Re: [Harp-L] The advantages of BD harmonica notation

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

This BD tablature or at least something very much like it has been used on harp-l for nearly 20 years. It's good in that you can use it in a text-only environment.

By the way, for centuries notation and tablature have been considered two quite different things.

Notation shows you the results - the notes - without telling you how to physically play those notes. You can read the same notation on any instrument as long as you know how notation relates to that instrument.

Tablature (or tab) shows you how to physically get the notes on a particular instrument, without describing the results. However, it will work only for that instrument. Reading guitar tab on harmonica would require a considerable effort of translation, for instance.

This distinction between notation and tablature has existed for several centuries.

Notation and tab are often combined, of course, as when arrow-number tab for harmonica is placed under sheet music where song lyrics would be written.

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa

Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5

Resident expert at bluesharmonica.com

Harmonica instructor, jazzschool.com

Columnist, harmonicasessions.com

--- On Fri, 7/2/10, Tony Eyers <tony@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From: Tony Eyers <tony@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] The advantages of BD harmonica notation
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Date: Friday, July 2, 2010, 10:44 AM

When I wrote my online Harmonica Course I needed a harmonica notation or tab. I looked at various tabs, using +, -, arrows, bent arrows etc. They confused me. I wanted a notation which could be written with a keyboard and was unambiguous. The result was Blow Draw or BD notation.

It works like this. B indicates blow note, D indicates draw note. So 4B means blow into hole 4, 4D means draw or breathe in hole 4. And so on. In BD notation the major scale starting on the 4 hole blow is

4B 4D 5B 5D 6B 6D 7D 7B

Simple enough. Bends are indicated with apostrophes. A half tone bend is ', a full tone bend is ", a tone and a half bend is "'.

Using this bending notation, the four notes available from the 3 hole draw are 3D, 3D', 3D", 3D"'

Chords are indicated with brackets. So, a 1 hole and 2 hole draw chord is (1D 2D), a 1 hole blow 4 hole blow octave is written (1B 4B)

That's it. This notation has become widely known in China through my Harmonica University online course, it is also used by my Harmonica Academy students when discussing problem (and triumphs) in our forum. It doesn't show overblows, a drawback for some. However, for most players it is sufficient.

I'm not sure if I invented the BD notation, I don't really care. It is a simple and clear way to indicate harmonica notes with a keyboard, without having to remember +, - or figuring out arrows.

Tony Eyers
Australia
www.HarmonicaAcademy.com
...everyone plays