Lee Oskar dissects all his harmonica tunings

Liam Ward sits down with the great Lee Oskar to discuss some of his harmonica tunings.
PART 2: • Lee Oskar on music, cu...
Lee Oskar on KZbin: / leeoskarharmonicas
Lee Oskar on Facebook: LeeOskarHarmonicas
Lee Oskar on Instagram: LeeOskarHarmonicas
Lee Oskar on Twitter: @LeeOskar
Lee Oskar website: www.leeoskar.com
Playing for Change: www.playingforchange.com
Grandpa Elliott harps: shop.playingforchange.com/col...
Photo credit: Michael Weintrob Photography
Music: Lee Oskar Publishing 2019

[@Vodichka9]

Wow! Lee's playing with War was iconic,but, he has gone light years ahead since those days.

[@ibleebinU]

"To play melodies, not ripping solos" so well put.

[@yevernotice9408]

Harmonic Minor sounds so beautiful. Need more playing from that.

[@ryanlea750]

“The blues is very contagious”. Lee Oskar

[@jangohemmes352]

I was so surprised at how much I agreed that it sounded backwards after hearing him do the backwards train

[@Learntheharmonica]

Yeah me too!

[@bryantherocker]

@@Learntheharmonica I am guitar played I play Guitar Tuned in Eb = E Flat .... is a G tuned Harmonica a Good match, anyone please, I am new to harmonica

[@poposaynogo1]

Lee's first three albums are masterpieces.

[@ZvikaDror]

Man, you got Lee on tube!!! So cool - watching with pleasure. Cheers!

[@detharp]

got all three altered tunings ( even the low keys)made myself) ,but for most pop music using the melody maker in different postions. simply my fav tuning .thnx to you very genius, LEE OSKAR♡♡♡♥︎♡♡

[@stiphbreis5513]

Bless this man universe. Please.

[@peterlinau1034]

Wow 2 good people come together. Lee Oskar.. a legend.

[@charliegregory4148]

Most excellent presentation,first I want to commend You for just letting Lee speak uninterrupted. Secondly,WOW that man can sure play the harmonica! Motivating to say the least. Cant wait for Part 2. 👍💥🎶🎵🎸😎

[@Learntheharmonica]

Yep he sure knows his stuff! Wanted to just let him say what he had to say as it was all so interesting. Part 2 is up now at kzbin.info/www/bejne/emPHlXh7m8SMlas

[@charliegregory4148]

@@Learntheharmonica Thanx Liam, ❤ Your vidios !! 😁😎🎶🎵💥

[@CampandCamera]

An encyclopedia of harmonica knowledge condensed to one KZbin episode! Amazing musician!

[@Learntheharmonica]

Yeah it was great to get it straight from the source with Lee.

[@stevelewis8620]

love lee and his music. i enjoy playing some of his harmonicas but really there are quite a few companies offering a wide range of tunings

[@nothankyou8365]

It is great he is building a communication with customers in youtube. Honest , humble. Please make it cheaper so a lot of kids in poor countries can afford it

[@Crushbandicoot-wv8xb]

Do you have a harmonica

[@andydunn5673]

Thanks Gentlemen Great interview Going to have to get a L O into my collection Damn I was just beginning to think I was actually getting into Blues Harp What a lovely chap thank you for hooking up.

[@philtheharpman]

Great interview

[@letsrememberthis]

Thank you Liam. I've had a set of Melody Makers sitting in their boxes for a couple of years and never used them, feeling more comfortable with what I (sort of) know, the diatonic (Also Lee Oskars). But a couple of days ago I was struggling to figure out a simple jazz-style melody, and pulled out a Melody Maker. I was surprised at how easily I adapted to it. So great now, to hear Lee adding insight into that series (as well of course to his other tunings). I just play melodies. I love the diatonic, for its bluesy expression, but for melodies it's always a struggle, at least for a mediocre player like me, at the 'bottom end'. I'm going to keep the Melody Makers together with my diatonic from now on, and pick either tuning up equally often.

[@Learntheharmonica]

Yeah Lee's really inspirational when he gets going on his different tunings. It was an eye-opener for me. Have you tried the minor tunings? I've just done a series on them. Cheers. Liam

[@detharp]

if ya need the MM in all keys Seydel offers these. fun to wail with beatles Adele, Mamas and Papas etc.

[@airmojo]

Lee is such a great tremendous player ! So glad to have seen him play live a couple of times... he plays with so much energy, feeling, and emotion !

[@Learntheharmonica]

He does indeed :)

[@philippinefandango2859]

He has forgotten about more things with the harp, than I will ever learn... Thanks for the video, Liam...

[@jasonoliver8934]

What an inspiring guy Lee Oskar is, such enthusiasm. Thanks Liam and of course Lee Oskar. Be sure to check out Moses Concas ft. Lee Oskar - Moonshines, on KZbin.

[@AraceliCorradini]

For all, for life! such an inspiring quote!

[@sargfowler9603]

That's one ticked off the bucket list! Awesome interview

[@Learntheharmonica]

Thanks Kevin. Yep, it was awesome to meet him :)

[@nfol6420]

Awesome guy lee O.

[@calimark7448]

Amazing! Thanks for the great interview with Lee Oskar.

[@Learntheharmonica]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@leswhitham]

Cool interview. Looking forward to part 2. Actually its good of you to do videos like this, doing tutorials is obviously a great thing that you do too, but a lot of the really well known players don’t do their own. It’s just nice to get some insight and inspiration from them as well through people like you.

