I currently have 7 Special 20’s that came as a set (A, Bb, C, D, E, F, G) and 2 Lee Oskars (low E & low F). I actually use them all occasionally as my wife and I jam with friends as a duo and play in all keys. Mostly we play folk, country, and America music. Recently a friend of mine who’s played many years with a country band said now I should get an A minor harmonica – specifically a Lee Oskar harmonic minor.
I know nothing about minor harmonicas, so my question is: what are they good for? How could I use one in the type of music we usually play? Would I be better off spending my money on another major key harmonica to fill in the gaps in my collection?
Yes - definitely get one, playing in a minor key adds a slightly different ‘flavour’ to your sound. I added Lee Oskar minor key harps to my harp collection over 20 years ago (initially Am and Dm but all the other minor keys over the years) and because my duo only does one or two minor key songs in our sets I’m still playing those those original two harps well over twenty years later! We play a similar mix of Americana, jazz and blues and examples of minor key songs I play are ‘Oh Mary Don’t You Weep’, ‘Summertime’, ‘Hit the Road Jack’, ‘Black Magic Woman’, ‘Way Down in the Hole’ etc.