For the purposes of learning, and if you are not familiar with reading sheet music we are going to use Harmonica Tab or tablature to describe the notes or holes we are playing on the harmonica. Over time there have been many ways of tabbing Harmonica, most involving pictures of arrows to depict inhails, exhails and bent notes. However a convention has developed over time, using pluses (+) Minuses (-) and commas (“). It’s a method that allows tab to the typed easily. Below is a brief explanation.
| +4 means, blow into hole 4 on your Harmonica |
| 4 also means, blow into hole 4 (we don’t always use the + sign) |
| -6 means, inhale on hole 6. |
| -4′ means, a half tone bend on 4 draw. |
| (-6) Brackets around a single note mean its a ghost note (short duration) |
| (+1+2) means a blow in holes 1 and 2 at the same time (a chord) |
| (-1-4) is a draw octave played by blocking holes 2 and 3 with your tongue |
| -2″ means, full tone bend on 2 draw. |
| -3″‘ means, bend hole 3 down one and a half steps. |
| 8′ means, blow bend hole 8 down one semi tone. |
| +3…+6 means slide from the 3 blow to the 6 blow |
| 3* means blow into hole 3 with the slide pressed in on a Chromatic Harmonica. |