Contents
Harmonica Basics
The Parts of a Harmonica
How to Hold a Harmonica
How to Breathe Properly When Playing a Harmonica
The Notes of the C Harmonica
How to Play Single Notes on the Harmonica
How to Do Single-Note, Tongue-Block, and U-Block Embouchures
How to Play Chords on the Harmonica
How to Play Bends on the Harmonica
How to Read and Play from Harmonica Tablature
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How to Read and Play from Harmonica Tablature
Though it’s possible to write harmonica music with standard musical notation—the system used to write piano music, for instance—most beginners first learn to read harmonica tablature, or tab for short. Harmonica tablature uses numbers and basic symbols to indicate which hole to play, and whether to blow or draw.
Tablature vs. Standard Notation
Tablature differs from standard notation mainly in that it doesn’t specify exactly how long each note should be played. Standard notation includes time signatures, which allow the player to determine exactly how many beats, or counts, each note should last. Harmonica tab can indicate the relative duration of each note, but never with the precision that standard musical notation makes possible.
How Harmonica Tab Works
There are many different versions of harmonica tab, but the most common version uses the following symbols:
- A number (1–10): Indicates which hole to play.
- An up arrow: Indicates notes that should be played as blow notes.
- A down arrow: Indicates notes that should be played as draw notes.
- A “B” beneath an up or down arrow: Indicates a draw or blow bend. A plain “B” indicates a half-step bend. A “B” with a superscript “2” or “3” indicates a bend of two or three half steps. Alternatively, some tab systems tabs bend the tail of the arrows of notes that should be played as bends—in this system, the extent of the bend in the arrow indicates whether the note should be bent one, two, or three half steps.
- An “R”: Indicates a rest, a beat or so of silence.
- Solid vertical lines between several notes: Indicate measures, short divisions used to break up a piece of notated music. Not all harmonica tabs include measures.
- Songs including chords: Show the notes of the chord (the numbers of the holes) stacked vertically under—or, in some cases, over—the up or down arrow that indicates whether the chord should be blown or drawn.
How Long Should You Hold Each Note?
Most harmonica tab systems provide no indication of the duration of each note. Some tab systems provide the relative duration of the notes in a song by including small horizontal lines on the tail of each arrow. For instance, an arrow with no horizontal line might get one beat, an arrow with one horizontal line might get two beats, and an arrow with two horizontal lines might get three or four beats. Since harmonica tab usually includes the corresponding lyrics to songs or melodies above each note, you can use the lyrics to help you determine the note duration.
How to Play Songs from Harmonica Tablature
Most harmonica tab contains the basic melody of a song. To play the song, sound each blow or draw note in succession as they’re written from left to right.
Sample Harmonica Tablature: “Silent Night”
Below is the harmonica tab for the song “Silent Night,” written for the C diatonic harmonica. Playing it requires only basic blows and draws (no bends) and is a great way to practice learning to read and play harmonica tablature.
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