Slidemeister (Chromatic & related only - no Diatonic discussion) > Visitors & Newbees Stop Here First!

There is a "Newbe" in town!

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Ray-Wp:
     Hi everybody, I stumbled on this website yesterday and this is my second post (first is in "slide lube").  I am 68 and have been interested in harmonicas for quite some time now.  I did a little shopping around and found out that the diatomic style only had six notes at different octaves and decided to look at the chromatics.  After contemplating the price, my wife and I bought a Hohner 270 a few weeks ago.  I finally figured out the notes each hole could produce and was able to "tab" a few songs since then. I have heard that chromatics are usually used by musicians that "read music". I can do this but it seems that it is quite a problem to remember where these notes are on the instrument, especially where some of the notes are duplicated on different holes, whooo!
     Anyway, I am here for your advice and counselling, and I really like the way this site is set up.
Ray

Gnarly He Man:
So you and your wife play--
Do either or both of you also play another instrument?
Gary
PS Welcome to chromatic harmonica wonderland!
G

Renault:
Welcome, from another over 60 harmonica player. You'll find lots of resources and friends here. You might also want to check out   http://www.harptabs.com   

It's a site that has tabs for a lot of songs. Some are for chromatic, most are for diatonic. But it's easy to convert diatonic tabs to chromatic tabs. Here's a conversion chart:

diatonic      3   -3    4   -4    5   -5    6   -6    7   -7    8    -8    9    -9

chromatic   3   -4    5   -5    6   -6    7   -7    8   -8   10   -9    11  -10

The negative sign stands for "draw". This chart assumes that the chromatic is in the key of C. It doesn't matter what key the diatonic is in (the tabs are the same for every key in diatonic). Also, there are tabs for a few songs on the Slidemeister site - I forget the heading, but I'm sure you can find them.

If you can read music, it's just a matter of learning which written note goes with which hole. I agree, the placement of the notes can be a little confusing at first - it was done that way to make the chords work out. There have been many discussions on this site regarding alternate tunings.

Some pretty songs that are relatively easy to play: Somewhere over the Rainbow, the theme song from Mash, Moon River, Let's Fall In Love.

Gnarly He Man:

--- Quote from: Renault on May 09, 2009, 11:19:40 AM ---I agree, the placement of the notes can be a little confusing at first - it was done that way to make the chords work out.

--- End quote ---
Right, solo tuning is a descendent of the middle octave of the diatonic harmonica.
I dunno if the chords are all that much to brag about on a chrom tho . . .
Gary

Ed Jacobson:
You might find this, as I did: it is relatively easy to learn a tune with a tab in diatonic; once learned a tune falls pretty easily from diatonic to chromatic.

Most of the music readers here seem to have skipped tabbing, choosing to learn the notes on the instrument, apply their music reading skill, then get the far more readily available sheet music.

Welcome to the happy harping ground!
 

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