#Diatonic vs chromatic series#

The Lower Row – which plays minor, diminished and augmented chords.The Upper Row – which plays major and 7th chords.Just like with bass harmonicas, these are made of two rows: If you’re curious, here’s one I recommend:Īnd finally, there’s chord harmonicas which allow you to access the more complex chords beyond just simple triads.

And their primary purpose, as you might guess, is to play in the lower octaves. With bass harmonicas, you essentially have two diatonic harmonicas stacked over each other, with one a half step higher than the other.

Suzuki Chromatic Tremolo – ( Amazon/ Thomann).

This is done by vibrating two reeds per note, one slightly sharp, and the other slightly flat. However, there’s also the rare occasion when you’ll see one of the 3 lesser known harmonica styles:Īs you might guess, tremolo harmonicas were invented with the primary purpose of creating a vibrato/tremolo effect.

Hohner 255 Chrometa – ( Amazon/ Thomann)ĩ9% of the time, when you encounter a harmonica, it will be either diatonic or chromatic.

#Diatonic vs chromatic series#

Suzuki Chromatix Series – ( Amazon/ Thomann).So now that you know what to look for, here are the models I recommend: When the button is pushed however, all notes are raised by a half step.Īnd using this design, you can effectively play all 12 notes, regardless of key.Īnd so, just like with diatonic harmonicas…chromatic harmonicas are available in all 12 keys…īut since you can technically play any song with just one chromatic, most players prefer sticking to the C tuned ones. When the slider is open, the holes play the diatonic scale of its key. With chromatic harmonicas, there’s a slider over the holes, which is engaged by a button on the side. Instead, the notes are arranged just like with diatonic harmonicas (by scale), with one big difference. However contrary to what you might imagine, these notes aren’t stacked from one hole to the next. Up next… Chromatic Harmonicas: Are They Right For You?Īs their name suggests, with chromatic harmonicas, you can play all 12 notes on the chromatic scale. Harley Benton 12 harps Set – ( Thomann).Lee Oskar Diatonic – ( Amazon/ Thomann).Hohner Marine Band – ( Amazon/ Thomann).Fender Blues Deluxe – ( Amazon/ Thomann).However, since 10 hole models are vastly more common than 14…stick with 10 until you have a reason to choose otherwise.Īmong the most popular 10 hole models on the market today, here’s what I recommend: When comparing diatonic models, you may also notice they come in 2 sizes: However, if you’re just starting out as a beginner, it doesn’t make much sense to buy all 12 at once, so the standard advice is to start with a C harmonica, since almost all instructional content in music prefers this scale, for its lack of sharps and flats. This is why you’ll often see players like John Popper wearing a vest filled with tons of different harmonicas. The biggest downside however, is that in order any song you want, you’ll need a separate harmonica for each key. The biggest upside of diatonic harmonicas is that it’s far easier to play a song since you can’t really play a bad note (assuming you’re in the right key).įor this reason, it’s almost always advisable for beginners to start here. While it is possible to play additional notes not contained in these scales, it can only be done with more advanced techniques, which we’ll cover later. Typically you’ll find these tuned to a major scale (aka Richter-tuned), but there are also alternate tunings available as well, such as minor for example. If you ever owned a toy harmonica as a kid, it was almost certainly a diatonic one.