Using the Slide
As you learned in Lesson 1, there are two rows of holes on the chromatic harmonica. The top row contains all the natural notes. The bottom row is blocked unless you press in the slide. When you depress the slide, it opens the bottom row which contains all the sharps and flats and at the same time blocks off the top row of notes. The use of the slide gives you 24 holes instead of 12. This is demonstrated in the diagrams as follows:
Top Row of Notes
Bottom Row Of Notes (Activated By The Slide)
The bottom row of notes are all shown as sharps here. Each one could be described another way by using flat or natural signs. These are enharmonic notes and are explained on lesson 5.
All sharps and flats are played on the chromatic harp by using the slide. When the slide is pushed in, both inhale and exhale notes sound one semitone higher than they do without the slide pushed in, thus creating a sharpened version of the natural note.
In the following example, each time the slide is pushed in, the note has an S below it. It is important to release the slide as you begin to play the next note. Don’t worry if you have trouble with this, the example is simply a demonstration to show you how it works. With practice it gets easier and easier.
Sometimes a sharp or flat occurs only once in a piece. In this traditional British folk song, the note F# occurs only in bar 15 . This note is played by inhaling through hole 6 and pushing in the slide. Release the slide just as you begin to breathe out to play the following G note.
