |G |C |C |E |G |C |C |E |G |C |  key out
draw: |d |f |a |b |d |f |a |b |d |f |a |b |d |f |a |b |
       -----------------------------------------------

       `1 `2 `3 `4  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12
       -----------------------------------------------
blow: |C#|F |G#|C#|C#|F |G#|C#|C#|F |G#|C#|C#|F |G#|C#|  key in
draw: |d#|f#|a#|c |d#|f#|a#|c |d#|f#|a#|c |d#|f#|a#|c |
       -----------------------------------------------

Because it is a fully chromatic instrument, the chromatic harmonica is the instrument of choice in jazz and classical music. In traditional harmonica bands, the chromatic harmonica plays the lead part.

However, while the chromatic harmonica is capable of playing in all keys, it is not without its limitations. For example, while chromatic harmonicas can "bend" notes down in pitch, as this is a single-reed bend it sounds quite different than the typical dual-reed bends of a diatonic. Further, unless the windsavers are removed chromatic harmonicas cannot "overblow" at all. Perhaps more importantly, the number of chords and double-stops available is limited, as are legato phrasings. Thus, even some of the most accomplished chromatic players are known to use instruments in other keys on occasion, usually the key of F and the key of G. On the other hand, the fact that the chromatic harmonica is designed to play melodies in any keys, plus the fact that many 16-holes and special versions only come stock in the key of C, implied that a good harmonica player should also try his or her best to use the chromatic in the key of C to its greatest capability, and only switch to other keys when it is absolutely necessary.

Chromatic harmonicas are often described as either "straight tuned" or "cross tuned". This refers to the way the slider is shaped to isolate the reed set being played at a given position (button "in" or button "out"). Traditionally the chromatic was "straight tuned" and the slider selected either the upper reed-plate (button out) or the lower reed-plate (button in). In the later half of the 20th century a new system came into use in which the slider played the upper and lower reed-plates at the same time, staggered by which hole (thus with the button out the player might play the upper reed-plate in hole 1, the lower reed-plate in hole 2, and then the upper again in hole 3 and so forth; pressing the button reversed this). This allows for a larger hole in the slider, and thus presumably more air gets through, allowing a louder volume. The two methods co-exist with some companies and players prefering one style and others another.

There are at least two other types of slider design as well. The first one has holes side-by-side with each other in the slider, thus opening only the left side of the chamber or the right side depending on button position. The Renaissance chromatic uses this design, which is claimed to mix the larger hole of a cross-tuned design with an even shorter movement than in straight tuned sliders. The simple way of doing this is to construct the harmonica more like a traditional Richter diatonic whereas the standard chromatic design shares more in common with the Knittlinger octave harmonicas. Note, however, the Renaissance uses a complex comb design to achieve their slider design. The second type of alternative design is found mostly in East Asia and is based more along the traditional Weiner tremolo construction. Here each reed is isolated in its own cell within the comb and the slider selects a single reed at a time rather than a cell containing both blow and draw reeds. The Tombo Ultimo is an example of this type of chromatic.

Finally, there are also several types of non-slide chromatic instruments available, particularly in Asia, such as the Horn Harmonica (see below), as well as Tombo's S-50, Tombo's Chromatic Violin Range, and others. Tombo Chromatic Violin Range (three and a half octaves), as well as S-50 (thre octaves) use the tremelo scale tuning system (but with only one-reed): in essence it is a C# tremolo harmonica sitting on top of a C tremolo harmonica, with blow and draw reeds each sitting in a single cell. The player switches between a top row tuned to C# and a bottom tuned to C by changing the angle of the harmonica.

Like Diatonic, Chromatics are available in numerous tunings. However, there are two more popular versions: one is the bebop tuning, which is done by tuning the redundent C/C# in hole 4', 4, 8, and 12 blow into a Bb/B pair. This allow playing chords in the key of F, as well as playing C7 chord.

