Ok, I’m 5 months in been through happy harpin & @ lesson 9 BTB. Just got an inexpensive keyboard so I can try & figure out notes for some music been asked to play along with a band.
When I’m looking at sheet music what part do I follow to play notes on harp? I guess it’s called transcription? So I can transcribe it to tab ? Thank Brent
Hi, brentmrobert!
Welcome to the forum.
I think that the answer here (to keep it relatively short) is that it depends on what exactly you are attempting to do.
If you wish to play the melody on your harp, then it is usually the top line of notes in top staff of the score (if there is only one staff line in the score then that is the one containing this melody line).
If you are attempting to play the chordal accompaniment then you look at either the chord notations for each bar or (if present) the lower staff of notes in the score and you need to interpret those notes.
I hope that this helps.
Regards,
– Slim
Hey Brent - Yes, I agree with Slim, the top line is probably gonna be the melody. You can always look up the song title on a site like https://www.harptabs.com and see if somebody has already transcribed it for you.
If you have to do it yourself, charts like this could be helpful: https://www.harmonica.com/notes-on-a-harmonica/
Happy Harpin’,
Luke
Luke & Slim, thanks the harp charts are really helpful.
I think what stumping me is the music charts, which one is best ? Chord charts, lead sheets, piano sheets, choir sheets, orchestrations charts?
I had a guitar friend give me his chord chart, one look at that & I pretty much figure, nope that won’t work. The song is Empty Grave, by Zack Williams came out last years & has some good harp licks in it. Thanks for the help! Brent
What I usually do (if I can’t find any tabs done by someone else) is to try to get lead sheets or piano sheets. For harp players like yourself, most lead sheets or even piano sheets almost never include these cool harp licks because they (1) are typically not exactly the melody, (2) they are mostly improvised, and (3) harp players are mostly ignored by transcribers 
But if you are mainly interested in the melody, then these resources can really help!
Slim, thanks that helps a lot, I think I’ll get the piano sheets & then be able to transcribe the melody. From this I can do my own improving. Thanks again. Brent
Agreed. Lead Sheets.
Hi, pardon my ignorance. What are lead sheets v’s piano sheets? Are piano sheets the written music the pianist plays? What do you do if there isn’t piano in the song?
I’m hoping to work out a Cutis Stigers song, and I have absolutely no idea where to start. Could somebody explain the ‘process’ as it were. I haven’t checked yet, but if there were piano sheet music that I could lay my hands on. What do I exactly do with it?
Thanks for any help you can give. Mark
Hi @markbutcher
“Lead” sheet as a term is often used to mean “piano” sheet and vice versa. A lead sheet does not have to be a piano sheet and a piano does not have to be used in the song. But what is most important for you is that you know how to read music notes written out on a music staff (most appropriate for blues harp is music on a treble clef – aka G clef – staff rather than on a bass staff).
If all of this is new/unkown to you, then it would help to learn about it before continuing.
Regards,
– Slim
Thank Slim, very much appreciated. I have to admit I have no idea what your talking about. I’m still not sure what is actually on these sheets of what they are used for. Nothing to do with your explanation, simply my total lack of knowledge. The level of learning, and the time needed, is simply not an option. I’d hoped it would be a simpler ‘process’, alas, no.
I played the Accordion and the Organ for many years, played a LOT by ear. I find that I can use an online piano to create the melody notes from memory, then use the Bend-it tool to create the harp tabs. However, I don’t include “cool harp licks”. I am getting familiar enough to create many of the melodies directly on the harp, which means I don’t have to rely on the Bend-it tool.
Your experience really shines Mr. Poppo, playing somethin by ear is something is wish I can do sometimes.
I’m really impressed with the thoughtful answers here. As a raw beginner, with little of everything, but a lot more time, I start with knowing what key a tune is in and listening for any key changes. Searching the web for a tab. Getting a copy of the tune and playing along. Use software to determine what note it is. Looking at harmonica positions to see where a note is. Looking at harmonica positions to see what holes to avoid. YouTube and harp tabs are my best friends outside B toB. I put lots of tunes on back burner because they’re way past my skill set, but I save them in my filing system. If it’s a tune I love, it may help motivate me to acquire a new skill and make all the repetitive humiliation of practice endurable. I have noticed that there is a limited amount of time to learn a song before it gets shelved to the some day maybe category.
One last thought, what we typically focus on in a song is the high notes. With that in mind chosing the chords, octave, splits is important. Stepping on a vocalist with the harp punching over the vocal is easy. Accompaniment seems a really advanced skill for a shrill harp.
That’s why lower tuned harps are best for accompaniment.
Been thinking more on this topic, and IMHO you don’t have to be able to read music to write a harmonica tab, especially since most harp tabs have no time designation. What might help the most and make it possible is training ear to hear intervals and be familiar with how to play in a key. Knowing that a song is in D minor, and D is your one is essential. Knowing how to play that scale in what position, on what key harp is also essential. The great thing about harp is you can grab the right key harp, and all that learning works for any other key.
Have you ever heard of a “Fake Book”.?..It is a collection of over 300 pages of choruses of well know tunes (as of probably around the year 1945 or so). They are printed (normally) 3 to a page, so there are about 1000 songs within the pages. They apparently did not follow copyright laws when they created them. Anyway, I LITERALLY spent years of turning pages and playing random melodies from those pages for hours at a time. I got to where I could remember the words and melodies of most of these songs, which is the most likely the basis of my being able to “play by ear”. I don’t know if those “Fake Books” still exist, I understand that they sold for around $50.00 back when my sister first acquired one. I still have that book.
I’ve some good thing about it in the past, but what amazes me more is your dedication to learn songs. There must be some soft copies of that amazing book online.
Hi @Poppo
There are now numerous versions of “Fake book” and “Real Book” publications available at most good music stores. They are also printed for various instruments/keys and music genres.
You can find some free online versions as well. Our local jazz club has perhaps 6 or more different ones in various keys that they keep backstage for the musicians to consult on the evenings that they host jam sessions.
Best regards,
– Slim 
I thought I saw some a few years ago online…As I remember they were a in a ‘plastic’ binding. Mine is in a loose-leaf (cloth covered) binder.