Harmonica layout
As a beginner the one thing I notice (like photography) there appear to be "no rules" to Blues. Thats fine but I have just been looking at a copy of Blues Harmonica for Dummies and I notice that all the graphics related to the layout of the harmonica are inverted to what I typically see and understand. I do find it very disconcerting, the phisical makeup of the instrument is that the blow reeds are at the top and draw below. All other literature seem to comply with a "convention" of the layout as the harmonica is designed so why the flip in this book. Can Winslow Yerxa shed light on the question.
Winslow thanks for making the time to respond and explain the logic behind the layout. There is clear logic there. I think the trick is to be able to become so familier with the note layout of either representation and be comfortable with them both.
Thanks for asking, John.
The blow reeds are physically on top, that's true. And that's very handy information if you need to tune a reed or dislodge a piece of debris.
But musically it makes no sense to put the blow notes on top. In fact doing that obscures several things by putting the blows, draws, bends, and overbends in what looks like a random vertical order.
For the first 6 holes the draw note is the higher note. Why not put the high notes above the low notes, instead of below them?
But bends also make more sense when you put them where they belong musically - in between the blow notes and the draw notes.
For instance, why does Draw 3 bend three semitones while Draw 5 bends less than a semitone? The layout that puts the blow notes on top leaves all the bends hanging in mid-air below the draw notes, with no apparent logic to the differnt bending ranges. But if you see the blow notes below the draw notes, you immediately see that the lower note - the blow note - limits the range of the draw bend.
What about overblows? The overblow is produced by the higher reed. So having the higher reed on top allows you to put the overblow above the draw note The next lower note), which is above the draw bend (the next lower note below that), above the blow note (the lowest note). For instance, in Hole 4 of a C harp you see Blow C on the bottom, then Draw bend C#/Db above that, thend Draw d, Then on top, Overblow Eb.
To me this allows you to stack the notes - blow notes, draw notes, overbends - in vertical order of rising pitch, instead a crazy quilt.
True, everything flips in the top 4 holes. But the same principle of logical progression applies just turned upside down (due to the inconsistent nature of the note ayout istelf). So instead you have highest note (overdraw) on the bottoms, followed by blow, blow bend, and draw.