3 Scale Exercises for High Low Transitions (Blues Harmonica Lesson)

[@tenbarsteam]

Thanks Lee, this is great! I'm surprised how quick you responded to my call and I really appreciate you putting this vid up on the Toob for me and the many others like me. I've been playing for years and, because I was self taught, I got myself into a lot of bad habits and kind of skipped the "boring" bits. I'll have to give myself a rap across the knuckles. I knew it was all about the scales but I was in denial. Thanks again Lee and I look forward to to your next posting. cheers Andy

[@leesankeygroup]

Great question. The blow 3 is normally used as more of a transition note as you can't bend it or apply vibrato like you can on the draw 2. So i would practice the scales with draw 2 primarily. As your style develops you'll 'see' patterns where it makes sense to use the draw 3. This is a good subject for a tutorial so I may cover this in the future. Thanks, Lee

[@leesankeygroup]

Hi, yes I play upside down, always have done. When I started, I didn't realise there was a 'right' way. Turns out it doesn't matter. What matters, is that the harp makes sense to me that way round. The key thing is that the low end of the harp is against the flesh of the hand, as opposed to being away past the tip of the fingers and thumb. So most people play with their left hand with the low notes to the left. I play right handed, with low notes to the right. Thanks, Lee

[@makilakixki]

Straight forward instruction for priceless harmonica knowledge. I've got a question: what's the reason for skipping major 7th 10 blowbend a half step when you add the upper register of C major scale? Thanks a lot for your valuable work on your YT channel, Lee, you are such a generous person, not to mention an extraordinary tasty and original musician. Keep up the good work, Kixki

[@xbbullx]

I've been playing harp for about 20 years off and on. My main instrument is guitar but I'm finding that I'm really enjoying the harp more and more nowadays. I just formed a blues band here in Seattle called The Broken Killers. Thanks again Lee

[@leesankeygroup]

@PapaHarp88 Hello Russ, thanks for posting some comments. It's good to hear from people watching and learning from my videos. To answer your question, I started playing when I was 18. I had never considered playing a musical instrument but was inspired to do so in an instant when I heard a chap called James Hunter live in a basement club in Soho, London. I can honestly say my life changed forever in that moment. Lee

[@xbbullx]

Lee, I find your videos the most instructional and clearly explained lessons out there. I've been at it for a while but I still find things to learn from you. Just wanted to stop by and say thanks.

[@janpeters-jansongsproducti1010]

Such a great great player and wonderful teacher, thank you Lee!

[@BluesHarpJammin]

Lee, Thanks to your helpful video above, I've been spending an hour a day just doing scale exercises (1st, 2nd and 3rd position) just to get comfortable moving up and down the harp. Tremendously helpful! I'm already hearing/feeling the improvement! I'm also gonna look into 12th position scales as well just to mix things up and challenge myself. Cheers!

[@19KyzerSosa75]

its amazing how quickly I realized that this is exactly what I need to do in order to get to the next plateau. this will, in time, be an extremely popular video...

[@MrOphelansean]

Thanks bro... wrote down the scale high and low, now to practice like crazy!! We are talking about doing some harp workshops and a festival out here in Hawaii, you should come out!! ALOHA Sean OPhelan

[@leesankeygroup]

@LongingCirkel Hi there. Yes I play the harmonica upside down. It just works better for me personally. I've always played it that way. Thanks for the positive feedback too.

[@brownbigb]

thank you so much. i am a guitar player, and i have been interested in learning harmonica licks on guitar. at some of the blues jams i have asked some harp players what are they doing, but they have no idea, nor can they slow down what they are doing. of course they also play the major third in a minor blues. drives me crazy. it is great to see you having a great understanding and knowledge of the instrument so you can break it down. watching your videos for a few days now, learning a lot.

