Progress, realization, new gear, and a few minor questions?

Hello all,
looking for some gear guidance and understanding.

Progress:
A year and a half in and am very pleased with where progress - and am loving playing, learning, failing, succeeding, stumbling and surprising myself once in a while.

Realization:
Started playing to learn blues - along the way I found I like folky (petty, young, Dillon etc… Also discovered that when it comes to improv, I dig minor funk.

New Gear:
Looking to get 3 new harmonicas.

  1. Current gear is a G Crossover, C sp20 and an A fender blues deville that just doesn’t have a very rich tone. Getting a new A - I’ll most likely stick with Hohner maybe another Crossover also been considering trying rocket amp.

  2. Considering buying 2 minor harmonicas. As mentioned above I like to improvise over funk especially in A minor and D minor (G & C harmonica 3rd position)

Minor tuned Questions:
I’ve read a lot of posts in our community forum about minor tuned harmonicas. And 2 things are not clear to me…

  1. would getting minor tuned harmonica expand capabilities and note selections compared to 3rd position?

  2. it’s confusing which keys to choose - if I want an A minor and a D minor? It seems less straight forward than I thought.
    Does this question even make sense :joy:

Thanks in advance for your help

Best
Mike

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Hi Mike, I’m about 2 years in, so a little ahead of you in duration but I don’t have any technical knowledge so can’t give you much advice. If I knew when I started, that I could play as I now can, I would have been very pleased. But my perspective has changed, so now that I’m here I’m a bit frustrated that I can’t play better. I thought I was showing some delayed gratification by only having 7 harmonicas, so I’m very impressed with your restraint, If I could only keep one of my harps, it would be my Rocket Amp in A.

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I feel ya @PapaCurly I understand-I’ve hit that frustration wall with certain things at different points in my life too and I know many others who have as well - your not alone brother.

Thanks for the input on the Rocket - good to hear

Best
Mike

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I don’t really like improvising with my natural Dm harmonica. I feel like when it comes to playing in minor, third position is better because that /-6 feels so damn good. If you want to jam in Dm I’d recommend sticking to third positions with a C harp.
But that’s just my opinion, I know that I bought a D natural minor harp last year and don’t use it very often.

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Also, regarding note selection, if you don’t know how to blow bend / overblow, if you play in second position (which you would on a minor tuned harp) you only have the middle octave “fully covered”. If you stick to third position, you can get quite comfortable with the -3"', -3", -2" and have two octaves to have fun with (from -1 to -8) !

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Thanks you @mauraulucien great input and very helpful.

Make it a great day

Best
Mike

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@cloves-fibs0f - thanks for the update! Glad the journey is going well.

For the G harp, if you’re sticking with Hohner, I’d highly recommend a Marine Band Deluxe. I prefer the tone to the Crossover, better tuning for chords than the Crossover, and it’s cheaper to boot!

3rd position in it’s easiest form is best for a “Dorian sound” (Minor with a major 6th scale degree. D to D on the white keys. Riders on the Storm, One Como Va, So What, Messin’ With the Kid…)

Natural Minor harp plays in “Natural Minor.” :rofl: So you’ve got the minor 6th scale degree accessible. (A-A on the white keys, The Thrill is Gone, Saint James Infirmary…) It’s really nice if you have a i and a iv in the chord progression, you can play those chords.

vs

Regarding Key labels - Lee Oskar labels them in the 2nd position key. So if you want to play an Am blues, you ordered an Am harp.

I ordred a Hohner Natural Minor from my customizer and asked for an Am Natural Minor, and what I got is a harmonica that plays in Em!! Oof. :see_no_evil: To me it’s weird that it’s labeled “A Natural Minor” when that’s not the key you can play in. I’m not sure if that was him. I think that’s how Hohner labels them. So just ask if you’re buying a Hohner and confirm. But I beleive a “C Natural Minor” Hohner harmonica plays 2nd position in the key of Gm. So confusing!

Hope that helps.

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Great info and recommendations @Luke

Much appreciated

At this point I feel I barely scratched the surface of all there is to learn about this amazing pocket instrument.

Make it a great day

Best
Mike

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