       `1 `2 `3 `4  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12
       -----------------------------------------------
blow: |C |E |G |Bb|C |E |G |Bb|C |E |G |Bb|C |E |G |Bb|  key out
draw: |d |f |a |b |d |f |a |b |d |f |a |b |d |f |a |b |
       -----------------------------------------------

       `1 `2 `3 `4  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12
       -----------------------------------------------
blow: |C#|F |G#|B |C#|F |G#|B |C#|F |G#|B |C#|F |G#|B |  key in
draw: |d#|f#|a#|c |d#|f#|a#|c |d#|f#|a#|c |d#|f#|a#|c |
       -----------------------------------------------

Another popular version of alternate tuning is the classical tuning, which is done by switching between the blow and draw of the 4th hole of each octave:

       `1 `2 `3 `4  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12
       -----------------------------------------------
blow: |C |E |G |B |C |E |G |B |C |E |G |B |C |E |G |B |  key out
draw: |d |f |a |c |d |f |a |c |d |f |a |c |d |f |a |c |
       -----------------------------------------------

       `1 `2 `3 `4  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12
       -----------------------------------------------
blow: |C#|F |G#|C |C#|F |G#|C |C#|F |G#|C |C#|F |G#|C |  key in
draw: |d#|f#|a#|c#|d#|f#|a#|c#|d#|f#|a#|c#|d#|f#|a#|c#|
       -----------------------------------------------

This easily allow Imaj7 and iimajo7 chords, as well as many other chords, that's very benefical for classical music playing.

Harmonica - The Tremolo Harmonica

Tremolo harmonicas have two reeds per note. In a tremolo harmonica the two reeds are tuned slightly off a reference pitch, one a bit sharp and the other a bit flat. This gives a unique wavering or warbling sound created by the two reeds being not exactly in tune with each other and difference in their subsequent waveforms acting against one another. The degree of beating can be varied depending on the desired effect. Instruments where the beating is faster due to the reeds being farther apart from the reference pitch are called "wet", whereas those where the beating is slower and less noticeable due to the reeds being more closely in tune are called "dry".

The tonal variation of the tremolo harmonica is not truly "tremolo". "Tremolo" is most often defined as a periodic change of volume (or, less often, pitch), and the tremolo harmonica really exhibits something entirely different: a frequency interference pattern. This effect is fairly common amongst Western free-reed instruments and is found in accordions, harmoniums and reed organs under various names (celeste, vox jubilante, etc...). The article Beat (acoustics) contains more information on acoustical frequency interference patterns.

Tremolo harmonicas are perhaps the most common form of harmonica in the world, being very popular in folk music as well as in much of East Asia. In the West, the tremolo harmonica is usually encountered in traditional folk music, being found throughout Europe and South America in this role. In China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and other parts of Asia, however, tremolo harmonicas are found in nearly every area of music from folk to classical — in fact, there are specially manufactured tremolo harmonicas for ensemble playing. Players often use several different harmonicas at a time, holding them one atop the other, in order to play notes and chords not available on any single instrument.

Most tremolo harmonicas are built upon what is termed the "Wiener system", named after the city of Vienna (Wien in German) where they first emerged. In this design the two beating reeds are distributed one on each reed-plate (top and bottom) and these share a common chamber. In practice, however, it is common for each individual reed to have its own air chamber. Unlike the diatonic harmonica described above (built on the "Richter system") the blow and draw reeds do not share a common chamber, but are separated off from one another. This allows the player to isolate each reed. While normally the player simply plays both the tremolo reeds at once, it is possible to achieve a wide variety of bends and other effects through selecting certain reeds and chambers and not others. Similarly, it is possible to play without the tremolo effect by only choosing the top or bottom chambers and blocking off the others with the lips. In practice, though, these are primarily used for effects and mostly the instrument is played as if the two beating reeds shared a single chamber.

