Harmonica Chord Cheat Sheet

Lesson Length: 3:39
Instructor: George Goodman

The pentatonic scales are great for improvising. Learn the tabs for the I Major pentatonic for use when soloing over the I Major chord.

Harmonica Cheat Sheets pdf

Hohner Special 20 in C
In this lesson, as in most of the lessons, I am playing a Hohner Special 20 in the key of C.

The Pentatonic Scale

Licks and phrases are formed from the notes that make up the notes of chords or the notes in scales.
A popular source for licks comes from 5 note scales called pentatonic scales. These can take the form of major or minor pentatonic scales.
The major pentatonic scale would be used when playing a major chord and the minor variety fits over a minor chord.

Looking at the Pentatonic Scale Cheat Sheet we see two column headings.
The first column is the Chord – Pentatonic Scale column which displays the chord and the corresponding pentatonic scale whether major or minor.

For example, the first entry is I – Major. The chord built upon the first note of a major scale is a major chord and the major pentatonic fits over this chord.
Underneath this are the scale tones as they relate to the chord. The major pentatonic scale takes the following form or includes the following notes:
- The root or first note of the chord.
- The 2nd which is the second note of that chord’s major scale.
- The 3rd which is the third note of that chord’s major scale as well as the second note of the chord.
- The 5th which is the fifth note of that chord’s major scale as well as the third note of the chord.
- The 6th which is the sixth note of that chord’s major scale.

The second column contains the Harmonica Tabs for the corresponding pentatonic scale.
The harmonica tabs column is broken down into five columns with each column representing one of the five notes of the pentatonic scale. The root being the left hand column.
From the chart we see that we can play a major pentatonic scale for three different major chords and a minor pentatonic scale for the three minor chords over the full range of the harmonica.

Looking at the Pentatonic Cheat Sheet for the I Major Pentatonic Scale, we see it starts with the root, blow 1.
This is followed by -1,
then blow 2
then blow 3
followed by -3bb.
Those are the 5 notes of the I Major pentatonic scale in the bottom range of the harmonica.

The I Major pentatonic scale continues in the second octave starting at blow 4.
Then draw 4.
blow 5
blow 6
and draw 6

The I Major pentatonic can be played for a third octave starting on blow 7.
Then -8
blow 8
blow 9
draw 10

You can also play the root again on blow 10

Now over the entire range of the harmonica
1 -1 2 3 -3bb
4 -4 5 6 -6
7 -8 8 9 -10
10

Wrap Up

The major pentatonic scale is heard throughout music.
If you are looking for a source of inspiration for improvising and learning what notes sound good over the I Major chord, learn the I Major pentatonic scale.
Here it is again over the entire range of the harmonica:
1 -1 2 3 -3bb
4 -4 5 6 -6
7 -8 8 9 -10
10