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I've been spending a lot of time learning more jazzy pieces on the chromatic like "Don't Get Around Too Much Any More", "Tenderly", "Lulaby Of Birdland" and other swingy stuff. I like these tunes and the whole Swing/'Be Bop/Louise Jordan type feel I can come up with on the chromatic.

But I have to say that the reason I've taken this tack (apart from the fact that I love the music) is that all the blues stuff I want to do involves octave splits and I'm having a devil of a time learning this. Unless I can do octaves there isn't a strong motivation for me to do blues on the chro. I am a tongue blocker all around both chromatic and diatonic harps and I'm very comfortable with splits on the diatonic but trying to do it on the chromatic has been frustrating to the point where I decided (for now) to set it aside in favor of the above mentioned material. But I would sure like to learn this technique on the chromatic.

I've speculated that perhaps my mouth is just too small to do it on the chro. I have also been looking into building myself an augmented tuned 270. With the augmented tuning you can get octave splits with just 2 holes blocked like a diatonic. But you loose the big broad 4 and 5 hole, monor sounding chords of the standard tuning so I'm not so sure if this is the way I want to go. The last time I had a really hard time learning something new on any kind of harp, it was throat vibrato. I struggled for months with it untill I go it. When I did I was so excited.

I'm very interested in reading how others have handled octave splits on chromatic. Not that I think I'm going to read anything new on this. Everybody tells me the same thing: You have to learn to put that harp deep into your mouth and then learn to control your lips and the fit with your mouth all stretched out!

Sam Blancato, Pittsburgh

Daid -

No narrower ones, but there are some wider Asian chromatics that take 24 holes to do what would normally take 12. But I sense that's not what you're looking for.

I'm afraid chromatic hole spacing is pretty much standard (I didn't try to measure things like the slideless Tombo S-50, but those are too far off the map to consider, both for unavailability on North America and unusual form factor).

I had trouble getting octaves at first. It can take work. Meanwhile, Little Walter almost never played octaves on the chromatic - he relied on three-and four-hole spreads with one or two notable exceptions. You don't *have* to play like a George Smith disciple to play credible blues chromatic.

Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5

Hey Jon,

Thanks for your advise; all your points are on the money. Acttually, I making pretty good progress on the chromatic octaves right now. Maybe it's just putting in the time to brun in the muscle sets needed to do it or maybe it's breaking out of the muscle memory groove I've been inside all these years with the short harp (2 and 3 vs. 4 and 5) but I'm actually getting it. Right now I'm marching out scales in all splits and sometimes they come out prety smooth.

The kind of octave figures I really like and want to do can be heard on John Nemeth's Ace of Harps. The song is "Late Night Hours" - very nice octave based stuff on that one.

Sam

Each person should start on the harmonica they like the most. For many, it's the diatonic, and then down the road start to appreciate the chromatic. I wait until someone can play well in second position first, then start them on the chromatic (commonly two years after they start the diatonic). Learning the chromatic is also a great pairing when someone is learning the third position on the diatonic. Since there's no bending (except for dips) on the chromatic, it's also a great instrument to specifically focus on tongue blocking skills. In the end... if you LOVE the sound of the chromatic and want to learn it NOW, go for it!

The side-by-side double C's present two different (though related) problems:

1. -- You might have a C octave with a 4-hole spread (Holes 5 to 9), a 5-hole spread (4 to 9 *or* 5 to 10) or even a 6-hole spread (4 to 10). You need to be sure you're doing a 5-hole spread for the sake of consistency in octave lines (unless you have a specific reason do do otherwise).

2. -- Even with consistent 5-hole spread, you might be playing the C octave that's in the same hole as the B draw octave (Holes 4 to 9), or in the hole with the D draw octave (Holes 5 to 10).

To address the problem of spread size, start with draw octaves, which are always a 5-hole spread (or, as I've started to describe splits, a 1/3/1 - one hole on the left, three holes blocked, one hole on the right). Once you learn to lock in that spread on the draw notes, you can apply it consistently to blow notes, including the confusing double-C patch.

You can start with something like the note D in octaves, try moving to F, A, B and the next D then come back down.

Then, try playing the D Dorian scale in octaves - D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D and back down.

Moving into the Blow C octave, make sure you stay locked in that 1/3/1.

To develop a consistent sense of which 5-hole C octave you're playing, you could play isolation exercises such as D-C-D-C, etc., staying in the same hole and just alternating breath between draw and blow. Then you could do B-C-B-C etc., again staying in the same hole and alternating. Once you get the hang of doing these in the same hole, try doing the sequence B-C-D-C, B-C-D-C, etc. Try it with each of the possible C octaves that use a 5-hole spread:

B-C--D,shift>-C

and

B--C-D-C-

and

B--C-D-D--C

That's a lot of different combinations and I'd learn one well before working on the next one, but at the end of it you'll always be sure where you are when you pass through the Blow C octaves.

Still editing... been focusing on the equipment videos as of late.