[@leesankeygroup]

@tenbarsteam No problem and thanks for asking such a good question. My next video will be either about tone or blues licks. Should be up this week. Lee

[@leesankeygroup]

@pazzmanmusic Glad to hear you found it useful. Thanks for watching and adding me to your harp playlist. Lee

[@leesankeygroup]

@arman27harp Hi Arman, thanks for that feedback. There's a lot of information on the harmonica now so I'm glad to be able to contribute something useful. Lee

[@leesankeygroup]

Glad the information is useful to you. Keep practising and will become more natural and eventually second nature. Thanks, Lee

[@ivansaric33]

Hey Lee, This is excellent basic stuff that opens a whole new world for me. Much appreciated....

[@leesankeygroup]

Hi Alex, I imagine playing the guitar really helps your harp playing. It does for me. Gives you an understanding of chords that's hard to achieve on a mainly single note instrument. Many Jazz horn players are often solid pianists too. Kim Wilson, William Clarke and Little Walter all play or played guitar. Lee

[@leesankeygroup]

@makilakixki Wow thanks Kixki for your wonderful comments and praise. To answer your question, no reason other than to make the exercise a bit easier. But you are right to complete C major in the upper register you need the major 7th. Thanks, Lee

[@leesankeygroup]

Ahhhh thanks man, very kind of you to say so. Much appreciated, especially as there are so many people covering the harmonica so well these days on KZbin. Means a lot to hear this kind of praise. Thank you. How long have you been playing and what are you working on at the moment? Lee

[@leesankeygroup]

@brownbigb Hey thanks for posting and glad my videos are helping you. I actually play more guitar than harmonica and it's always been a big help to me. I think it's advantageous to play a 2nd instrument if you're 1st has limited chords like the harmonica. This is common place in Jazz where soloists (sax, trumpet etc) are often also competent pianists. A lot of harp players seem to me to just jump straight into advanced techniques with no basics in place. Warm regards, Lee

[@ChromaticHarp]

If that’s the case, then I’d love to hear you play some guitar! Is there somewhere you have your guitar playing posted? If so please let me know, thanks!

[@maryanntoboz4602]

I'm loving these exercises,. thank you so much, Lee.

[@leesankeygroup]

Thanks for watching and glad they are helping you progress your playing

[@finnjazz9113]

Lee, the third exercise, is that something that you made up? Brilliant!!! Again, thanks for what you do!

[@leesankeygroup]

Hi Finn, yes to the 3rd exercise and very kind of you. Thanks for watching, Lee

[@pazzmanmusic]

This is fantastic!! Thanks for sharing! I am going to start adding other great videos to my Harmonica Playlist! This is the 1st one! Cheers, and thanks man!

[@leesankeygroup]

@bluesdart Hi there, I'm using a Hohner Crossover in this video. There isn't one particular model that makes playing the high register easier. It's a case of finding the one that works best for you. People struggle playing the high register as it's laid out differently to the middle and low registers. It's a case of practise so it becomes familiar.

[@hdguy350]

Lee, I know I'm coming to this late, but thanks for these great exercises! As a long time player I thought I'd improve my skills by practicing scales. The last exercise is a killer. I can hear it in my head but I can't quite get it. As a blues player I've pretty much avoided the high notes until now. Thanks!

[@leesankeygroup]

Hi Eric, bloody hell this video is 10 years old. Time flies. Well glad it helped you. There's some cool ideas in there which still stand up and if you can play these exercises smoothly it will help your overall control of the harmonica. In fact, I should probably go back and practise them myself! Thanks, Lee

[@hdguy350]

I'm stuck on the 3rd position exercise- Can you please write out the whole thing including the lower register? I thought I was getting it but when I slowed it down I found that I'm missing some notes.

[@rcdezordi]

Perfect exercise. Exactly what I needed

[@leesankeygroup]

@19KyzerSosa75 Thanks for watching and practising those scales will make all the difference to building up that control. I also hope this is a popular video :-) Lee

[@leesankeygroup]

@Ledvolta Hi Mitch, yes these patterns do translate to any standard tuned diatonic harmonica. So if you take the pattern for C major in 1st position, as shown in this video, and play the same pattern on an A harp you will produce A major in 1st position. That's one of the easiest aspects of playing the diatonic harp. Once you have learnt a pattern you can apply it to other keys by switching harp. This is the same principal as moving fingering patterns up and down frets on the guitar. Lee

[@DeKiewicz]

Hi Lee - amazing stuff :) Since I´m quite new on the bluesharp but learning fast :) I wondered if You would list a simpel harpTab of the scales etc. You´re demonstrating . I almost got it all but I´m not sure :) Thanx Brian

[@PattiReichenbach]

Very helpful.Thanks! Gotta get back to some basics and build from there!

