what i mean is if you're on a C harp doing a 12 bar blues and the I chord is a G, what does that mean as far as what you can play for that bar? does it have to start and end with the G note? just start? are there only certain notes you can utilize for a G chord bar? thank you.
The quick and fast rule is most chords are 3 notes with a space in between each of them, so in the key of C- ACE, BDF, CEG, DFA, EGB, FAC, GBD are all chords. When you switch harps you will be start dealing with flats and sharps, but the as long as you have the right key harmonica for the song and you use the same pattern it doesn't matter.
Read MrVLUN's link for more detailed info on when to use those chords, and welcome to the forum. Feel free to put a pin in the map on the Forum How-To page. Enjoy.
Nacoran: not trying to be a dick or anything but the way you have them listed, well it would be the key of A minor, not C major...
Sheatravis: It depends on the scale you are using I suppose. If you are using a pentatonic scale it will not matter at all what note you play when (in terms of conflicting with anything harmonically). Anything else...I think it is best practice (at least when starting out) to hit the root note of the chord on the 1st beat of the measure (at the chord changes). Hitting the third of the chord would be ok too (really depends on what you are playing) but you should stay away from the fifth (I am strictly talking about the first beat here). Just in case, as Nacoran alluded to above, in a C major triad: C is the root...E is the third...and G is the fifth. In an A major triad: A is the root...C# is the third...and E is the fifth. In a Bb triad: Bb is the root...D is the third...F is the fifth and so on.
But half the fun of music is playing notes outside the chord aka non-chord tones. Like a walking bass line: it really doesn't matter what you play as long as you hit the root on the 1. If you really want to "understand" the music you are playing from a technical level, just start memorizing everything you can starting with the circle of fifths and then the notes of each chord and which chords fall where within a key diatonicly. It sucks major balls...sometimes it sucks minor balls (ba dum psst) but its what you gotta do, I am in the middle of this process myself. You may not see it at first but the more you memorize the more patterns will reveal themselves to you. I would give you one more piece of advice: what ever you do, make sure to do it for minor as well as major...otherwise you will have an incomplete understanding of things and be forced to go back and memorize again and it just sucks...so memorize minor! Especially the relative minor keys around the circle of fifths. If you need help (you probably will, everyone does besides people like fucking Beethoven) my favorite theory website is http://library.thinkquest.org/15413/theory/theory.htm
There are probably some good youtube videos on theory, but if you are REALLY dedicated...by a book and/ or take a classical theory class. Classical theory seems boring but it will help you A LOT from a creative standpoint.
Last Edited by on Apr 11, 2010 11:04 AM
