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Blues harp, properly called '''richter tuned harmonica''' and also known as '''10-hole harmonica''' (in Asia), is the most widely known type of Harmonica . In the United States and Europe, it is called a Diatonic Harmonica . It has ten holes which offer the player 19 notes (10 holes times a draw and a blow for each hole minus one repeated note) in a three Octave range. The standard diatonic harmonica is designed to allow a player to play chords and melody in a single key. Because they are only designed to be played in a single key at a time, diatonic harmonicas are available in all keys. Here is a standard diatonic harmonica's layout in the key of C (blow for 1 is middle C): Although there are 3 octaves between 1 and 10 blow, there is only one full Major Scale available on the harmonica, between holes 4 and 7. The lower holes are designed around the Tonic (C major) and Dominant (G major) chords, allowing a player to play these chords underneath a melody by blocking or unblocking the lower holes with the tongue. The most important notes (the tonic triad C–E–G) are given the blow, and the secondary notes (D–B–F–A), the draw. VALVED DIATONICS The valved diatonic is one of the most common ways of playing Chromatic Scale s on diatonics (as many feel the advanced technique called an " Overblow ", or "overbend", is too difficult). While chromatic is available, valved diatonic is also common, and there are reasons to use a valved diatonic rather than chromatics: #It does not have a slide assembly (so that it has less air leakage) #It has a wider tonal range and dynamic #It has a smaller size and is much more suitable to use with microphone #It's still cheaper than chromatic, even for a premade one like Hohner's ''Auto Valve'' or Suzuki ''Promaster MR-350v'' Valved Diatonics are made by securing windsavers on draw hole 1–6 and blow 7–10; this way, all reeds can be Bent down a semitone at least, but most players can easily bend down a wholetone. Alternatively, one can simply buy a factory made valved diatonics, such as Suzuki ''Promaster Valved''. The disadvantage of valved diatonic is that it does require one to develop proper Embouchure in order to bend the notes accurately, and it's generally agreed that the sound will not be "true", making it suitable for blues and jazz but so-so for classical music. Also, due to the valved bends being one-reed bends, the sound is less full than traditional bends, and may seem dull, making it less dynamic. One way to address this is by having an additional reed that activates when one bends a note; this is the philosophy of Hohner's ''XB-40''. Playing the blues harp So-called "crossharp" is the basic method, employing the harp keyed four tones above the band—F if they're in C; B-flat if they're in F; etc. The lower notes of harps in the lower keys (G through C) are easier to bend, but take more wind. Since much of crossharp is played on the inhalation, every opportunity for exhalation must be capitalized upon—blow out lots of air on every exhaled note and during every pause. THE HOHNER XB-40 The Hohner XB-40 is an entirely new body design, though in practice is still a richter-tuned (diatonic) harmonica. Here the blow reeds and the draw reeds are sealed off from one another with valves, effectively creating two separate cells in the comb for each hole in the mouthpiece: one for blow and another for draw. A second reed is then placed in this cell at a zero-offset (no gapping) so that it does not sound under normal playing. However, it is placed on the opposite side of the reed-plate from the speaking reed and tuned so that it responds when the player "bends" the note downwards in pitch. This allows for every note on the XB-40 to be bent downwards a whole-tone or more, whereas on standard diatonics only certain notes (the higher-pitched in the cell) will bend at all. |
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