Blues Harmonicas

Part of the Video Series How to Play the Harmonica

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Play the harmonica like a Blues Brother; learn about different types of blues harmonicas in this free video harmonica lesson.

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Tags: harmonica, harp, jazz, train
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Posted by bemused on Monday, 28 May, 2007 at 7:28 PM

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Now i know what cross harp means,been a long time finding out.Most experts seem to skip over the very basics and leave us beginners building on quicksand.Thank you for the foundations Jim.

Video Transcript

Blues Harmonicas
Hi this is Jim Luke again and we’re going to talk about the different kinds of harmonicas now. Specifically, the ten hole diatonic or blues harp known to many people. This kind of harmonica is often played and mostly played in what’s called a cross position. Where you are drawing on most of the notes rather than blowing. So you don’t want to play in the key shown you play in another key. For example, when you have a harmonica in the key of D you are actually going to play it most of the time in the opposite key or the key of A. And that’s why we call it blues harp because when you draw those notes that’s the ones you can bend. Now there are a whole bunch of other tunings though for these 10 hole harmonicas. One of them is a Minor key; that gives you a whole different sound than a regular Major key harmonica. There are also a number of new tunings available. Lee Oscar has a new melody maker and there is a country, a harmonica country tune, that is a very nice one as well. All these are going to give you a different sound than the standard ten hole diatonic blues harp. Thanks a lot.

About the Expert

Expert: Jim Luke has been a bandleader, harmonica player and singer for over 30 years. Read More