Difficulty: It can take time for it all to sink in.
Lesson Length: 7:36
Instructor: George Goodman
Let's start with the Blues Harp Cheat Sheet.

Takamine EG541SC
I am playing my black tak in this one.

This is a Takamine G Series EG541SC bought in North Carolina when I was playing in a band called Double Take.
Specs:
Top - Solid Spruce
Back - Nato
Sides - Nato
Finger Board - Rosewood
Electronics - TK40
Finish - Gloss Black
Check out more Takamine G Series Guitars

The F harmonica is required for second position Blues in C.
I often play through a Shure Green Bullet microphone Model 5200 and Fender Super Champ amplifier

Hohner Harmonica Holder

The Hohner Harmonica Neck Holder fits harmonicas up to 7-1/2" long.

With a long-lasting nickel-plated finish, this harmonica rack is adjustable and fits any neck shape.

Keys To The Blues - Blues Chart and Cheat Sheet For Harp N Guitar - click here to download

Chord Tabs

The Chord Tab row of the Blues Harp Cheat Sheet shows the harmonica tabs for each of the three chords in a typical Blues progression. The Blues chords are made up of four different notes. The harmonica tabs for each chord is divided into 4 columns with each column representing a note in the chord.

Melodies and riffs incorporate the notes of the chord. These are the notes that fit; that sound right when played during the chord. So if you know the notes that make up a chord and where they are on your harmonica, you can’t go wrong.

The first column signifies the root note of the chord, the second column signifies the 2^nd note of the chord, the third column signifies the third note of the chord and the fourth column represents the fourth note of the chord.

Without delving into theory too much, these chords are four note chords consisting of a root, major third, fifth and minor seventh.

I7 Harmonica Tabs

Let’s look at each of the chords separately using our C harmonica starting with the I7 chord. If we look at our Blues Harp Cheat Sheet and locate the C harmonica in the Cross Harp column, then look across to the I7 column, we see that the I7 chord will be G7. Again, the C harmonica is used for Blues in G.

The first note we see for the I7 chord, -1, is in the third column and so represents the third note of the chord. The next note, -2bb is in the fourth column and represents the fourth note of the chord.

The second row of the I7 harmonica tabs show -2 -3 -4 and -5 which is the full four note dominant 7^th chord.

The third row also shows the entire 4 note dominant 7^th chord which will sound a full octave higher than the second row: 6 -7 -8 -9.

The fourth row shows a single entry in the root column, blow 9.

When the I7 chord is playing during the Blues progression, if you play any of the notes in the I7 harmonica tabs, you will be playing a note that fits the chord and will sound great.

-1 -2bb -2 (3) -3 -4 -5 6 -7 -8 -9 9

IV7 Harmonica Tabs

Go back to the Blues Harp Cheat Sheet and look at the row for Cross Harp C. Under the IV7 column is the C7 chord.

The full IV7 chord can be sounded in the lower range of the harmonica shown in the first row. The first note in the chord is the root and is blow 1. That’s followed by blow 2, blow 3 and draw 3 with a semi-tone bend.

The second row displays the entire IV7 chord as well starting with blow 4, blow 5, blow 6, and then to get the fourth note of the chord you need to overblow hole 6.

The third row starts at blow 7 for the root, then blow 8 and blow 9. There is not a way to get the fourth note of the IV chord in the upper range of the harmonica and so that space is marked x.

Finally you can sound the root again on blow 10.

1 2 3 -3b 4 5 6 6o 7 8 9 10

V7 Harmonica Tabs

Back to the Blues Harp Cheat Sheet, Cross Key of C row and we see that the V7 chord is D7.

The C harmonica can’t play D7 above the first octave because that would require the note F# (Our C harmonica has an F natural, not F#). In this case, the harmonica can play the notes to a Dm7 chord which are here on the C harmonica:

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

The V7 chord is possible in the first octave of the harmonica by using bending. Here are the tabs for the D7 chord in the bottom octave:

-1 -2b -3bb 4 – a single bend on draw 2 produces F#.

In the Blues Harp Cheat Sheet, notice that the first line of tabs for the V7 chord shows -2b(b). A single bend on draw 2 is part of the V7 chord. A double bend on draw 2 would result in a minor seventh chord similar to the upper octaves.