Playing G on a C chromonica

[JackC41]

I know that I am probably trying to run before I can walk but, now that I have become fairly familiar with the C major scale, the C chromatic scale and the G major scale,  I would like to play a tune in the key of G on my C 12 hole chromonica.

I have chosen a slow paced tune (Tennessee Waltz) .  I cannot read music but I can play 'by ear'. 
I thought that the key of G would be easy to play as there is only one #.   Wrong ...........!

Without wrestling with the charts etc produced by henrymouni and others, how do you learn to change from one key to another.

I am totally confused   

[SlideMeister]

3 hole - blow
3 hole - draw
4 hole - draw
5 hole - draw

Those four notes correspond with: "I was dan-cin'" Just take it from there.  If you're really an ear player (or just wanna be) that should get your "ear" tuned up. All the rest of the notes are there, you just gotta find them, and that's the fun part of the "journey." Welcome to the club.

[SlideMeister]

Going from ~my~ personal experience, I still think knowing too much about "music" can sometimes confuse and slow you down. When I started playing, I didn't know how many flats of sharps were in each key (actually, I still don't ) I still just see them as notes that require a button push. Yeah, "ear playing" can be a hard place to get out of, if you neglect it for too long, (like I did for 65 years) but flying by the seat of your pants will get you off the ground faster than "following all the rules." Just sayin'

[robertpcoble]

I personally figured out that playing and practicing scales are good for learning the relative locations of the required notes. (Smokey Joe Leone calls it "knowing the addresses," similar to a postman delivering the mail.) IMHO, practicing scales do NOT help you to play a specific tune. HERESY, I know; what can I say: I'm "crazy."

Perhaps a way to help you switch from C major to G major is to realize that there is only one note different between the two diatonic (NOT talking about diabolic harmonica here!) keys. The "F" note in C major is a button push to get F# in G major. The starting point of the scale (the tonic, root or "home" note in G major is G (obviously). (Knowing about the Circle of Fifths and Circle of Fourths will help you understand sharps and flats respectively. I AIN'T GOING THERE AT THIS POINT!)

Another thing that helps considerably is to "know" the relative relationships between the various notes in the scale. It's easy to find the "home" note. For starters, practice "jumping" from the "home note to the 4th scale note ("C" in G major) and the 5th scale note ("D" in G major). Then practice "jumping" from the "home" note to the 3rd scale note ("A" in G major) and then the 6th scale note ("E" in G major). You will find that the 7th scale note (the "F#" in G major) is not used nearly as much as the 1, 4, 5 [a lot], 2, 3, and 6 {used more in "passing" between 1 and 3, and 1 and 5] scale degree notes. This is NOT a hard and fast rule but is true for a lot of the more popular melodies. Keep in mind that there are no absolute "rules" which cannot be broken by some composer at some point in time in order to convey an idea. When I play, I often "think" in terms of scale degrees and not in terms of notes. Unless I stop and think about it, I usually can't tell what note I'm playing. [No snarky comments from the peanut gallery audience, please!]

Knowing chord structures also helps. It helps a lot to know how to harmonize the 7 diatonic chords (especially triads, if not the extended chords) in a specific key. This will give you potential "target" notes that will sound consonant even if the specific notes are not in the melody. The easiest description I can think of is to pick each scale degree and then pick every other note IN THE SCALE for 3 notes - that's how you harmonize a triad (3-note chord).

Once you get used to moving using "jumps", practice connecting scale degrees 1 ("home") and 4 with a sequence of notes in the scale. Then do the same thing with scale degrees 1 and 5. Run the sequence forward (increasing pitch) and then backwards (decreasing pitch).

Very important: run the sequences for two octaves, not just up and down within one octave. It makes learning the locations of the notes much easier.

Pay FOCUSED ATTENTION to the sounds relative to the tune you are trying to play. If you "hear" (in your head) a sequence of notes that are related to the tune, that's very good! Think of those sequences as sentences (stringing together the words [notes] you want to say [play\ to make a statement [phrase], then stringing statements together to convey an idea [melody of a tune]).

CAVEAT EMPTOR: I am almost completely an ear player. I can read sheet music but NOT at speed. In other words, I can decipher what notes are on sheet music, but not fast enough to play as if I were touch-typing, without having to think about it.

I hope that's not "much ado about nothing" for you. If it is, just ignore it and do whatever works for YOU.

