The diatonic harmonica has ten holes, and each hole has two reeds assigned to it. These reeds are activated by either blowing or drawing air through the holes in the harmonica. Therefore the instrument has ten blow notes and ten draw notes, giving it a basic range of nineteen notes (not twenty because the 2-hole draw and the 3-hole blow notes are exactly the same). Beyond this basic range many other notes can be produced on the harmonica using note-bending techniques. (More on these bending techniques in Chapter 5.)

The ten blow notes on the C diatonic harmonica, going from lowest pitch to highest, are C, E, G, C, E, G, C, E, G, C. The lowest C is the same note as middle C on a piano.

The ten draw notes on the C diatonic harmonica, going from lowest pitch to highest, are D, G, B, D, F, A, B, D, F, A.

FIGURE 2-2: Example of the ten blow notes

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FIGURE 2-3: Example of the ten draw notes

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