NOTATIONS FOR 24 HOLES CHROMATIC AND DIATONIC MOUTH-ORGAN

click the figure to see the larger figure

i= inhale (draw air) , e = exhale(blow air)

 To represent the lower pitch I used the notation "#" (i.e on the left part of mouthorgan) ,ex dha# , ni# etc...
 To represent the higher pitch I used the notation "*" (i.e on the right part of mouthorgan), ex sa* , ni* etc...
 To represent the use of changer (or the button on the right side) of chromatic mouthorgan) ,i used the notation "ch" .
for example : dha(ch)...

As shown in the above figure, a 24 holes diatonic and chromatic mouth organ consists of three sets of SARGAM , first the
Low pitch followed by the medium pitch followed by the high pitch. out of these three the Medium pitch is mostly used .

It must be noted that all the tones from the mouth-otgan can not be produced by just exhaling air in the mouth-organ , but
almost half of the tones are produced by inhaling the air . for example : we can produce Sa , Ga and Pa by exhaling the air in
to the mouth organ , whereas the tones Re , Ma ,Dha and Ni are produced by inhaling the air from the mouth-organ.

Before start learning to play any song in the mouth-organ you must learn to play the SARGAM ( Sa , Re ,Ga ,Ma ,Pa , Dha, Ni
,Sa).The reason i want you to learn playing it because i believe that if you are comfortable with SARGAM you can play any
song on your own.

HOW TO PLAY SARGAM

As it is clear from the above figure that that medium pitch' is starting form the 9th node which is "Sa" , so to play SARGAM
you need to start from the the 9th node i.e. "Sa" .

As shown int the figure that for playing tone :

"Sa" - you need to blow or exhale air , for
"Re" - you need to draw or inhale air , for
"Ga" - you need to blow or exhale air , for
"Ma" - you need to draw or inhale air , for
"Pa" - you need to blow or exhale air , for
"Dha" - you need to draw or inhale air , for
"Ni" - you need to draw or inhale air , for

So to play Sa , Re , Ga , Ma, Pa ,Dha , Ni , Sa in sequence, you need to blow and draw air alternatively while moving left to
right on the mouth organ. But there is a exception , it must be noted that, to play the note "Dha" you need to draw the air and
again to play "Ni" you need to draw the air.

So Playing SARGAM consists of :

.Sa.....Re.....Ga.....Ma.....Pa...Dha....Ni....Sa*
blow draw blow draw blow draw draw blow

To listen SARGAM played by me , click here

After playing this SARGAM you should also play the reverse of SARGAM in continuation of SARGAM.. as

Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa* Sa* Ni Dha Pa Ma Ga Re Sa

e.....i....e....i....e.....i....i....e....e.....i....i.....e....i....e....i....e

>Practise playing this SARGAM atleast 100 times . You should be so much comfortable with this SARGAM that if someone
play a note on the mouthorgan u must recognize which note it was.

After you are comfortable with SARGAM you should proceed to learn playing your first song ....

The first song which i learned was "Hai apna dil to aawara" , and therefore i wont recommend you to start with this song
because that is too tough song to start with . i believe that song " dil ne dil ko pukara : kaho naa pyar hai" is the best song to
start with because it is very easy and so gives you confidence..

HOW TO PLAY HARMONICA MOUTHORGAN

Introduction

The diatonic scale harmonicas are good for beginners, although this kind of mouthorgan
(harmonica) has some limitations and not all songs can be played on this harmonica as it
doesnt have flat notes or komal surs. but it sounds good than chromatic mouthorgan and
easy to learn

The chromatic scale harmonicas require a little more knowledge about music theory. If
you have ever played another music instrument before, you might find that the chromatic
scale harmonica is for you.There are also many songs that cannot be played on the
diatonic scale harmonica, simply because there are missing notes on the diatonics. You
will be able to play any song on the chromatic scale harmonicas.
A word about notations or notes :
It is reallu not important to follow the notes given in any website ,actually one tune can be played in many different
ways so just get comfertable with the tune and play it.
My Harmonica Notation System :
I will use my own notations which is not used by any other site because i myself invented this while learning
mouthorgan. although u can easily sonvert my notations to nay other forms as all the notes are basically the same.

LET'S BEGIN

Enough of the introduction.

Now i have provided notations of many songs you may select any tune for starting but i'll
suggest you to start with 'dil ne dil ko pukara - kaho na pyar hai' as it's very easy and will
give you confidence.

