Overblow Technique on the Diatonic Harmonica

The diatonic harmonica, as its name indicates, is designed for playing the notes of a diatonic scale. On standard Richter tuned diatonics these are the notes of the major scale. The full scale can be played on the second octave, but in the first and third octave some notes of the scale are missing.

When we look at the C harmonica and the C major scale, the missing notes in the first octave are the F and the A, in the third octave the B is missing.
These notes can be played by bending.

The blow- and drawbends add a large number of notes to those that can be found on a Richter tuned diatonic, however not all 12 notes that are used in western music can be played on the Richter diatonic by using bent notes.

The notes that are missing are, when we look at a C harmonica:
- The Eb in the first octave.
- The Eb, F# and Bb in the second octave.
- The C# and Ab in the third octave.

These notes can be played by using overblows and overdraws, giving a complete chromatic scale over three octaves.

 

Chromatic scale - C Diatonic