I have a harmonica and being a Dylan fan have often tried to replicate his harmonica playing in songs, but most of them I can’t get. My harmonica is a C and it seems there is always at least one note it can’t play or more. It also seems to sound quite different despite being a Hohner Marine Band which is apparently what he uses. Am I right in assuming that the notes playable on any given harmonica are limited? If so, what key harmonica is used most often in the official releases of his music. What I found out was – A 10-hole diatonic harmonica is limited to the diatonic scale of its key. That is, a C harmonica only has available C D E F G A B C (do re mi fa sal la ti) without bends or overblows. With those pitches available you can play in any of the modes but relative to C. For example, as blues harp style players do, you can play in G mixolydian (second position, crossharp) because that scale only requires you have G A B C D E F G This means there’s more than one it can’t play. A C harmonica is missing C#/Db, D#/Eb, F#/Gb, G#/Ab, A#/Bb – five tones of the chromatic scale. To add further complication, a richter tuned (10-hole diatonic “blues harp" harmonica doesn’t have the full scale between 1 and3. The scale at the bottom (alternating blow and draw) is C D E G G B – no F and no A (4th and 6th) down there. This makes it great for chording but not so hot for tune playing and melodies. The pattern from four-up of blow, draw, blow, draw, blow, draw, draw, blow will give you a full major scale in the key of your harmonica. Other scale harmonicas (and chromatic) exist out there that don’t follow this pattern but the instrument we’re most familiar with in the US via folk and blues music is the 10-hole diatonic “blues harp” such as the Marine Band 1896. Solo tuned and chromatic harps follow the 4-7 pattern of the blues harp throughout their whole range and solves the scale run and melody playing problem if you need to get under the root to the fourth or sixth. I can’t speak to the most common Dylan key for harp. Someone else will have to cover that.
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