Blues harmonica: how to play cross harp on a C harmonica

Everything you will play on this page, from the scale on G to the riffs and the 12-bar, comes from FastTrack Harmonica Method, Book 1, by Blake Neely and Doug Downing. Its Lesson 5, “Playin’ the blues”, turns a plain C harmonica into a blues harp, and each example has a recording with a band.

Blues harmonica is played on an ordinary 10-hole harmonica, the same model beginners buy for folk tunes, and a C harmonica is the one to learn it on. Blues players simply use it in another key. They play the C harmonica in G, which moves the music onto the draw notes, the ones blues players bend.

This guide shows how to play blues harmonica on a C harmonica. It explains cross harp and why it sounds bluesy, maps the low holes and the home note, and gives two first blues tunes and three riffs from a method book with their recordings. Then it shows which holes play the chords of the 12-bar blues, which bends the blues scale needs and which harmonica key fits each song key.

To play blues harmonica, use a 10-hole diatonic harmonica in C and play in the key of G, which is called cross harp or second position. Hole 2 draw is your home note, most of the notes you play are drawn, and the F on hole 5 draw gives the scale its bluesy sound.

What cross harp means

A diatonic harmonica is built around one key. A C harmonica plays the C major scale in holes 4 to 7, and its blow notes form a C chord. FastTrack Harmonica Method, Book 1, names the other way of playing it: since your harmonica is in the key of C, playing songs in other keys on it is called cross harp. The book picks G as the key to start with, because it is a popular key and a good one for the blues.

If you have not played a harmonica yet, start with how to play harmonica. It covers holding it, breathing and playing one note at a time, and everything below assumes you can do those three things.

The book’s first step is a scale built on G. It climbs from hole 6 blow to hole 9 blow through G, A, B, C, D, E, F and G. Under each note the book prints the hole, with an up arrow for blow and a down arrow for draw.

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Harmonica players number these setups as positions. First position is playing the harmonica in its own key, C on a C harmonica, with the blow chord as home. Second position is the key a fifth higher, G on a C harmonica, with the draw chord as home. Cross harp and second position are two names for the same thing. To find the key for any harmonica, count five letters up from its name, counting the name itself: C, D, E, F, G.

Why the blues sounds bluesy on a C harmonica

The scale on G is one note away from G major. A major scale ends with a whole step and then a half step, so its seventh note sits just below the top. In the scale you get on a C harmonica, starting on G, those last two steps are reversed: a half step, then a whole step. The seventh note is F instead of F♯.

Your ear expects the seventh note to sound a half step higher, the book explains, and when it does not, the whole scale sounds bluesy. That flat seventh is also the note that turns a G chord into G7, the dominant seventh that blues bands play on the home chord. The book’s box shows the two step patterns one above the other.

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The same box explains why some songs in G sound nothing like the blues. The book’s next two songs, Red River Valley and Tom Dooley, are in G on the same holes, but they never touch the F.

The low holes and your home note

Cross harp lives lower on the harmonica than the tunes you learned in C. FastTrack calls holes 1 to 5 Zone 3 and says that when you play G blues you will use it quite a bit. You can also play the G and C chords there, the draw chord and the blow chord.

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Your home note is the low G, and a C harmonica has two of them side by side: hole 2 draw and hole 3 blow. The book tells you to play it on hole 2 drawn. Most notes in cross-harp blues are drawn, so the 2 draw keeps your breath going the same way as the notes around it. A clean 2 draw takes practice. Keep the breath slow and the tongue low; if the note goes flat or thin, you are pulling too hard. Until it comes cleanly, play the 3 blow instead.

The table shows what each of the low and middle holes plays in G. The degree is the note’s place in the scale on G, with ♭7 marking the bluesy F.

Your first blues tunes in G

FastTrack’s blues lesson starts with two short tunes that need no bends. The first, “G Blues”, stays in holes 6 to 9 and uses only the notes of the scale above. Its eight bars start up the G chord, G, B and D, and reach the F of hole 9 draw in bar 2.

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Listen to the book’s recording with the music in front of you, then play along. The harmonica is on one side of the stereo mix and the band on the other, as on every track in the book, so you can follow the part first.

The second tune, “Roadkill Blues”, moves down to holes 2 to 5 and is twelve bars long. It begins and ends on the 2 draw and is mostly draw notes, on holes 2 to 5, with the 4 and 5 blow in between. The breath marks after every second bar show where to breathe.

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Play it slowly at first and listen for a full, low 2 draw on the long notes in bars 1, 4 and 12. If the long notes sag in pitch, ease off the breath.

FastTrack Harmonica Method, Book 1, by Blake Neely and Doug Downing, teaches this as Lesson 5, “Playin’ the blues”, after the C major songs and before the bends. The riffs, the bends and the jam tracks on the rest of this page come from the same book, each with its recording.

Blues harmonica riffs

A riff is a short phrase you repeat, and blues harmonica is full of them. The book’s first one is three notes: 5 draw, 5 blow, 4 draw, which steps down F, E, D from the bluesy F. The extended riff adds the 6 blow G at the end of the first bar and then repeats the three notes.

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Both riffs end with repeat signs, so play each one round several times. Start with the first one and play it until it sits under your lips without looking, then try the longer one.

You can riff with chords too. In the book’s “Blues Chords Riff”, the G chord is holes 3 and 4 drawn together. The C chord is holes 4, 5 and 6 blown, and the F chord is holes 5 and 6 drawn. Most bars have the same rhythm: two short chords, a rest and a long chord. Bar 7 ends with a short 5 draw and 5 blow that lead into the last G.

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Listen to the chord changes. Going from G to C and back switches your breath from draw to blow, while G to F stays on the draw.