[@leesankeygroup]

Patti Reichenbach Hi Patti, this is all abou tusing the full range of the harmonica, something you don't hear that often IMHO. Lee

[@franciscogonzales5928]

Fantastic lesson! Thanks! Back to the woodshed for me.

[@leesankeygroup]

Thanks for watching. This is an old video but the exercises are still relevant today and will help develop your control of the instrument. Cheers, Lee

[@franciscogonzales5928]

Not practicing scales has really held me back in my playing. I stumbled across this lesson and found it was exactly what I needed. Thanks again!

[@leesankeygroup]

Cool, see there's a tonne of information available if you look. Sounds like you're putting in the practise so you'll be feeling the difference soon no doubt. Lee

[@PapaHarp88]

Thank ya so much for this lesson I've been practicin these scales for some time now but never got to show my appreciation. Matter a fact I've been practicing things from all of your vids. I was just wondering.....What first made you pick up the blues harp?

[@arman27harp]

Hi. Your lessons are very usefull.. always...

[@lalitkhatri5477]

Sir You are outstanding..

[@lalitkhatri5477]

Love u

[@remowb]

Lee, I think I came upon the answer before I got your reply just by trying the scale both ways...but your answer even better because it gave me a lesson on music theory (if that's the right word). I don't read music or understand music theory, but I love music, have a good ear for rhythm and tone, and especially appreciate folks who have are good teachers like yourself. Now, I have another rookie question: what does it mean when you say, for example, playing a C harp in second position, or an A harp in second position, etc.? I hear this a lot on instructional videos and don't really understand what it means. Thanks for you reply and patience with a beginner!

[@leesankeygroup]

Hi Bob, 'positions' is another way of saying playing in different keys on the same 1 harp. There are 3 basic positions people use but technically there are 12 - one for each of the music keys. In other words there are 3 common ways for using the same harp to play in different keys, which depend of course on the harp in question. So if we take a C harmonica I play that one harmonica in the key of C (first position) G (second or also known as 'Cross') and D (Third position). The principle of this comes from something called "Modes" and The Circle of Fifths. You can search online for more info. Neither are complicated to get your head round. Hope this helps.

[@leesankeygroup]

@LedZeppRox13 Hello Syd, unfortunately there's no short cuts on some things and it's just a case of practising a lot. When I was professional I used to practise 6-8 hours a day. That helps. You don't have to take things to that extreme, but playing 30 minutes or so of scales/basics everyday will make a difference. Regards from London, Lee

[@470blp911]

Good day Lee, This morning I viewed your video, 3 exercises for high to low transitions and I liked it very much so I subscribed to you. One thing that I noticed was that it appeared that you play with holes 123...etc on the right hand side, I thought it was supposed to be opposite of that.

[@wimharp]

Hi Lee, could devote some videos on amplifying the harp ?

[@leesankeygroup]

Well glad you found me. Hey I'd forgotten all about this video, it's pretty cool. I have no idea what the scale is called in exercise 2. I suppose it's a variation on the major scale i.e. without the 7th. There's also no minor 3rd or Flat 5 or other 'out' notes. Sounds good though, Cheers, Lee

[@LongingCirkel]

Do you always hold your harp upside down? Great lesson!

[@leesankeygroup]

Thanks John

[@leesankeygroup]

@GreyOwlPhotoart Hi Kieron, nice feedback, thanks. Hmmm blues licks...let me give that some thought. Might be able to put something together. Lee

[@brownbigb]

@leesankeygroup i did. thank you. downloaded the summary paper.

