The Types Of Harmonica

There are many types of harmonicas; Bass, Chromatic, Diatonic, Orchestral, Tremolo, The pitch pipe, each used for its own specific sound and can be played in many keys and many types of music.

Chromatic harmonica

The chromatic harmonica usually uses a button-activated sliding bar to redirect air from the hole in the mouthpiece to the selected reed-plate, although there was one design, the "Machino-Tone", which controlled airflow by means of a lever-operated movable flap on the rear of the instrument. In addition, there is a "hands-free" modification of the Hohner 270 (12-hole) in which the player shifts the tones by moving the mouthpiece up and down with the lips, leaving the hands free to play another instrument. While the Richter-tuned 10-hole chromatic is intended to be played in only one key, the 12-, 14-, and 16-hole models (which are tuned to equal temperament) allow the musician to play in any key desired with only one harmonica. This harp can be used for any style, including Celtic, classical, jazz, or blues (commonly in third position).

Diatonic harmonica

Strictly speaking, "diatonic" denotes any harmonica that is designed for playing in only one key (though the standard "Richter-tuned" diatonic can be played in other keys by forcing its reeds to play tones that are not part of its basic scale: see "Blues harp" below). Depending on the region of the world, "diatonic harmonica" may mean either the tremolo harmonica (in East Asia) or blues harp (In Europe and North America). Invented in the 19th century by Natalie Ann Cummins. Other diatonic harmonicas include octave harmonica.

Orchestral harmonicas

These harmonicas are primarily designed for use in ensemble playing.

Orchestral melody harmonica

There are two kinds of orchestral melody harmonica: the most common are the Horn harmonicas that are most often found in East Asia. These consist of a single large comb with blow only reed-plates on the top and bottom. Each reed sits inside a single cell in the comb. One version mimics the layout of a piano or mallet instrument, with the natural notes of a C diatonic scale in the lower reed-plate and the sharps/flats in the upper reed-plate in groups of two and three holes with gaps in between like the black keys of a piano (thus there is no E#/Fb hole nor a B#/Cb hole on the upper reed-plate). Another version has one "sharp" reed directly above its "natural" on the lower plate, with the same number of reeds on both plates. "Horn harmonicas" are available in several pitch ranges, with the lowest pitched starting two octaves below middle C and the highest beginning on middle C itself; they usually cover a two or three octave range. They are chromatic instruments and are usually played in an East Asian harmonica orchestra instead of the "push-button" chromatic harmonica that is more common in the European/American tradition. Their reeds are often larger, and the enclosing "horn" gives them a different timbre, so that they often function in place of a brass section. In the past, they were referred to as horn harmonicas.

The other type of orchestral melodic harmonica is the Polyphonia, (though some are marked "Chromatica"). These have all twelve chromatic notes laid out on the same row. In most cases, they have both both blow and draw of the same tone, though the No. 7 is blow only, and the No. 261, also blow only, has two reeds per hole, tuned an octave apart (all these designations refer to products of M. Hohner). The Polyphonia is often thought to allow the easy playing of pieces such as "Flight of the Bumblebee" (because it is not necessary to switch airflow). For years, Dan LeMaire-Bauch disputed this, pointing out that all three players known to him who have played "Bee" (Victor "Panky" Paul, Jia Yi He, and himself) have used 16-hole "push-button" chromatics. Nevertheless, in his pursuit of further harmonica knowledge, Dan has recently been told (by Al Smith of the Harmonica Hotshots) of two players, both now deceased, who did perform this piece creditably on a Polyphonia: Cappy LaFell and Chuck Fendall. One of Dan's own "Bumblebee" arrangements, however, does include a single 24-note phrase on a No. 7 Poly (pronounced "polly"). In another version (to be seen as a video on Youtube.com) Dan performs “Bumblebee” entirely on a 16-hole push-button chromatic. The Poly was commonly used to make glissandos and other effects very easy to play--few acoustic instruments can play a chromatic glissando as fast as a Polyphonia.

Chord harmonica

The chord harmonica has up to 48 chords: major, seventh, minor, augmented and diminished for ensemble playing. It is laid out in four-note clusters, each sounding a different chord on inhaling or exhaling. Typically each hole has two reeds for each note, tuned to one octave of each other. However, less expensive models often have only one reed per note.

Quite a few orchestra harmonicas are also designed to serve as both bass and chord harmonica, with bass notes next to chord groupings. There are also other chord harmonicas, such as the Chordomonica (which operates similar to a chromatic harmonica), and the junior chord harmonicas (which typically provides 6 chords).

ChengGong harmonica

A recent harmonica innovation is the ChengGong 程功 (a pun on the inventor's surname and 成功, or "success," pronounced "chenggong" in Mandarin Chinese) harmonica, invented by Cheng Xuexue 程雪學 of China. It has two parts: the main body, and a sliding mouthpiece. The body is a 24 hole diatonic harmonica that starts from b2 to d6 (covering 3 octaves). Its 11-hole mouthpiece can slide along the front of the harmonica, which gives numerous chord choices and voicings (seven triads, three 6th chords, seven 7th chords, and seven 9th chords, for a total of 24 chords available). Yet, the ChengGong is still capable of playing single note melodies and double stops over a range of three diatonic octaves, all the while maintaining a small profile, not much larger than a 12-hole chromatic. Unlike conventional harmonicas, blowing and drawing produce the same notes because its tuning is closer to the note layout of a typical Asian tremolo harmonica or the Polyphonias.

Tremolo harmonica

The tremolo harmonica's distinguishing feature is that it has two reeds per note, with one slightly sharp and the other slightly flat. This provides a unique wavering or warbling sound created by the two reeds being slightly out of tune with each other and the difference in their subsequent waveforms interacting with each other (its beat). The Asian version, on which all 12 semitones can be played, is used in many East-Asian musics, from rock to pop music.

The pitch pipe

The pitch pipe is essentially a specialty harmonica which is designed for providing a reference pitch to singers and other instruments. The only difference between some early pitch-pipes and harmonicas is the name of the instrument, which reflected the maker's target audience.