Harmonica Intro

PLAYING HARMONICA – AN INTRODUCTION - Ramakrishna

See the Figure above. This describes the notes in a chromatic harmonica. See carefully, a blow and draw as-well as a blow and draw with the button pressed. This notation holds good for any chromatic be it, Hohner, Suzuki, Hering, Seydel etc. etc. You can also download equivalent from Suzuki website and check-out yourself. If you correlate this to Indian music (sa re ga ma pa dha ni ), C – Sa, D - Re, E – Ga, F – Ma G – Pa A – Dha B – Ni And the scale repeats.

Also find the following picture which explains equivalent keyboard keys in both Indian/Carnatic notation as-well as western notation. Carnatic notes are as follows: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

s - Shadjamam r1 - Sudhdha Rishabam r2 - Chatusruthi Rishabam r3 - Shatsruthi Rishabam g1 - Sudhdha Gaandhaaram g2 - Saadhaarana Gaandhaaram g3 - Anthara Gaandhaaram m1 - Sundhdha Madhyamam m2 - Prathi Madhyamam p - Panchamam d1 - Sudhdha Dhaivatham d2 - Chatusruthi Dhaivatham d3 - Shatsruthi Dhaivatham n1 - Sudhdha Nishaadham n2 - Kaisiki Nishaadham n3 - Kaakali Nishaadham

Please find the western equivalent of this as below

Pics: courtesy of keylessonline. Refer to first picture Major Scale: (In piano analogy, In ‘C’ major scale, only white keys are used) Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa+ On harmonica: C 4B

D 5D

E F G 6B 6D 7B

A 7D

B 8D

C+ (+ = next ovcatve’s note) 9B (Hole-number,B=Blow,D=Draw)

Minor Scale: (In piano analogy, In ‘C’ minor scale, Ga, Dha and Ni are black keys rest are white keys, I denoted them with a ‘ ) Sa

Re

Ga’

Ma

Pa

Dha’

On Harmonica: C 4B

D 5D

D# F 5DP 6D

G 7B

G# 7BP

Ni’ Sa+ A# C + (Refer to first picture) 7DP 9B (P - Press button)

A# is called ‘A-sharp’ Bb is called ‘B-flat’ ; A# is same as Bb With this, you should be able to play any song with the notation in carnatic/Hindustani or Western. Let’s take an example: Major scale: Janaganamana …. It’s in major scale and all the notes are as in major scale I mentioned above. In this example, the author has used small letters for current octave and Cap letter for the higher octave. He has not used any for lower octave. I cut & pasted this from internet.

Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka, jaya he s r g g g g gg g g g r g m Bharata-bhagya-vidhata g g g r r r n- r s . Punjab-Sindhu-Gujarata-Maraathas p p p p p m2p p p m2dp Dravida-Utkala-Banga m m m g g m r mg Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga gggggrpppmm Uchchala-Jaladhi-taranga g g g r r r r n- r s . Tava shubha name jage s r g g g g rgm Tava shubha ashish maange gmpppmgrmg Gahe tava jaya-gatha g g r r r r n- rs . Jana-gana-mangala-dayaka jaya he p p p p p p m2 p p p m2d p Bharata-bhagya-vidhata m m m g g m rm g Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he SnSndndpd Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he ssrrggrgm

Minor Scale Example: Let me take the song, dil kya kare… ( I used – sign for lower octave, …. For extended note) p- s..r g.. re… s re.. ma… p m s g s gmg s… p.. ppm p pm pm p… p m m…p m g r r s s pmgm p g s s s If you play in true scale, this song is tough. Because, this is in Minor scale where you have to use button with respective blow or take as mentioned above for Ga, Dha and Ni. Minor songs are tough on mouth-organ. I’ve not seen a single hindi-songs player on the internet playing minor scale as minor scale. They are either playing without knowledge of knowing what it is, or just by hearing. Sometimes, depending on the raga in which the song is based in, some minor scales can be transformed into a major scale. Please see how to play minor scale as I described above. By knowing this, one should be able to play any song if you are given the notation in Indian (carnatic/Hindustani) or Western notes.