Exploring the Diminished Harmonica Guidebook by Jason Rogers
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Exploring the Diminished Harmonica by Jason Rogers
A Guide to Playing 10-hole, 12-hole, and 13-hole Diminished Harmonicas
Coil-bound edition for use on the music stand
If you want to break out of old patterns of playing, or start your journey with an empowering new instrument, this book is for you. Includes clear explanations and musical examples drawn from a wide range of sources, presented in standard notation and tab. Also includes direction on which harmonica to buy, concepts for advanced musicians, and transcriptions of music by Alfred Hirsch and Ed Coogan.
The diminished harmonica is a retuned harmonica where every draw note is a whole step higher than its corresponding blow note, and adjacent notes are tuned a minor third apart. This creates some attractive features for the player:
- A full chromatic scale can be played with just blow notes, draw notes, and single half-step bends.
- Any lick, phrase, or scale can be played in all 12 keys by learning only three patterns. For example, learn a phrase in C and you can use the same pattern to play it in Eb, F#, and A just by starting on different holes. The same is true for C#, E, G, Bb and D, F, Ab, B.
- Fingerings are the same in every octave of the harmonica.
- The following scales can each be played with one half-step bend only, and in four different keys!
- Major Blues
- Minor Blues
- Major Pentatonic
- Minor Pentatonic
- Melodic Minor
- Harmonic Minor
- Harmonic Major
- Double Harmonic
(For example, on an A Dimi: F Major Blues, F Minor Blues, F Major Pentatonic, and F Minor Pentatonic scales have only one half-step bend each. The same is true in the keys of Ab, B, and D.)
"Exploring the Diminished Harmonica is going to be the bible for diminished diatonic harmonica for years to come."
- Brendan Power
"This detailed and thorough book is sure to take its place as a new classic in the harmonica literature..."
– Pat Missin