There are three commonly encountered tunings or note layouts used for tremolo harmonicas. The older layout is very similar to that used in the standard diatonic harmonica and also found in diatonic accordions and concertinas. This tuning has the major diatonic scale in the middle and top octaves of the harmonica with two chords in the lowest octave: the tonic in the blow and the dominant or fifth chord in the draw. This is very effective for chordal playing behind relatively simple folk melodies in either the tonic or the fifth of the key of the harmonica. In asia, the fourths and the sixths are added back in, in order to play the melody; however, it was still unlike the scale tuning mentioned below, since the octaves are not repeated through out the layout.

(capital letters indicate blow, non-capital letters denote draw)

Common tuning in Europe and North America
 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 
 -----------------------------------------------------------
|C |d |E |g |G |b |C |d |E |f |G |a |C |b |E |d |G |f |C |a |
|C |d |E |g |G |b |C |d |E |f |G |a |C |b |E |d |G |f |C |a |
 -----------------------------------------------------------


Common tuning in East Asia 
 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|G |d |C |f |E |a |G |b |C |d |E |f |G |a |C |b |E |d |G |f |C |a |E |b |
|G |d |C |f |E |a |G |b |C |d |E |f |G |a |C |b |E |d |G |f |C |a |E |b |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------

A more recently developed tuning is commonly found on tremolos manufactured in or designed for Asia. This layout is derived from the "solo" tuning found in chromatic harmonicas and is sometimes called "scale" tuning. Here the notes of the major scale are found through out the range of the harmonica without a separate chord section in the bass octave. This helps to facilitate a common practice in Asia of playing both a C and C# harmonica stacked in order to achieve full chromaticity by having essentially the same notes available in each octave of the harmonica. This tuning is also applied to Tombo's S-50.

(capital letters indicate blow, non-capital letters denote draw)
 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|C |d |E |f |G |a |C |b |C |d |E |f |G |a |C |b |C |d |E |f |G |a |C |b |
|C |d |E |f |G |a |C |b |C |d |E |f |G |a |C |b |C |d |E |f |G |a |C |b |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Some manufacturers replace the repeated root note with a spacer. (See S-50)

An interesting recent development has been that of the chromatic tremolo harmonica. This combines the slider design of the chromatic harmonica with the dual reed beating sound of the tremolo harmonica. Harmonica technician John Infande has been manufacturing his own design in limited numbers for several years [1] while the Japanese harmonica company Suzuki has recently released its design [2].

For more info on tremolo and other double-reed tunings, see: http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q15.html

Harmonica - The Octave Harmonica

Octave harmonicas have two reeds per hole. The two reeds are tuned to the same note a perfect octave apart. Many share their basic design with the tremolo harmonica explained above and are built upon this "Weiner system" of construction. Octave harmonicas also come in what is called the "Knittlinger system". In this design the top and bottom reed-plates contain all of the blow and draw notes for either to lower or higher pitched set of reeds. The comb is constructed so that the blow and draw reeds on each reed-plate are paired side-by-side in a single chamber in the same manner as on a standard diatonic but that the top and bottom pairs each have their own chamber. Thus, in a C harmonica the higher pitched C blow and D draw found in the first "hole" would be placed side-by-side on the upper reed-plate and share a single chamber in the comb and the lower pitched C blow and D draw would be placed side-by-side on the bottom reed-plate and share a single chamber directly below the higher pitched pair of reeds' chamber. Knittlinger octave harmonicas are also called "concert" harmonicas and are almost always tuned in a variation of the traditional major diatonic with chords tuning found in diatonic harmonicas. Octave harmonicas built in the "Wiener system" may be tuned either in this traditional method or in the same manner as the Asian tremolos mentioned above.

An interesting variation upon the Knittlinger octave harmonica is the so-called "half-concert" harmonica. This is not an octave harmonica at all, but rather a single-note diatonic harmonica which is built with a single reed-plate rather than the standard two--essentially it is one half of the standard octave harmonica.

Harmonica - The Orchestral harmonicas

These harmonicas are primarily designed for use in ensemble playing.

