There’s a whole step at the end of the Cross Harp modal scale, which gives it a slightly different feel. Those two notes are a lot farther apart, soundwise, than B to C above. Aside from the difficulty of bending accurately on hole 3, listen to what happens from F to G at the end. It’s different from the standard major scale. Now play the G cross harp major scale, also known as the Mixolydian mode. The distance between B and C is a half-step.Ĭross Harp Major Scale (Mixolydian Mode) Hole # -2 -3” -3 4 -4 5 -5 6 There are seven notes in a diatonic scale. The numbers on the bottom row are scale degrees. Straight Harp Major Scale Hole # 4 -4 5 -5 6 -6 -7 7 No wonder cross harp is the position for playing the blues! You are seriously messing with your listeners’ musical universe when you bend those notes on 2, 3, and 4 draw, and it naturally has a powerful emotional effect. Resolution notes are the notes that you need for stability, for the song to be at peace.

That means, when you bend them, you are messing with the laws of gravity. Read that again – your resolving notes can bend. Also, in this low octave, your draw notes are where things resolve. The seventh note in the scale is pitched lower than it normally would be in a standard Do Re Mi scale.

Your major scale requires bends, and it runs from 2-draw to 6-blow. In cross harp, or second position, you’re playing in the key of G on a C harmonica, and the low octave scale is -2 -3″ -3 4 -4 5 -5 6. Straight harp is the sound of the major key, happy, folk, campfire, Civil War songs, Irish fiddle tunes, and lots of straight-ahead melody playing. Your draw notes are bendable, and your blow notes are points of resolution. Your major scale looks like 4 -4 5 -5 6 -6 -7 7. In straight harp, or first position, you’re playing in the key of C on a C harmonica. What’s the difference between cross harp and straight harp? Are they different instruments? Nope, just different ways of playing the diatonic harmonica.

Harmonica key sound reference