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Top half blows, bottom half draws.

Hold a reed to blow or draw it. To bend, drag a draw note down — or a high blow note up — into the notes marked beside it. On a keyboard, ↓ sets a bend for the keys.

SongsLinstead Market
Play a different song (34)

2 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the key brings some of them into reach.

Play along
  1. 5
  2. 6
  3. 6
  4. 6
  5. 5
  6. -5
  7. 6
  8. -6
  9. -6
  10. 6
  11. 6
  12. ·
  13. -5
  14. 5
  15. -4
  16. 5
  17. -5
  18. 6
  19. ·
  20. 5
  21. -5
  22. 5
  23. -4
  24. 4
  25. -3
  26. 4
  27. -4
  28. 5
  29. -4
  30. 4
  31. ·
  32. 5
  33. 6
  34. 6
  35. 6
  36. 5
  37. -5
  38. 6
  39. -6
  40. -6
  41. 6
  42. 6
  43. ·
  44. -5
  45. 5
  46. -4
  47. 5
  48. -5
  49. 6
  50. ·
  51. 5
  52. -5
  53. 5
  54. -4
  55. 5
  56. -4
  57. 4
  58. ·
  59. -3
  60. 4
  61. -4
  62. 5
  63. -4
  64. 4

Jamaican traditional; as printed by Walter Jekyll in “Jamaican Song and Story”, 1907, No. 121. Public domain.

20 reeds · 10 holes · 12 bent notes · C harmonica · Every reed on the piano’s pitch. Melodies sound the way you expect; chords beat a little.

Tap a reed, or slide along the holes to run through the notes in one breath. On a keyboard the letters on the reeds are the ones to press — the number row blows holes 1 to 10 and the row under it draws them.

HarmonicaFree · printable · plays in your browser

Linstead Market — Harmonica Tabs

Linstead Market, written out for the harmonica as hole-by-hole tab with every blow, draw and bend and set up above on the Equal tuning. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the harmonica waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes58, 7 pitches
  • RangeB4–A5
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo190 bpm · about 30 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a harmonica play Linstead Market?

Yes — every one on this page plays it. The check is made note by note against what each one can actually sound. Where the tune does not fit as the library writes it, another key or octave is tried, and the table says which; where nothing fits, it names the notes that are missing.

  • Equal tuning✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, B4–A5 · loaded above
  • Just tuning✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, B4–A5 · load it

Linstead Market: harmonica tabs

The large line is the hole — a minus means draw, each apostrophe a semitone of bend; the small line under it is the note it sounds. A dash holds the note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and a dot beside a note makes it half as long again. Each line is one phrase.

▶ Play it above

Linstead Market — harmonica tabs (Equal tuning) · tonalics.com

The 7 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 7 and you can play the whole tune.

  • -3B4×2
  • 4C5×6
  • -4D5×9
  • 5E5×15
  • -5F5×8
  • 6G5×14
  • -6A5×4

What to expect on a harmonica

  • It runs from B4 to A5, a minor seventh, using 7 different notes. That leaves 11 semitones unused below and 15 above.
  • 88% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major third, C5 to E5, at note 29.
  • 35 of its 58 notes are blown and 23 drawn, in holes 3 to 6.
  • No bends: every note is a plain blow or draw.
  • The breath changes direction 42 times.

About the tune

A Jamaican folk song about a market woman who carries her ackee to Linstead on a Saturday night and sells none of it. The tab follows the earliest printed version, No. 121 in Walter Jekyll’s Jamaican Song and Story of 1907.

Jamaican traditional; as printed by Walter Jekyll in “Jamaican Song and Story”, 1907, No. 121. Public domain. More about Linstead Market →

Linstead Market on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the guzheng or handpan, which do not have the notes.

More songs for the harmonica

All 36 harmonica songs · Christmas songs for harmonica · The online harmonica on its own

Playing it on a real harmonica?

If it sounds wrong, check the instrument before the notes. The harmonica tuner listens through your microphone and names what each note is actually sounding.

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