FWIW: without having to pay anything for it.
Crazy Bob

[Grizzly]

I agree with Bob about learning scales doesn't help with specific tunes, but it's elemental in learning to play in different keys.You know what a major scale is supposed to sound like (do, re, mi, etc.) Start on G (the fifth note of the C scale) and play slowly up and down the scale, pushing the button when you need it to make it sound like a major scale.

The key of most tunes is defined by the last note, not the first. Knowing that makes it easier to find the first note, in relation to the last note. (Tennessee Waltz actually starts on the same note as the last note, so no worries there.)

(It turns out that Tennessee Waltz doesn't need that F# at all! Lucky you!)

Finally, Bob says, "Then practice "jumping" from the "home" note to the 3rd scale note ("A" in G major)." That's a typo; the third scale note is B, not A.

Have fun.

Tom

[SlideMeister]

Yeah I've found that inserting a "scale'esque noodle" here or there, into a piece kinda sets up my brain and helps the "penny drop" and realize where all the other notes are. When that happens, it greatly reduces my "farkle factor."

[robertpcoble]

Tom,

Thanks for the correction to my typo.

Doing everything at the laptop keyboard "blindfold" from memory often makes it seem as if I'm dyslexic.

Thanks,
Crazy Bob

[Leatherman]

OK then….here’s my tuppence worth.  I mentioned this already in an old post.  Years ago, Larry Stutz of the Harmonica Rascals gave me great advice.  He said “practice your scales until you can zip through them as easy as you can through the C major scale.  Then practice a simple tune like Twinkle, twinkle or Oh Susannah and try it in different keys”.  I did that and for me it works well. 
Add to that Cham Ber Huangs advice….”Learn where your notes live” and life will be musically great.
You may agree or disagree but that works for me.  Also I think if you play the key note of a scale, you can actually ‘hear’ where that starting note will be.  Some songs like Tennessee Waltz start on the keynote but others on a different one.  I suppose this is what developing an ear might be? 

[Jimmy Halfnote]

    C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C
    G  A  B  C  D  E  F#G

  Look at the above keys of C and G. Now take four notes in C ( which you can play) such as C,D,E,G...now read top line to bottom line = C becomes G, D becomes A, E becomes B,G becomes D, so you have just transposed from C to G and the four notes of C,D,E,G in the key of C have become G,A,B,D in the key of G. This can be done with any two keys, but it is important to know where these notes are on your Chromatic as other posters have mentioned, you only have to learn one octave other octaves are just repetition , if unsure write the hole numbers down with the notes alongside slide out, slide in, get this stamped in the mind soon as possible,it will not take long...that doesn't mean more experienced players always know the exact note they are playing at speed, but they do know the layout of the instrument.
                          Good luck
                                                               jh.

[Gnarly He Man]

I would also like to introduce the concept of the tetrachord, which is the first four notes of the scale.
Those four notes are also in the scale of the neighbor to the left on the circle of fifths.
Same with the last four notes, they are included in the scale to the right.
So:
C D E F are the last four notes of the F scale, and
G A B C are the first four notes of the G scale.
Here's a nice graphic of the circle of fifths
This one has G at the top, different than I am used to, but appropriate for this discussion.
The numbers 1 2 3 and 4 belong to C.
The numbers 5 6 7 and 8 belong to D

Edit: Here is the page from which I copied the graphic
https://theoryandsound.com/circle-of-fifths-cheat-sheet/

[RichChrome]

I agree with the need to practice scales even though it can be tedious, but scales will help you learn and memorize the note layout of the harmonica and this will help considerably with knowing where you are on the harmonica when you're learning a new song.

[JackC41]

Thanks to you all for all the interesting and useful advice!

It is going to take a time to get my head round all the ways to go forward.  Most of the terminology is new to me so I guess I should take time to understand those items first.

I have learnt the G major scale and can play it up and back (very slowly).  The fun starts when I try to apply it to a tune because I usually get half way along when I revert to C.  Lots of practice coming but I will get there.

Thanks again
Jack

[Gnarly He Man]

No hurry, enjoy yourself!

[Gnarly He Man]

By the way, I would like to recommend “follow the yellow brick road“.
In C, that’s C D E F E D C.
In G, it’s G A B C B A G.
In F, that’s F G A Bb A G F.
That’ll keep you busy for a while!