Sheet music and what you play different key make me upset
Hi
I have no idea what the harmonica world does but playing guitar all my life I can not
immagine a music sheet is some thing and the instructer plays in differetn key.
It is confusing . It is not helpful . It wasts my time . It makes me upset
If
https://www.bluesharmonica.com/sites/bluesharmonica.com/files/private/to...
is what you are playing in
https://www.bluesharmonica.com/sites/bluesharmonica.com/files/private/to...
then the music shee of Ex 1.1 is wrong
In the music sheet it indicates C but you are playing A harmonica in mp3 so it is A
Please explain how it comes ? Is this internationally accepted method ?
You mean in harmonica world they just use C key in music sheet and play any key as they want?
Thanks
I got it now :) and as a matter of fact this is much simpler than I thought.
I can also use Transpose in my keyboard to make things right too. Wow
Thanks
Great. I'm glad you got it... those without some basic theory background have a challenge understanding this.
Yes, exactly. If you prefer to play and think in concert key, you can change the key of the example of course.
I can now proceed with lessons without any issue but one question :
Let's say some body puts a music sheet right in front of me example
https://goo.gl/images/fe8VuZ
and asks me to play with harmonica. When it comes to guitar I play the melody without hesitation but
When playing with harmonica what should I consider before I start playing ?
I need to know what key it is and pick up the right harmonica right ?
Do I need to memorise the location of all notes on the new key ?
I hope to be able to play the harmonica by looking at a sheet music (at least a simple music)
Morning ibrothers. That is an issue. If you want to be able to sightread, you'll need to memorize all 12 keys of harmonica. Luckily each harmonica is set up the same... so you'll be remembering the pattern (scale degrees), which is...
Blow notes, from 1+ to 10+
1 3 5 1 3 5 1 3 5 1
Draw notes, from 1 to 10
2 5 7 2 4 6 7 2 4 6
This is in 1st Position.
I don’t like the the key of C so I transpose everything to a key of G instead! Aside from reading sheet music, I wonder where this is going to get me in trouble later. I’m just fond of the G key, it’s my pocket harp, and everything sort of revolves around that.
That's fine Rishió if you don't mind doing the transposition work.
Thanks David ! What software do you use to help you do the transpose faster?
Rishió ! You said you transpose to G Chord ? Do you use a software? How to do it easy and quick?
Hello Thankyou. I do this by hand. The other option is to write it into a music notation software and then use the transposition option. You'll still need to work out the TAB for the harmonica though, it doesn't do that for you. I use Finale. Finale is fairly expensive, but they have lower-cost alternatives on their website that will do just fine.
Hello ibrothers. This is called C Score and is common in the music world. In fact, the majority of instruments are called "Transposing Instruments." When the trumpet plays a written C on the page, it actually sounds Bb. When a french horn plays a written C, it sounds F.
Harmonicas come in all twelve keys. To play in a given key you simply grab the appropriate harmonica and away you go. Each harmonica is approached the same—same blows, draws, bends and techniques—the harmonica does the key change for you. We always think on the C harmonica, so we don't have to memorize the pitch set of all 12 keys of harmonica.
You eventually will learn how to think in scale degrees. Scale degrees are universal as well. For example... 1+ (one blow) is C on a C harmonica. So, the 1+ is the root note in the key of C. 1+ is A on an A harmonica. So, the 1+ is the root note in the key of A. They are both the same. With this knowledge, you can see that all 1+'s are the root note of each harmonica when playing in the same key as the harmonica with other musicians (harmonica key of A, band key of A. To know one harmonica is to know them all.
Until you learn to think in scale degrees, in the mean time you can use a chart like "Harmonica Chart [All Keys].pdf" on this page https://www.bluesharmonica.com/sites/bluesharmonica.com/files/private/Ha...
Finally, to answer your question of "You mean in harmonica world they just use C key in music sheet and play any key as they want?" Yes, the sheet music is written as if you're playing a C harmonica, so you get very fast at reading and thinking about music, but which harmonica you use, to play in whichever key you and the band wish to play in, is up to you. Read in one key, let the different keys of harmonica do the transposing.