[Harp-L] minor harp

[john coster <john.medicineb@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hey Todd,

I think a helpful way to get comfortable with minor tunes is to think
in terms of the natural modes, the seven scales beginning on the
different notes of the diatonic scale. I play a lot of traditional
fiddle tunes and many minor songs. The 3rd and 4th position, the
scales beginning on the 2nd note of the scale and the 6th, give you
all the notes in many traditional pieces and work well for many songs.
In the key of C, starting on D gives you a minor 3rd and a flat 7, the
Dorian minor mode. Many fiddle tunes are in E minor, the Dorian mode,
so a D harmonica gives you the scale. Your home key tonic note is a
draw D note. The scale starting on the 6th note of the scale is the
Aeolian mode. On a  C harp this would give you an A minor scale with
the minor 3rd, the flat 7 and also a flatted 6th: half steps between B
and C, E and F (the 6th) and a 7th (G) a whole step below the octave
(A), which is to say a flat 7. Thus I would use a D harp for many
tunes in E minor or B minor as well as for blues tunes in A or any
major tune in A  with a major 3rd and a flatted 7.

This all sounds complicated. Just pick up a harp and start playing
with those draw notes as your root, on a C harp the D and A notes, and
you be playing minor. Of course by bending or pushing the button on a
chromatic you can alter this scenario, but those two root notes are a
good way to hit the minor scales hard and fast. On the diatonic you
have to draw down the 3 hole to get that 6th in the lowest octave so
it's easier on a 12 holed full scaled harp.

 Examples> I did a harp part on a recording of House of the Rising Sun
in A minor. I used a G Harp to get the A Dorian.
If you go to Johncostermusic on Youtube, you can see me using an F
Harp to work with  G minor scale on the song, OLD STONES BROKEN BONES.
At my much neglected MYspace:  http://www.myspace.com/johngcoster, the
medley called Man of the House switches from E minor to A minor. I'm
playing guitar and harp in tandem with a fiddler. It's a G harp for
both tunes (SCX 48), the first in  E minor (Aeolian), the second in A
minor (Dorian).

Don't worry if this "greek to you" . Just riff off those two home base notes.

John Coster