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Harmonica

What Is Included

Music in our Harmonica series includes:

  • Melody in notation and harmonica tablature
  • Lyrics if the original music includes words
  • Chord symbols above the music

Required Skills

  • Ability to read harmonica tablature. You will also benefit from the ability to read music notation to help with the rhythms.

Chords

Chord symbols are included above the music. The chords may be simplified slightly to make it easy for guitarists, pianists, or other musicians to accompany you.

Music Notation and Tablature

The music notation and chord symbols are for a C harmonica. This is the most common key for harmonicas.

Tablature for harmonica is included below the music. The tablature includes a number (1 to 10) for the hole you play and an up or down arrow to indicate whether to blow or draw (inhale) through the hole. See the tablature explanation in the ebook for more details about how to read it.

Note that the tablature will work for harmonicas in keys other than C as long as they use the standard layout for diatonic harmonicas. You will just be playing in a different key than what is notated.

Our sheet music sounds an octave higher than notated. This is done to reduce the number of ledger lines required.

Keys and Pitches

Most music is in C major because that is the most suitable key for a C harmonica. Other keys may be used occasionally if they work on the harmonica for that melody.

Most notes can be played without bending. However, we do include bends when it's necessary to play notes essential to the melody. We don't include overblows or overdraws. Bends are indicated with one, two, or three slashes across the line for the arrow. The tablature explanation in the ebook describes this in more detail.

Lyrics

We generally include one verse of lyrics within the music. Other lyrics are included as text at the end of the music. Some lyrics may be omitted, but this is usually done only when there are too many verses to easily include (e.g., songs that include dozens of verses).

Lyrics may vary from the version you know. A small number of songs include many variations in lyrics, none of which are standardized. It isn't always possible to create a version of these lyrics that is familiar to everyone.

Tempo

Tempos are editorial suggestions in most cases. Feel free to choose your own tempo.