Most Commonly Used Keys
| As a solo player, choose a harmonica tuned to any key you want to play. To play with other musicians or play along with recorded music, equip yourself with harmonicas in multiple keys. The key doesn't really matter, because if you "take" to a particular Key, you'll get other Keys. Which key should I get?C is the most common Key. As a beginner, buy a C harmonica as most instruction books favor this Key. If you find that you will be playing with novice blues guitar players a lot, then an A harmonica will serve you well. If you plan on playing more country and "straight" music, you should get C and G, maybe A , common country music keys. If you want to play Blues, you play "cross-harp" where you are not really playing in the Key written on the harp, but using a different note as your tonic (starting and stopping point). Common Blues keys are more like E and A maybe but in cross-harp you would actually buy A and D . If you want to play with a piano, piano players like to play blues in Eb and Bb , so that the black keys make up the blues scale. Since for blues you need cross-harp, you would have to buy Ab or Eb. Once you learn one key, you can play any key. They all have the same pattern of holes and changing keys for a harp player is as simple as switching instruments. Also, once you're good enough to jam with others, always carry at least 3 or 4 different keys. Keys F , D , A, C , G , E , and Bb are used to play blues, rock, or country music. keys Ab, Bb, Db, Eb, and F# are used to play with a jazz group. |
