Sound Exchange USA HARMONICAS Lee Oskar 1910A Major Diatonic Harmonica – Key Of A

The Major Diatonic harmonica is the most commonly used tuning for playing Blues, Rock, Country Folk & Jazz. Major Diatonic harps are produced by several manufacturers using various names such as Blues Harp, Marine Band, Golden Melody, Big River, Special 20, Pro Harp, Folk Master, Star Performer, etc. Although the cover plates are stamped with a variety of different names for marketing purposes, all of these harmonicas have the exact same notation layout as the Lee Oskar Major Diatonic. The most important difference is in the quality of materials, construction, design and sound. Lee Oscars are the best harmonicas in the world, all over the world, professional players prefer Lee Oskar Harps over any other brand.

The original style of playing, known as 1st Position (Straight Harp), is suitable for playing simple melodies, Folk music and various other types of music that call for melody lines, along with some chords. 1st Position (Straight Harp), is still used by many players today, but due to its simplicity of sound, it is not as popular as 2nd Position (Cross Harp).

The evolution of music introduced Blues, Rock and Country and along with these new forms of music came the need for greater expression. Harmonica players began to experiment and found that when they primarily used the inhale (draw) notes, a different kind of sound was provided. This resulted in a new and more fluid style of playing, known as 2nd Position (Cross Harp). 90% of today’s players use 2nd Position for Blues, Rock, Country & Pop music.

2nd Position (Cross Harp), is a Blues scale that offers a more expressive and soulful sound. Many of the draw reeds can be bent (a technique used to change the pitch of a note).