hi guys welcome to Tune Basics, the series that teaches you how to play the basics today I'll
try to help you understand a ten holed diatonic harmonica here is a basic harmonica with 10 holes
this one is in the key of C but no matter what key your harmonica is in the rules will be the
same as long as it's the same type of harmonica for example if you blow into the fourth hole
your harmonica will produce the first note of the major scale in this case the note C to play
the next note in scale simply breathe in through the 4th hole play the next note in the major scale
blow into hole number 5 to produce the next note breathe in through 5 to play the next note blow
into 6 play the next note breathe in through 6 up to this point you will notice that there's been a
simple pattern of blow out breathe in blow out breathe in to produce the correct succession of
notes for the major scale that you're playing but now the pattern changes to play the seventh note
of the major scale instead of blowing into 7 you breathe in through 7 then blowing into 7 produces
the first note again except an octave higher than when you blew into 4 and you keep going breathe in
through 8 blow into 8 breathe in through 9 blow into 9 breathe in through 10 to produce the next
5 notes but then the pattern changes again blowing into 10 won't produce the next correct note of the
scale but rather the first note again only this time 2 octaves higher than when you first blew
into 4 but what about the first three holes you know that blowing into 4 produces the first note
of the major scale so breathing into 3 produces the seventh note of the major scale only a
semitone lower than when you blow into 4 and don't worry if you have no idea what I just said if your
harmonica is in the key of C then breathing in through 3 will produce the note which is obviously
the note that comes before see the same rule applies no matter what key your harmonica is in so
if your first note is G then breathing in through three will produce an f-sharp or if your harmonica
is in F major then breathing in through three will produce "E" got it good but blowing into
three produces the fifth note of the major scale for example in C major blowing into three produces
the G below middle C breathing in through two will produce exactly the same note this is handy
because it gives you a chance to catch your breath depending on if you need to breathe in or out when
you're playing but blowing into two will produce the third note of the major scale in this case in
the C major scale blowing into two produces the "E" below middle C and finally the first hole
is the same as hole number four and that blowing into one and then breathing in through one will
produce the same notes C and D an octave lower than if you did the same with the fourth hole
so let's look at what all of this looks like on the harmonica in the key of C major blowing into
one makes C breathing in through one produces D blowing into two produces E breathing in through
two produces G blowing into three produces G breathing in through three produces B blowing
into four produces C or middle C breathing in through four produces D blowing into five produces
E breathing in through five produces F blowing into six produces G and breathing in through
six produces A then breathing in through seven produces B blowing into seven produces C breathing
in through eight produces D blowing into eight produces E breathing in through nine produces F
blowing into nine produces G breathing in through ten produces A and blowing into ten produces C now
finally these aren't the only notes that you can play on your harmonica there is a concept called
bending which allows you to play different tones or pitches but that's another lesson
for another day however if you are interested in learning how to bend notes then check out this
awesome video from learntheharmonica.com so until next time stay tuned see ya
you