Harmonica Notation

We see lots of different ways to write out harmonica music, sometimes using up and down arrows that are sometimes bent, but the clearest style for us is just a B or D, for Blow or Draw, then the hole number, 1 through 10, and sometimes a lower case b for a bend. That looks a lot like the flat symbol, which is useful because that's what bends do.

Below is a modified C scale that includes the dominant seventh note (Bb) to show how this notation works. This is in first position, so you'd use the C harmonica to play this (but it works on other keyed harps too!) It includes two bent notes on the #3 and #2 holes. After playing the natural note, see if you can bend it down to get the next scale note in tune. It's a great exercise for tuning your bends.

This modified scale include one extra note - the dominant seventh, the third note is in between "ti" and "la." That dominant (or flatted) seventh comes up often in blues music.

 

Songs we've played so far:

Here is a list of the tunes we've done to date.  Each of these links brings  up a page of sheet music that you can review or print out.

When the music page comes up, look for this icon to enable printing out the sheet.