[@BluesHarpJammin]

Hey Lee, I found some info on the minor scale. I'm doing those exercises, along with the ones you go over in the above video. Cheers!

[@leesankeygroup]

@makilakixki Thanks for the suggestions and yes I'll try do that if fits in the context.

[@BluesHarpJammin]

Hi Lee, excellent video on doing the exercises up and down the scale using the C major harp. I was just wondering: I'm still trying to get a handle on the D-minor scale starting with 4D and ending with 8D. Can you please explain the D-minor scale in greater detail, i.e. pinpoint the exact blow-draw patterns from 4D to 8D and back? Love your videos. Thanks.

[@carloscarlos7044]

How did I know you were English before you started talking ? Amazing

[@craig7102]

excellent lee

[@gingerbeardactual]

Cheers from Ohio brother, thank you!!!

[@leesankeygroup]

A High five from London!

[@leesankeygroup]

@bbeddick Thanks for posting. I'm surprised there's not more tabbed scales out there. O.k. l'll try and add the tab to this one for the high end. BUT, do me a favour and see if you can work it out by ear. If you have the major scale in middle octave (holes 4-7) then you might be able to work it out. Forget about the pattern for sec and concentrate on the "sound" of the major scale. When trying to get the higher octave, keep referencing the middle octave when you get stuck. Lee

[@Tsutsomu]

Hi Lee, REally interesting work. Thanks a lot : STeph.

[@las18golondrinas]

useful lesson. great help!!

[@leesankeygroup]

+las18golondrinas An old one, but still relevant. Hopefully people can keep returning to this one. Lee

[@101brydon]

fantastic, lee

[@leesankeygroup]

@DeKiewicz Hi Brian, I'll try and post some tabs here. I don't generally use them though. Give me a few days. Lee

[@grenner23]

Thank you Lee! The last exercise, you started on 4+ and then what were rest of the notes? 4+ 5+ 6+ 6 7+ 8 9 9+ ?

[@leesankeygroup]

Use those ears, you'll thank me later....

[@danwilliams8695]

Nice job giving the 🔑

[@leesankeygroup]

@bbeddick Cheers. Have a go by ear, you'll almost certainly do it. I'm surprised there's not more info on scales on KZbin. Have you tried a book? Perhaps one by Jom Gindick or Dave Barrett? Lee

[@jarrahgilmour86]

Another great lesson Lee thanks alot! Do the 3 scales have names ie major or pentatonic or are they a mix of your own concoction?

[@leesankeygroup]

Cheers. Practising these scales certainly helped me improve my playing over the years. The first exercise is C major and D Dorian. Exercise 2 and 3 and a mixture. Apologies for not being more precise. Thanks, Lee

[@bluesdart]

What brand harp are you using? Is there a harmonica that makes it easier to play the higher register?

[@hippyjonny]

I realize I'm a bit late to the party, but I just stumbled upon your channel. I have a question which I couldn't find the answer to in the previous comments: Exactly what is the name of the scale in exercise #2? It's not G major or the G Blues scale (although it does sound "Bluesy"). Thanks for this video as I've been working scales a lot lately. I look forward to viewing your other posts. Cheers.

[@garysellars8914]

Great lesson Lee as usual. I'm practicing some scales and doing them tongue blocked. I find that going over the same holes all the time i end up getting reeds sticking, with the tongue on the harp all the time. Have you had that as well? It's annoying when you have to bend the note like crazy to get the sound back!! Someone on a harmonica forum told me it's just because i'm pretty new to tongue blocking. I don't want to do them lip pursed as i feel you get a cleaner single note tone via TB. Lip pursed, unless you're very accurate, always gives you that bleed in from adjacent holes.

[@leesankeygroup]

+Gary Sellars Hi Gary, yep this is just part of the early teething problems of getting the technique down. Keep going and you'll get to the point where the reeds won't stick. My guess is that at the moment you're not able to create a tight seal with tongue blocked which means some saliva is getting through and locking the reeds. Or you're attacking them too hard. Try playing quieter and see if you get the same problem. But I went through the same thing for a while. Don't worry. Lee

[@garysellars8914]

+Lee Sankey Thanks Lee. Yeah i always try to play really loud because that's what i like; you know that really loud wailing blues sound. So that's probably what causes it. On the tongue blocking thing i am trying to bend the third hole and it sounds weak compared to a lip pursed bend. Don't know what causes that. Bending is hard with TB!