Tips for playing :

1) Play each line at least five times. Start slowly and increase speed with each repetition.

2) It is not absolutely necessary that you play clear single notes. When trying to get a blow
hole 4, it is OK if you include holes 3 and 5. Eventually you will want to learn to play single
notes. Work at it and it will come to you naturally.

3) Make sure you practice every day. Your practice does not need to be for long periods of
time. It is quite acceptable to practice for just five to ten minutes. In fact, it is possible to
practice for too long. It may be counter productive. It is more important to practice every
day, then it is to practice for a complete hour once a week.

4) Wet those lips and insert the harmonica well inside your mouth. A mistake many
beginners make is to try to play their instrument out on the front of their lips. It is almost
impossible to get clear single notes and get that bluesy sound. Wrap those lips around the
hole you are trying to play. Pucker up as if drawing through a straw. Keep those lips well
moistened so your instrument slides easily back and forth.

5) As you move your harmonica from hole to hole, move the instrument inside your mouth.
Do not turn your head to move up to another hole.

6) Concentrate on quality of tone rather than speed in changing from note to note. The
harmonica sounds best when playing slow emotional tunes. Try to make your
music express emotion.

How To Use Your Tongue

Most beginners puff from their lungs for each syllable or number. It is much better to use
your tongue to break up the syllables and produce rhythm. Try whispering "Taa-Taa-Taa-
Taa" through your harmonica into any hole. Just use one gentle steady blow but break up
its rhythm with your tongue. Now vary your rhythm pattern much like the old Morse Code.
Whisper, "Daa-dit-daa-dit-daa-dit".
When you are playing a song use your tongue to form the words. In fact, try to pronounce the lyrics to the song
through your harmonica. Think of it as "singing" through your instrument. It will improve your playing tremendously.

A Word About Tone

How come the professionals that you hear sound so much better than you? I am not
speaking about technique. But their sound is much different from your harmonica. Is it
because they are using a more expensive harmonica?

Most professionals cheat. They use special microphones and amplifiers that actually change the natural sound of
the harmonica. But in all fairness I should tell you that what you hear from your harmonica is not the same sound
that someone standing directly in front of you is hearing. You are hearing it partially from the inside, through your
throat, nasal passages and up into your ear canal. For a more realistic listen to what you really sound like, play your
harmonica inside a shower stall (without the water running). Then you will hear more of what others hear as the
sound bounces off the walls.

Also everyone has a slightly different harmonica voice. The tone is partially produced inside our mouth. Children,
with smaller mouths. will sound different than adults. Men will sound different than women. Big men will sound
different than small men. But you can have some control on your tone. In general a gentle blow will have a more
pleasant tone than a blast of air. Blowing from deeper in your throat will sound different than puffing from your
cheeks. As you can change how your voice sounds, you can also change how your harmonica sounds.

Experiment around a little. See if you can produce noticeably different tones by the way you shape your mouth, jaw
and tongue. The experienced harmonica player will have developed his ear to the point that he can tell the
difference.

Using Your Hands

You can use your hands to add effects to your music. Cup your harmonica in your hands
in such a way that you can enclose it completely to muffle its sound. Then by opening and
closing your hands with each syllable you will be producing a "waa-waa" sound. By rapidly
opening and closing your hands you will be producing a tremolo effect. By opening your
hands wide and forming a megaphone you will increase the volume.

Do you have to play clear single notes? No, not really. At first it is a little difficult to get just
one note. Most beginners will play holes 3, 4 and 5 when trying to play hole #4. And that is
OK. Many old timers play the harmonica just like that. When you do, you are playing
chords. And often it sounds rather nice. However, eventually you will want to be able to
get clear single notes. This will come in time. Just keep trying.

CONTROL YOUR BREATHING AND TRY TO PLAY SINGLE NOTE

How often do you find yourself running out of breathing room in your lungs in the middle of
an important note? How do you plan it so that this doesn't happen? And how do you
smoothly change from a blow to a draw note? And how do you keep from getting winded
as if you had just jogged a mile?
Breathing is an important factor in your harmonica playing. I wish I could give you some
steps to improving your breath control. There isn't too much that I can say, other than it
comes naturally. Once you have played a song 25 times then you know when you have to
fill your lungs. But I can think of a couple helpful tips:

1. Blow gently. It can be downright exhausting to try to increase your volume by

increasing the flow of air passing through your instrument. And it can wear your harmonica
out faster also. If playing with a band or loud singing it is tempting to compete with the
others. Forget it! The harmonica is not a trumpet. It is a soft-toned instrument that sounds
best if played the way it was intended.

