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Can we play flat notes on a chromatic harmonica?

I already know that a chromatic harmonica could play regular (natural) notes and sharp notes, but what about flat notes?

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2 Answers 2

up vote 8 down vote accepted

All flat notes are sharp or natural notes.

  • Ab = G#
  • Bb = A#
  • (Cb = B)
  • Db = C#
  • Eb = D#
  • (Fb = E)
  • Gb = F#

Or, to put it another way, any flat note you might want is covered by the four "settings" of a chromatic harmonica: no-side-key or with-side-key, each used with "blow" or "draw" (i.e. breathe-out or breathe-in). See this for a list of pitches when using these "settings".

EDIT: Just a couple of extra bits of info…

  • You can of course bend notes flat on chromatic harmonica, although there are limitations to this technique when compared to bending notes on a diatonic harmonica. However, by definition, chromatic harmonica allows all 12 chromatic pitches to be played without using this technique. Instead, this technique is used to add character and inflections of pitch; these need not be changes by exact semitones, but can be arbitrary changes of pitch, giving the "notes-between-the-notes". A good analogy would be guitar playing; all 12 chromatic pitches can be played using a standard technique, but use of bends and vibrato arm allow changes of pitch (either by exact semitones or other arbitrary distances), too.
  • Although the tuning you refer to seems to be considered standard, there are other tunings used for chromatic harmonica. In particular, Irish Tuning lowers the pitch of both blow and draw notes when depressing the side-key.
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Sharp notes and flat notes are the same thing. If you have access to a piano or keyboard, look at the black key between F and G. That key has two "enharmonic" names. It is F# and also Gb.

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