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About the Club and the Band

The Villages Harmonica Club was established 12 years ago.  Its members play chromatic harmonicas exclusively.  The club meets twice weekly for two-hour playing sessions.  One session is often devoted to learning new material, and periodic workshops are conducted to assist beginners.  

The club is open to all harmonica players willing to learn the chromatic harmonica.  Guest musicians and Villagers are always welcome to join us at our rehearsals.

Performance groups, such as the Harmonica Band, are established from within the membership and guest musicians interested in performing around the Villages.  Smaller groups form up on an ad hoc basis to provide musical entertainment for special occasions.

The Chromatic Harmonica

The chromatic harmonica is quite different from its smaller cousin, the diatonic harmonica, which is often referred to as a mouth organ or Blues Harp.  These smaller harmonicas provide only the 7 scale tones, represented by the white keys of a piano, whereas the chromatic harmonica provides all 12 tones of the chromatic scale, represented by the white and black keys.

The 4-octave chromatic harmonica consists of 64 individually tuned brass reeds mounted on 2 registers of 32 reeds each.  These reed registers (or plates) are each mounted over 16 separate reed chambers—one on the top and one on the bottom of the instrument.  This layout provides 16 positions (or mouthpiece holes),  all in the space of 8 inches.   Each reed is covered by a one-way valve to force the air to the target reed.  These instruments require regular maintenance.

Notes are played by inhaling or exhaling through one position and selecting the correct register by means of a register key (or slide mechanism) which directs the air to the proper register.

The individual brass reeds vibrate from 100 or so vibrations per second to over 2000 vibrations per second.

The 4-octave chromatic harmonica has a tonal range of 49 notes, from C below middle C (C3) to D four octaves higher (D7).  It has a range greater than half of an 88-key piano.  It is classified as a woodwind in orchestral arrangements.