How to play the 12-bar blues on harmonica

The 12-bar blues is the chord pattern under most blues songs. It uses the I, IV and V chords of the key: four bars of I, two of IV, two of I, then one bar each of V, IV, I and V. In G those chords are G, C and D. The 12-bar blues chart explains the form bar by bar, with its variations and the shuffle feel.

On a C harmonica in second position, two of the three chords are already built in. The draw chord on holes 1 to 4 is G, and every blow chord is C. There is no D major chord on a C harmonica, so players use single notes for the V chord, usually D.

The book’s final jam, “Billy B. Badd”, opens with exactly this pattern. Its intro, marked rock and roll, is twelve bars in G. The first four bars are chords on holes 1, 2 and 3 drawn, and the C bars use holes 6, 7 and 8 blown. The later G bars move up to holes 7 and 8 drawn, and the D in bar 9 is single notes on 8 draw and 6 draw.

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The book recorded the whole tune twice. Hear the full band version first, then play the intro over the version without harmonica and count the bars as the chords change.

For more practice, set the 12-bar blues in the chord progression player to G. It loops the twelve bars at the tempo you choose. Play the draw chord on beat 1 of each G bar, the blow chord in the C bars and a single 4 draw in the D bars. When that is steady, add the riffs above in the G bars.

The blues scale on a C harmonica, and the bends it needs

The blues scale is the usual scale for soloing over the 12-bar. In G it has six notes: G, B♭, C, D♭, D and F. A C harmonica has G, C, D and F as plain notes. The other two, B♭ and D♭, come from bending, which lowers a draw note by changing the shape of your mouth.

Before you can bend, play the scale without the two bent notes: 2 draw, 4 blow, 4 draw, 5 draw, 6 blow, which gives G, C, D, F and G. The riffs and tunes above use only plain notes.

FastTrack’s bend chart confirms the two bent notes: hole 3 draw bends from B to B♭, and hole 4 draw from D to D♭. Its “Bendy Blues” puts those bends, plus the bend on hole 1 draw, into a twelve-bar tune. Making a bend is a technique of its own: you drop the jaw and curve the tongue back while you draw. How to bend notes on harmonica takes it step by step, starting with the easiest holes.

What key harmonica for blues

Because cross harp plays a harmonica in the key a fifth above its name, the harmonica you need is a fifth below the song’s key. FastTrack’s table of common keys gives the four blues keys bands use most: for a blues in G, A, E or B♭, bring a harmonica in C, D, A or E♭. The table below lists all twelve keys.

Every harmonica uses the same hole pattern, so what you learn on the C harmonica moves to any other key unchanged. The 2 draw is still home and the riffs sit on the same holes; only the pitch changes. Start with C, then add A and D when you play along with guitar bands, since E and A are common guitar blues keys.

Blues harmonica to listen to

Start with Sonny Terry’s acoustic duets with the guitarist Brownie McGhee and Little Walter’s amplified Chicago tone on Juke. Big Mama Thornton sang and also played harmonica. Arhoolie’s notes to In Europe, recorded in London in 1965, credit her with harmonica or drums on several tracks and say Junior Parker strongly influenced her harmonica style. Jimmy Reed’s Big Boss Man and Slim Harpo’s Baby, Scratch My Back are two more harmonica-led records. Both are on harmonica.com’s list of ten songs for learning blues harmonica. To play along with a record, work out its key by ear, pick the harmonica from the table above and play the 2 draw with the band’s home chord.

A first week of blues harmonica

1. Play the scale on G from hole 6 to hole 9 and back, slowly, until the 9 draw F comes out clean.
2. Play “G Blues” with the book’s recording, then without it.
3. Practice a long, steady 2 draw for a few minutes each day; use the 3 blow until it sounds clean.
4. Play “Roadkill Blues” in the low holes, breathing at the marks.
5. Loop the G Blues Riff, then the extended riff, then the chord riff.
6. Play the chords of the 12-bar over the version of “Billy B. Badd” without harmonica, or over the chord progression player in G.
7. Once all of that is easy, start the 4 draw bend for a few minutes at the end of each session.

Frequently asked questions

What is cross harp on a harmonica?

Cross harp is playing a diatonic harmonica in a key other than its own, most often the key a fifth higher, also called second position. On a C harmonica that means playing in G. The draw chord becomes the home chord and hole 2 draw the home note, and those low draw notes are the ones blues players bend.

What key harmonica do you need for blues?

Pick the harmonica a fifth below the song’s key. A blues in G needs a C harmonica, a blues in A needs a D, a blues in E needs an A, and a blues in B♭ needs an E♭. Learn on a C harmonica: most lessons and tabs are written for it.

Do you have to bend notes to play blues harmonica?

No. The tunes and riffs on this page use only plain notes, and the scale on G already has the bluesy F on hole 5 draw. Bends add the B♭ and D♭ of the blues scale and the sliding sound of the style, so learn them next, starting with hole 4 draw.

How do you play the 12-bar blues on harmonica?

Use a C harmonica for a 12-bar blues in G. Play the draw chord on holes 1 to 3 or 2 to 4 for G, any three blow holes for C, and a single 4 draw for D. The pattern is four bars of G, two of C, two of G, then D, C, G and D.

What is the difference between first and second position?

First position plays a harmonica in its own key, C on a C harmonica, with the blow chord as home; most folk tunes and beginner songs use it. Second position plays the same harmonica in the key a fifth up, G on a C harmonica, with the draw chord as home. Blues players prefer second position because its home note and chord sit on the low draw notes, the ones that bend.

Play the blues in G this week

When the week’s list feels easy, the bends on holes 3 and 4 draw are the next step. They add the B♭ and D♭ that complete the blues scale in G.

For the bends that finish the blues scale, and more riffs over a band, go on to the next pages of FastTrack Harmonica Method, Book 1.