What i need to know about it - i gifted my self - to celebrate my Graduation and keep it in memory a Tremolo harmonica 16 holes 32 notes Seydel Shanty C-Dur (C major) how do i play other tab if its for 24 hole tremolo or more holer ? Other tips ?

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My Opinion on Tremolo Harmonicas
by
Paul van der Sijde
(also known as "Doc Harmonica"

It's nice that finally someone picks up another type of harmonica than the currently so usual diatonic or chromatic. I have several tremolo and octave harmonicas in my collection and will try to share with you what I know about them.

Tremolo harmonicas are so called "double reed" harmonicas. They have two reeds for each note, tuned a fraction apart so that a certain resonance effect develops when playing, giving a wavering sound. Closely related to the tremolo is the octave harmonica. Basically the design is the same, though the reeds are tuned exactly one octave apart to give more fullness to the sound. I prefer these since they have more expressive abilities than tremolos, yet tremolo harmonicas are the more popular kind in the world. Especially in the Far East they are immensely popular.

Playing chromatically there often consists of holding two tremolo harmonicas, one in C and one in C# in hands simultaneously and switching between harmonicas if a sharp or a flat is needed. This may seem awkward, but Cham-Ber Huang, former Hohner harmonica technician and very accomplished classical chromatic player, once said that playing that way is not only very well possible, but also potentially faster than playing a "standard" chromatic harmonica!

The number of octaves available, as well as the starting note in #1 Blow may differ, (see note layouts) depending on the number of holes in your harmonica. Double reed harmonicas usually have a discrete comb, that means that every reed on the reedplates has its own chamber in the comb. A combination of one blow/draw note therefore always requires a minimum of four holes! Due to the fact that two reeds are involved the tremolo harmonica takes more wind to play than a single reed harmonica like a standard 10 hole diatonic or a chromatic harmonica does.

Bending notes on them is possible, however it takes a totally different technique. Bending down any note using both reeds is enormously difficult if not impossible since that would take too much wind. Instead you can block one row of holes (either top or bottom) with your lip and bend one of the two reeds. Be aware though that this will reduce your volume with roughly 50 percent. Only one reed is sounding where normally two reeds do. This too is the significant drawback of a double reed harmonica. Due to the fact that you have to move two reeds these are made thinner and softer to make sure everyone can actually get the reeds to move. Bending notes on a double reed harmonica therefore is easier, but also wears the reeds out much faster than on a 'normal' diatonic. Be careful! The bends you achieve on a double reed harmonica with its discrete comb are single reed bends, meaning you can blow bend reeds you can't do on a standard diatonic. But be aware! The strain you put on the reeds wears them out much faster than on any other harmonica. That means you will blow out a reed much sooner and usually there is no way of correcting that but replacing the whole harmonica. That can be a costly past time and probably not your aim in life.

Usually tremolo harmonicas here in the West are used to play folk tunes. I use them to softly play tones like an organ or strings in the background of a gentle ballad. I never solo on them. If I use a tremolo as fill and I need to solo, I switch to either a diatonic or a chromatic for its capabilities. So what you bought is mainly something to enhance your playing, but in no way to replace your regular solo harmonicas. The tremolo has limited use in Western popular music, yet it can be used to fill in some background stuff or play solo all the way. It is a nice addition to your collection that however requires you learn to play it differently from any other harmonica you have known so far. It can be tedious, but if you see the challenge in it you may even grow to like it, like I did.

Tremolo tabs are different depending on the number of holes and sometimes even the brand. A 24 hole harmonica is 12 holes for a tab,
and the 16 hole has 8 holes as far as the tabs go, unlike the diatonic your blow and draw notes are on two different holes, therefore on your harmonica holes, 1 equals 1 blow on a tab, and hole 2 equals 1 draw, hole 3 equals 2 blow, 4 equals 2 draw, hole 5 equals 3 blow, hole 6 equals 3 draw, and so on. I found a layout for the shanty 16 hole and compared them, your holes 5 through 16 (tab holes 3-8) are the same as a 24 hole 7 through 18 (tab holes 4 through 9), so f you play one hole lower than listed on the 24 hole tab and stay between those holes then you would be ok, if you need to go lower the layouts become different so it would require that on a 16 hole you would have to bend notes to get some of the notes that are on the 24 hole. Now with all that being said, mostly to make sure that you understand how the tremolo is setup, the easy way for you, is that your shanty (according to the diagram that I found) is set up like a diatonic, so remembering the hole to tab locations I mentioned earlier, you basically have a 8 hole diatonic harmonica as far as the tabs go, any diatonic tab here would work for you as long as it does not go above the 8 hole, all other holes are the same. If you do attempt to bend notes remember that these reeds are thinner than diatonic reeds and can be damaged easier. It does take a little more air to play the tremolo, but since you have played a diatonic for awhile now this should not be a problem for you.

Tank you very much for this information

ur lucky werkis

far as i know furface here is the only one taht can help you!!