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.
Diatonic and chromatic contrast, the remaining bars are highly chromatic, using all the notes available to convey a sense of growing intensity as the music builds towards its expressive climax.] A further example may be found in this extract from Act III of Richard Wagner’s opera "Die Walkure" . The first four bars harmonize a descending chromatic scale with a rich, intoxicating chord progression. In contrast, the remaining three bars are entirely diatonic, using notes only within the scale of E major. The passage is intended to convey the god Wotan putting his daughter Brunnhilde into a deep sleep. <score vorbis="1"> { \relative