[@remowb]

Lee, I'm a beginner harp "player" and learning a lot from your videos. Question: on the 1st position major scale, the banner on your video says: 4B, 4D, 5B,5D, 6B,6D,7D7B. The scale, starting from 4B alternates between blows and draws until the 6D, where it goes to 7D. Is this correct or should it be 6D,7B,7D? Thanks for the help

[@leesankeygroup]

Hey Bob, thanks for posting your question. So look, before I get into the details of an answer, this is hopefully going to be a super important piece of advice I'm going to give you here which can be applied in principal to most things in your learning journey. And that is simply......use your ears! It's great that you are thinking about and question the breathing logic on the harmonica. But stop for a moment and ask yourself what do your ears tell you? There are two 'tests' here. Test 1) If you are playing from 4B to 7B the scale is going up, i.e. the notes are ascending right? Higher pitch each time. If a next note is lower than the one you just played you know that can't be correct. Right? Logical. So rather than give you the answer, play the transition in question both ways i.e. 6B, 6D, 7D, 7B and compare with 6B, 6D, 7B, 7D. Which sounds right to you? Test 2) The scale you're playing here is going across 1 octave. That means the ending note is the same as the starting note but an octave higher. If you're using a C harp the 4B is a C and so will be the starting note of the next octave. So your are starting on 4B. Does 7D or 7B sound like the right note? Give it a go and tell me which you think is the right answer.....

[@LedZeppRox13]

how do u make it sound so smooth!!???

[@leesankeygroup]

@wimharp Hi Wim, I'm not sure I've got much to say about amplified harp that hasn't already been said. Plus I'm not a amp geek. I do have a whole bunch of vintage amps and mics but I don't get into the nuances of how they work. I leave that to the amp techs. I focus on getting the best acoustic sound I can so when I do play through an amp it sounds cool. I rarely play live these days so don't use amps much. It must be 6 months or so since I used one. Best regards, Lee

[@leesankeygroup]

Hi Darryn, there's a tonne of places you can find this scale and whole bunch more. Just Google Harmonica Scales. Try Overblow dot com as an example. Cheers, Lee

[@Ledvolta]

can u learn these on any key of harp? do they change? cheers

[@LedZeppRox13]

@leesankeygroup Thanks:) this video really helped by the way. i went from knowing nothing to knowinig a couple ways to play scales. thank you!!! :)

[@leesankeygroup]

@hohner2010 That's all great feedback. Practising scales across the harmonica, like any instrument, is fundamental if you want to progress. So what's this challenge? Send me a message. Lee

[@larrycableguy47]

Is it necessary to learn the tongue blocking method in order to have fast transitions? I'm somewhat of a blues player and I've been stumbling around the first 5 holes and just looking for ways to expand my range on the harp.

[@leesankeygroup]

Hi, no not at all. There are many players who are lip pursuers who are awesome on the high end and play up and down the harp. For instance Jason Ricci or Howard Levy. Both incredible players. Others like Sugar Blue tongue block all the time and play through the total range of the harp. So not being a tongue blocker is not a barrier to expanding your range. I would encourage players to learn both techniques. Overtime you will find what ratio works for you. Lee

[@larrycableguy47]

Thanks so much for getting back to me quickly about this. I really appreciate what you're doing here.

[@juniorprendergast3840]

Great lesson and is included in the r/harmonica Reddit Weekly Challenge (if you weren't already aware).

[@leesankeygroup]

Junior Prendergast thanks, I wasn't aware it was included in a Reddit list. Lee

[@leesankeygroup]

Blues harp in Hawaii, cool. Good luck with the festival.