[@Learntheharmonica]

Also it's a great excuse for me to meet my heroes!

[@leswhitham]

LearnTheHarmonica.com , sooooo, who’s up next?

[@mmhcreates]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@Learntheharmonica]

Glad it was helpful!

[@nsane992002]

That has to be the most stylish red shirt I've ever seen 😎

[@HarPlayer]

In the Present of Greatness Liam I hope you sought up what he said!!!!!!!!!!

[@davidsantana8623]

Wow

[@gregoryporch8395]

I put a set of 11 wood harmonicas together. When it came time to order the F# I said it has to be one octave down and couldn't find a wood harp model to accommodate. I got the Lee Oskar instead, for a few bucks cheaper accepting it was plastic... Since then, I've blown out 2 harps in keys G and Ab (Hohner Marine Band, then Special 20) but my Lee Oskar Low F# is still chugging strong.

[@colinburgess7728]

This is incredible! Ive played harp since the 70s and i think this has changed my life! that sounds a bit overdramatised, but the way he creates those totally different moods from the feel of the different modes is an absolute education i have a complete set of normal diatonics which i play in the usual 4 positions, and a chromatic, but the sound of these differently tuned is something else entirely! sorry bank balance, gotta have more harps!

[@Learntheharmonica]

It was amazing to meet Lee and have him demo the different harps. He's a great guy. I'm sorry for your bank balance too! 🤣

[@andydunn5673]

Funny I was thinking the same. For me only 7 years but it has changed my life

[@61mab]

Damn! now I want a Melody Maker as well as the Low C, I think I need.

[@ianritchie5111]

Watch Lee Oskar Masterclass on youtube.....wow !

[@Eveningbreeze1]

Natural Minors are great for playing in the relative major. The next step is Spiral tuning.

[@vinces.2862]

That was excellent. Only been playing a year but got tons out of it. Oh Yeah! When Lee played the Do Re Mi riff it sounded like he was gonna go into "Someone To Watch Over Me". Great tune, Thanks to you and Lee.. - Vince -

[@Learntheharmonica]

Cheers Vince. I was dead excited to meet Lee, what an honour! :)

[@ToreKvinlaug]

Well, what I'm missing here is the Nashville sound. Melodi Maker is perfect for country music.😉

[@ryanlea750]

Why is is so hard to rewind a video in you tube. Drives me up the wall. Take me 30 sec to here a word i missed. Gagahahagahgahag

[@jangohemmes352]

Just quickly tap the left or right side of the video, it will skip it 10 seconds, you can do that as much as you like

[@saschaschmidt1121]

Real Revolutnairy

[@seanlavender1336]

great fuckin video

[@philhampton8294]

I play Harmonica and Guitar. When I play I switch from one to the other. The problem I'm having is seeing what key I need, and I use a lot. What I did was take a felt pen and wrote the the key in a bold letter in the middle of the Harp. Maybe you could put the key stamped into the middle in a big letter? PS I know David Barrett my friend new his family. Look at Phil Hampton Art and Music youtube PS The letter/ key would also let you know the orientation. Have you ever pick up Harp and started playing it upside down! Thanks love the harps that's all I use now I like being able to replace the reeds.

[@georgefenning4844]

Where can I get the double harmonic minor … ?

[@bryantherocker]

I am guitar played I play Guitar Tuned in Eb = E Flat .... is a G tuned Harmonica a Good match, anyone please, I am new to harmonica

[@Learntheharmonica]

Hi Bobby, it really depends on what style of music you're playing. For most blues, rock, some pop music you'd use an Ab harmonica to play in Eb. For simple major scale melodies you'd use an Eb. But it depends on context. What would you like to play? Cheers. Liam

[@bryantherocker]

@@Learntheharmonica Hi, video suggestion. Can you please do a short video on your channel on How to use the G Harmonica as a beginner also with a guitar. Because I kinda dont like the High notes and shrillness of C Harmonicas. I like the deep rich tone of the G harmonica.

[@bryantherocker]

@@Learntheharmonica Hi, good day sir. I am a guitar player, I just bought a harmonica because of Juzzie Smith and your videos. I always wondered what Diatonic Harmonica Key he is playing on this video. I love the tone of his harmonica. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZythaCtfcmCoNE

[@jamesbk9831]

If you know the chords that would normally make up c major chord progression, a B tuned harmonica is a good start.

[@jamesbk9831]

@@bryantherocker They also make low C harmonicas.

[@isaacarteaga6141]

I hope someday this harmonica player plays the songs the way they were recorded not making up new songs and just doing Jam sessions for 10 minutes of unrecognizable material he can never play a song the way it was recorded either with the lowrider band or the original War😊

[@OmarColemanMusic]

I hate the thin tone and they aren't airtight enough for me.i only like the different tunings.

[@miguelirizarry4412]

Tolk to much!

[@cstuartcook9390]

You look a bit bemused at times Liam.

[@andydunn5673]

I don’t think it’s bemused I think it’s a little awe , he has a complete catalog completely away from what most of us consider Blues and traditional Harp

[@isaacarteaga6141]

I like the Oscar as a person believe me I paid enough to go see them live for many years but I can never recognize any songs .. He remakes everything on stage and thinks everything is a solo😂😂😢😢😢😅😅 I hope someday you can play the songs the way they were recorded😂😂😢😢 it's awful Oscar sounds horrible...😂😂😂😂😂😂