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Bending gives you additional notes on the diatonic- The diatonic doesn't have easy access to all the possible notes
like the chromatic harmonica but many of the notes that are not naturally found can be acquired by "bending" certain draw
(inhale) and blow (exhale) notes. It is the 'bending sound' of the diatonic which is what attracts most people to it.
People who play the diatonic harmonica- Players associated with the diatonic would include Bob Dylan, Neil Young,
James Cotton, Sonny Boy Williamson, Mick Jagger, Little Walter, Paul Butterfield, Mickey Raphael, John Popper, Charlie Musselwhite,
Huey Lewis, Jimmy Reed, Sonny Terry, Steven Tyler, and so on.
The chromatic harmonica is not recommended for the instruction at this site- The chromatic harmonica has a button
on the side which allows you to play the normal major scale, and with the button depressed, gives you all the half steps or
notes in between. This allows you to play any scale, in any key, but you can't bend notes very well on this instrument so
you don't get the same "bluesy" sound as on the diatonic.
Reading music and song tab for the chromatic- The chromatic harmonica hole layout is similar (sometimes referred
to as "Solo" tuning) to the diatonic hole layout (referred to as "Richter" tuning), but not the same, so song tablature is
different. Many accomplished chromatic players are able to read standard music notation which eliminates the need for song
tab. Reading standard music notation makes more sense and is easier on the chromatic harmonica than on the diatonic.
The
chromatic is mostly used for jazz, classical, and pop music- The chromatic harmonica is typically used in jazz, classical,
pop, and music where the melodies require more than a 7-note scale (like the one on a standard diatonic). A classic example
of where a chromatic would be required is the theme song to "Midnight Cowboy". The original theme to "Sesame Street" was also
played on a chromatic.
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