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The Harmonica

for

Celtic-Folk Music

Being an old systems engineer for technical

information and international training I did a lot

travelling, and it wasn’t easy to carry around my

Irish bouzouki or even my six-hole whistles,

especially in war zones which we called “maniac

vacation tours.”

However, I WAS able to slip a C or low-D diatonic

harmonica in my pack for the odd occasion where I

ran across a folk melody I wanted to try out. The

harmonica is a relatively new instrument in the folk

music world, but it has had a big impact in the

genre.

Shaun Young,

That KelticDead Guy

There are two general types of harmonicas; diatonic harmonicas where they have

certain notes missing in their respective scales, and chromatic harmonicas which

can cover all the notes. For this topic, I’m going to focus on the diatonic

harmonicas, as they are very portable, durable … and personally, I like the sound

of them.

Made Public Picture of a Hohner Special 10-hole diatonic Harmonica.

The range of notes on the original 10-hole, diatonic harmonica is about … one

octave, with some “peripheral” notes in the lower and upper parts to make up an

abbreviated two octaves. While that doesn’t sound like a lot, harmonica players can

harmonize some of the notes they need or “bend” the reed with their breath. In

most cases, especially in “Celtic-Folk” music, they try to “jump around” or ignore the

missing note in the arrangement. This is called “faking,” and harmonica players do

a lot of that. Still sounds good, especially in Blues or Country styles of play.

KelticDead Music