[@makilakixki]

@leesankeygroup Talking about the issue, it would be of great help to us newcomers on harmony if you would add a brief comment on scales, degrees, etc in your tutorials coming up (yes, right? ;-) so we could easily put in harmonic context the exercises you purpose. Thanks, Lee

[@egrod63]

Lee sorry but i'm a bit confused, can you TAB the scale relating to adding the Blow 4 Draw 4 starting at the beginnng of the middle octave and the draw 8 and the end of the scale please ? Thanks !

[@leesankeygroup]

Hi Erick, thanks for watching. I generally don't include TABs as I try to break things down slowly and players need to learn to use their ears (they'll thank me later). Which part of the video are you talking about, I can't tell from your question. Can you give me a specific start and end time stamp and I'll see if I can provide more clarity. Lee

[@egrod63]

Lee Sankey 450-535

[@egrod63]

I was a bit confused like i said but played the major scale by adding the 4 DRAW before starting the run up the major scale and finished with the 8 DRAW ... I immediately FELT that i had learned something ..! That Feeling was a change in the Mood of the notes I just played.....it changed the feeling " Mode" ..oh yes ...very nice ! Major to Dorian..... MODES !

[@leesankeygroup]

You've got it man. It's all about modes. In simple terms C major has 7 notes C D E F G A B C (octave). Each one of those is a Mode. So take C Major but make the root note D (i.e. go D to D with the same notes) you are playing D Dorian. D Dorian has the same notes as C major. Cross Position on a C harp is G, right? If we play G to G on a C harp we are playing G Mixolydian. That's a mode too. If we play C - C that's 1st position or Ionian mode. And so on. Now beyond the technicalities and names the most important thing is to "hear" how anchoring yourself on a different starting and end note sounds. I.e. D to D using C major sounds "minor". Glad to have helped unlock something for you. Lee

[@egrod63]

@@leesankeygroup HA..Ha ..Back again still working it and its been eight months great stuff as a refresher too ! I remember being very frustrated at first as i think back but stuck with it. Yeah Baby ! HO yeah i'm in love with that Minor sound, im Hooked and practice scales every morning thanks again !

[@TenPukaMan]

I live in Honolulu and would be interested. thanks and let me know. aloha.

[@lalitkhatri5477]

Sir which harmonica u are using . And what scale.

[@leesankeygroup]

Hi Lalit, I think I am using a Hohner Crossover in this video. The scale is covered in the video. Cheers, Lee

[@imranhack6591]

Are you holding the lower notes side of the harmonica with your right hand?

[@leesankeygroup]

Yes. I play "upside down". The low notes are to my right.

[@leesankeygroup]

@Tsutsomu Thanks, you've been busy too I see! Lee

[@leesankeygroup]

Rafael Dezordi Nice, spread the word....

[@h2otoad]

Are you playing with the puckering method in this video or are you tounge blocking here?

[@leesankeygroup]

Todd Plummer 95% tongue blocked.

[@h2otoad]

Awesome. Thanks for the quick reply. I'm adding this to my practice routine.

[@leesankeygroup]

Todd Plummer Nice, it will pay dividends. Don't sacrifice speed over control, build up gradually. You're not progressing if it's messy. Better to be solid. Lee

[@billylynes8187]

god dam lovely

[@leesankeygroup]

Thanks Billy, hopefully this video has stood the test of time and helps people who find it.

[@trappstein]

what a great lesson !! get away from being a 1 dimensional player.

[@leesankeygroup]

Thanks Tom, we're all trying to break that trap!

[@PapaHarp88]

@leesankeygroup Thanks for the replies back Lee you truly are an inspiration. Its amazing how people can be inspired by others and then end up inspiring countless people throughout countries across the globe.

[@leesankeygroup]

@brownbigb by the way....you might be interested in my Brainstrument project which is about the mental models of musicians. Search for it on Google or Facebook. Cheers!

[@leesankeygroup]

Hello, there's untold depth and possibilities in the basics of the harmonica. It's a Alice In Wonderland 'rabbit hole'.

[@las18golondrinas]

useful lesson. great help!!