Why do diatonic harmonicas come in more than one key ?
In the beginning, the diatonic harmonica was tuned to facilitate the accompaniment of Bavarian folk songs : Bavaria being its region of origin. Its design was essentially based on cords in the lower octave (holes 1-3) and melodies in the middle one (holes 4-7). As a result, a certain number of notes are missing on the diatonic harmonica (whence its name). It was conceived to be played in a single key – the one stamped on the cover. Consequently, if the band was playing in C and the harmonica player had a C harp, no problem. But if the band was playing in D or E, the harmonica player was in real trouble ! In short, harmonicas were made in a certain number of keys so that harmonica players could be somewhat more versatile. Then, at the start of the 20th century, the harmonica spread throughout the African-American community, among others, because it was the most affordable instrument. The African-Americans didn t know how the harmonica was “supposed” to be played. So they learned to play
