Chromatic harmonica Chromatic harmonica The chromatic harmonica is a type of harmonica that uses a button-activated sliding bar to redirect air from the hole in the mouthpiece to the selected reed-plate desired. When the button is not pressed, an altered diatonic major scale of the key of the harmonica is available, while depressing the button accesses the same scale a semitone higher in each hole. Thus, the instrument is capable of playing the 12 notes of the Western chromatic scale. The chromatic harmonica can thus be contrasted with a standard harmonica, which can play only the notes in a given musical key.
Insen scale Insen scale Insen (or In Sen) is a tuning scale adapted from shamisen music by Yatsuhashi Kengyō for tuning of the koto. It only differs from the hirajoshi scale by one note. In D mode it consists of: D-E-G-A-C so it has the same notes as the Phrygian chord (7sus♭9). Other chords compatible with insen scale include M7♯11 when the scale is played half steps lower (for example B in sen scale for CM7♯11 chord) and Cm6 and Cm when the scale is played one full step above (for example D insen with Cm6 or Cm chord). Other scales related