Gm if it's a LO 'Natural Minor' harp. Don't know if LO's come in Dorian tuning, probably what you will have is a Natural Minor tuning. Therefore, the G 'minor', rather than G ' major in first position. (flatted 3rd in first position. 5 hole blow flat one half step.)
Last Edited by on Feb 07, 2010 10:44 AM
If you google lee oskar go to his site, click on the minor harp you got the green or the yellow. Go to bottom of page and click on note layout. You will get all info you need, probably. Hope this helps. ralph
Well, to start, I think LO mark their harps weird with the 2nd position indications. The harp you ordered, I think of it as a G harp.(1st position)
For 2nd position on that harp, it's a 5th up from G which is D. (Each step clockwise on the circle is a 5th, and the next position up on the harp) Another 5th up gives you A, 3rd position. Another 5th up is E, 4th position.
Last Edited by on Feb 07, 2010 11:10 AM
I don't know how Lee Oskar's label their minor harps, but their major harps say, for instance, "1st Bb" on the left end, and "2nd F" on the right end. I like L.O.'s, but the knock on them is they are hard to overblow. I don't overblow so it's not an issue for me. I held one up in the wind once on a windy day and it played. I don't know if that's because it's pretty airtight, or if it was just really windy. Watch your mustache, those square holes.
Last Edited by on Feb 07, 2010 11:28 AM
Another option is the Steve Baker Special from Hohner. The G harp has the regular, low octave and a high octave G above it. Retune the 3rd's (F# to F's) and you have a Dorian tuned G harp that will play D pitch minor in second position.
I own a few Lee Oskar alternate tunings ie natural minors, harmonic minors & melody makers. The question of position & key I find very confusing.
The natural minor & melody makers are labeled in cross harp key. A Dm natural minor played in 1st pos is Gm(4 hole blow) wheras a D Melody maker is in 1st pos in the key of Em (3 hole blow).
The Harmonic Minor which is labeled in straight harp key ie 1st pos Dm is in 2nd pos in the key of F (5 hole blow).
The first few harps I got were confusing ie expecting them to play lower or higher & finding that I got the opposite.
Also the harps that are labeled in cross harp keys I found fitted some tunes in straight harp playing & figuring out which key I was in was & is confusing. Fortunately Lee Oskar Harps come with a good leaflet that details all their tunings.
Personally I think a better minor sounding harp is a standard diatonic in 3rd or 5th pos.
Last Edited by on Feb 07, 2010 3:06 PM
"Personally I think a better minor sounding harp is a standard diatonic in 3rd or 5th pos. "
i agree from comparison videos iv heard, but i want one for the minor chords. you can get some minor chords on a standard diatonic but its not the same. ----------