The orchestral melody harmonica, or Horn harmonicas as called in Asia, are mostly found in East Asia. These consist of a single large comb with blow only reed-plates on the top and bottom. Each reed sits inside a single cell in the comb, and the instrument mimics the layout of a piano or mallet insturment, with the natural notes of a C diatonic scale available from the lower reed-plate and the sharps/flats from the upper reed-plate in groups of two and three holes with gaps in-between (thus there is no E#/Fb hole nor a B#/Cb hole on the upper reed-plate). These are available in several pitch ranges, with the lowest pitched starting two-octaves below middle C and the highest beginning on middle C itself. These usually cover a two or three octave range. These are usually played in an East Asian harmonica orchestra, using these instruments instead of the chromatic harmonica, and often serve to function in place of brass section—hence it was called horn harmonica in Asia.

The Bass harmonica consists of two separate combs joined together one atop the other with moveable connectors at their ends. These are all-blow instruments covering much the same range as the violin family Double Bass. Those made today are all octave tuned, in that each hole has two reeds one of which plays the bass note and the other a note an octave higher. The lower comb contains the notes of the C major diatonic scale, while the upper comb contains the notes of a C#/Db diatonic scale.

See the fuller description at: www.bassharp.com.

The chord harmonica has 48 chords: major, seventh, minor, augmented and diminished for ensemble playing. It is laid out in four-note clusters, each sounding a different chord on inhaling or exhaling. Typically each hole has two reeds for each note, tuned to one octave of each other, but less expensive models often have only one reed per note.

In addition to these, quite a few orchestra harmonicas are also designed to serve both as a bass and chord harmonica, with bass notes next to chord groupings. Other interesting harmonicas include the Polyphonias which are designed to make glissandos and other effects very easy to play--few acoustic instruments can play a chromatic glissando as fast as a Polyphonia.

Harmonica - New Developments

The Suzuki Overdrive is designed to facilitate overblowing and overdriving. The Overdrive is constructed with individual air-chambers for each reed in the covers. Holes at the ends of each chamber are located to allow the player to block off the air flow with their fingers and thus silence that reed. This isolates the other reed which shares the same comb chamber and allows that reed to be overblown or bent as if it were the only reed in its cell. This allows for many techniques and manipulations of the reed that can be difficult to perform on a standard diatonic harmonica.

The Hohner XB-40 is an entirely new design. Here the blow reeds and the draw reeds are sealed off from one another with valves, effectively creating two separate cells in the comb for each hole in the mouthpiece: one for blow and another for draw. A second reed is then placed in this cell at a zero-offset so that it does not sound under normal playing. However, it is placed on the opposite side of the reed-plate from the speaking reed and tuned so that it responds when the player "bends" the note downwards in pitch. This allows for every note on the XB-40 to be bent downwards a whole-tone or more, whereas on standard diatonics only certain notes (the higher-pitched in the cell) will bend at all.

Another recent innovation in the harmonica is the ChengGong (a pun on the inventor's name and Xin Gong, "Success") Harmonica, invented by XueXue Cheng of China. It has two parts: the main body, and a sliding mouth piece. The body is a 24 hole diatonic harmonica that starts from b2 to d6 (covering 3 octaves). Its 11-hole mouthpiece can slide along the front of the harmonica, which gives numerous chord choices and voicings (seven triads, three 6th chords, seven 7th chords, and seven 9th chords, with a total of 24 chords available). Yet, the ChengGong is still capable of playing single note melodies and double stops over a range of 3 diatonic octaves, all the while maintaining a small profile, not much larger than a 12-hole chromatic. Also, unlike conventional harmonicas, blowing and drawing produce the same notes. In this way, its tuning is closer to the note layout of a typical asian tremelo harmonica or the Polyphonias.

Harmonica - The Pitch Pipe

The pitch pipe is essentially a specialty harmonica which is designed not for playing music as such but for giving a reference pitch to singers and other instruments. Notably, the only difference between some early pitch-pipes and harmonicas is the name of the instrument, reflecting the maker's target audience.