Minor vs. Major Harmonicas - Playing in Minor Keys - Todd Parrott

In this video, I discuss natural minor harmonicas vs. major harmonicas, and demonstrate how to play songs in minor keys, but on a major harp. Lots of folks assume for minor tunes, that you must use a minor tuned harmonica, but this isn't always necessarily the case.

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[BlueMonk12]

Enjoyed your playing and the info here Todd. Great stuff. I'm not inclined to retune my harps (maybe I will at some point), so if I have a good 6 hole overbend, I can get the same note as you get with your flatted 7 hole - correct? Thanks!

[AceOfHarps]

@BlueMonk12 - Yes, the 6 overblow is the same note, but I use both. There are different patterns you can get with a retuned harp. You can slide into that note with a retuned harp, but this is not as easy to do with the 6 overbow. You can also bend the 7 blow on a retuned harp.

[nikko97144]

So you can play minor songs on a major harmonica, but is it easier to play minor on a minor tuned harmonica, needing more practice on a major tuned one?

[AceOfHarps]

@nikko97144 Some people would say that it's harder to use a major harp to play in a minor key. This is because a major tuned harp requires a little more thought and concentration to avoid playing notes that don't belong. While this is not a problem on minor tuned harps, with minor harps you lose some expression on certain notes because of the way the harp is tuned. I wouldn't say it's necessarily easier to use a minor harp vs. a major one, as both require adjustments in technique.

[onthebus17]

@Todd-Hey brother, I'm a guitar player and have  trouble with Harp players sometimes when they sit in, or at jams, because they never want to play a Minor blues. Sometimes they ask what harp to use, and I'm like WTF, how should I know. It would be helpful to bridge the gap if I could tell them something. So do I have this right? If I want to play a slow blues in Am, and a Harp player asks me, I can tell him to use his D Maj harp? If it's Cm blues, then his F Maj harp, etc?

[AceOfHarps]

@onthebus17 Sorry for the delay.... Yes, you are correct, however, this can be tricky for some players as they will have to be careful not to play the major 3rd over a minor chord. (Many harp players are notorius for playing notes that just don't fit with the chords in the song.) A safer option for harp players may be to play in 3rd position - for example, a C harp played in 3rd position is D minor. A good harp player should be familiar with this - you shouldn't have to be educating them.

[vitopogioli]

Good stuff Todd, thanks, Vito

[AcousticProductions1]

That was awesome! You play from your heart and with such soul. Really enjoyed this video & thanks for sharing your talent Todd. Brian

[AceOfHarps]

@rocklaw2 - These are pretty much synonymous terms. When folks refer to a diatonic harmonica, they are talking about a 10-hole, standard (Richter) tuned, harmonica. Sometimes this is also referred to as a blues harp, because this is the kind of harmonica most commonly used for playing the blues. However, what makes it sometimes a little more confusing is that a diatonic harmonica can be re-tuned to other tunings.

[escort325]

Very informitive tutorial!