2. Play single notes. If you are playing 3 holes at a time you are playing chords and you
are also using 3 times as much air. This could be why you have to take a breather after
playing a few songs.

Improved breathing comes naturally in time.

NOTATIONS FOR 10 HOLES DIATONIC HARMONICA OR MOUTH-ORGAN

hello guys , I personally never played a 10 holes mouthorgan and i dont own one... I m writing this post because i m
getting many requests from my readers to give them notations for 10 holes mouthorgan,.... Well , these notations i got
by googling, and i am not sure whether these notations are right or wrong.so i request all you readers who have 10 holes
mouth organ to play my song notes on this kind of mouthorgan and tell me if these notaions are right or wrong...so here
we goes..

What i got from googling is:

# of the Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Blow C E G C E G C E G C

Draw D G B D F A B D F A

and i converted it into this:

Hole num- 1........2........3.......4.......5........6.......7.......8........9.......10

Blow..........Sa#..Ga#...Pa#...Sa....Ga......Pa....Sa*..Ga*....Pa*...Sa**

Draw.........Re#...Pa#...Ni#....Re....Ma.....Dha..Ni.....Re*...Ma*...Dha*

However, i think that the drawing notes of lower and higher pitch are wrong.... the sequence of the notes seems to be
wrong, Pa# cant be followed by Re# ... so please if any of you figure out what is the correct sequence then please post a
comment...

To represent the lower pitch I used the notation "#" (i.e on the left part of mouthorgan) ,ex dha# , ni# etc...

To represent the higher pitch I used the notation "*" (i.e on the right part of mouthorgan), ex sa* , ni* etc...

To represent the use of changer (or the button on the right side) of chromatic mouthorgan) ,i used the notation "ch" .
for example : dha(ch)...
As shown in the above figure, a 10 holes diatonic mouth organ consists of three sets of SARGAM , first the Low pitch
followed by the medium pitch followed by the high pitch. out of these three the Medium pitch is mostly used .

It must be noted that all the tones from the mouth-otgan can not be produced by just exhaling air in the mouth-organ ,
but almost half of the tones are produced by inhaling the air . for example : we can produce Sa , Ga and Pa by exhaling
the air in to the mouth organ , whereas the tones Re , Ma ,Dha and Ni are produced by inhaling the air from the mouth-
organ.

Before start learning to play any song in the mouth-organ you must learn to play the SARGAM ( Sa , Re ,Ga ,Ma ,Pa , Dha,
Ni ,Sa).The reason i want you to learn playing it because i believe that if you are comfortable with SARGAM you can play
any song on your own.

HOW TO PLAY SARGAM

As it is clear from the above figure that that medium pitch' is starting form the 9th node which is "Sa" , so to play
SARGAM you need to start from the the 9th node i.e. "Sa" .

As shown int the figure that for playing tone :

"Sa" - you need to blow or exhale air , for

"Re" - you need to draw or inhale air , for

"Ga" - you need to blow or exhale air , for

"Ma" - you need to draw or inhale air , for

"Pa" - you need to blow or exhale air , for

"Dha" - you need to draw or inhale air , for

"Ni" - you need to draw or inhale air , for

So to play Sa , Re , Ga , Ma, Pa ,Dha , Ni , Sa in sequence, you need to blow and draw air alternatively while moving left
to right on the mouth organ. But there is a exception , it must be noted that, to play the note "Dha" you need to draw
the air and again to play "Ni" you need to draw the air.

So Playing SARGAM consists of :

.Sa.....Re.....Ga.....Ma.....Pa...Dha....Ni....Sa*

blow draw blow draw blow draw draw blow

After playing this SARGAM you should also play the reverse of SARGAM in continuation of SARGAM.. as

Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa* Sa* Ni Dha Pa Ma Ga Re Sa

e.....i....e....i....e.....i....i....e....e.....i....i.....e....i....e....i....e

>Practise playing this SARGAM atleast 100 times . You should be so much comfortable with this SARGAM that if
someone play a note on the mouthorgan u must recognize which note it was.