scales
what in yours or anyone elses opinion are the scales that you practice most often i have your book on scales and dont know what is the most practical or most used scales and which ones i should be practicing the most any help would be good i know they all would be good but just trying to narrow my focus a bit and i would rather play mostly cross and 3rd position stuff as i have a good liking to the minor sound thanks
ok i have 1 more question in your book the scales from top to bottom ar c d e f g a so in cross harp the 1 chord would be based on the g part of the scale the 4 cord on the c part of the scale and the 5 chord on the d part od the scale or do you just change the root note on the same scale the reaon i ask is i have a friend who is a excellent guitar player who told me to change but have also heard that harp players dont think like guitar players so just wanted to check thanks
Good question... you can do either. For example... if you're in the key of G on a C Harmonica (2nd Position) you can use a G Blues Scale over ALL of the chord changes. This works well and is done most of the time... this is the way to start. Next, try playing the G Blues Scale on the I7 Chord, C Blues Scale on the IV7 chord and D Blues Scale on the V7 Chord. This is also done all of the time to good effect.
What do I teach?
I teach to use the G Blues Scale all of the time (G Bb C Db D F G = 2 3' 4+ 4' 4 5 6+), BUT, when on the IV7 Chord (C E G Bb = 1+ 2+ 2 3' 4+) emphasize the notes from the IV7 Chord (C) Blues Scale already found in the G Blues Scale, which are the notes C Bb G (4+ 3' 2). Do the same for the V7 Chord (D F# A C = 1 2' 3" 4+ 4), using the D F G (6+ 5 4) of the V7 Chord (D7) Blues Scale. To try this, try soloing using the notes below...
I7 Chord = 6+ 5 4 4' 4+ 3' 2
IV7 Chord = 4+ 3' 2
V7 Chord = 6+ 5 4 (If you're going to hold any of these notes make it 4)
2nd Position
1) Major Pentatonic Scale (light, major, pretty, rhumba, etc.)
2) Blues Scale (bluesy, minor, etc.)
3rd Position
1) Major Pentatonic Scale
2) Blues Scale