Chromatic harmonica

Thus, the instrument is capable of playing the 12 notes of the Western chromatic scale.

Famously accomplished chromatic harmonica players include classical players Larry Adler, Tommy Reilly, Antonio Serrano, Sigmund Groven, and Willi Burger; jazz players Toots Thielemans,[1] Mathias Heise, Gregoire Maret, Yvonnick Prene, Hendrik Meurkens,[2] and William Galison; and popular musicians Norton Buffalo and Stevie Wonder.

In the standard 12-hole chromatic in C the lowest note is middle C, while 16-hole variants start one octave lower.

However, dual-reed bends and overblows are possible on slideless chromatic harmonicas, as the Tombo S-50.

[6] Perhaps more importantly, the number of chords, double-stops, and legato phrasings available is limited, unless the harmonica is retuned from standard tuning; the lack of a G on the draw makes it impossible to play the G chords available on a Richter-tuned device.

Chromatic harmonicas produced by reputable companies (such as Hohner, Seydel,[7] and Suzuki[8]) range between 70 and 700 US dollars.

The second type of alternative design is found mostly in East Asia and is based more along the traditional Weiner tremolo construction.

However, there are three more popular versions: one is Irish tuning, whereby notes are flattened (instead of sharpened) when the slide is in.

Irish tuning can be achieved easily by reversing the slide (flipping the slide upside down) of a chromatic in the key of B major; alternatively, one can use the B major as is, but with slide-in as the home position.

Another popular version of alternative tuning is classical tuning, which is done by switching between the blow and draw of the fourth hole of each octave: This easily allows Imaj7 and IIm7 chords, as well as many others, to be played–a benefit for various musical styles.