Posted by Rich on October 22, 2001 at 17:00:17:
In Reply to: I still don't understand CHROMATIC vs DIATONIC... posted by Jeff on October 18, 2001 at 16:43:02:
: Some sites, such as eBay, will state that they have a Chromatic Harmonica for sale tuned in the key of 'C'. I thought chromatic meant that it covered all notes!? I know that with diatonic, you can buy one in all the different keys. But if I buy a chromatic, isn't that all I need???
: THANKS
A Chromatic will play in any key. You simply push in the slide to move up half steps. In C, its like having the black keys on a piano. An old guy once told me you just need to find "doe" in the scale for any song and then play on from there. A person with an understandng of the scales in each key can explain this in simple terms... unfortunately I am not that person.
Diatonics are tuned to a specific key scale.
Hope I explained this as it was explained to me.
Rich