Unlocking the Upper Octave and How to Play the Blues Scale All the Way Up!

Hello and welcome to this week’s lesson, where I will be showing you how to play the Blues Scale in 2nd position above hole 6 so that you can unlock the upper octave!

You will need a harmonica in the key of C, and we will be playing in 2nd position in the key of G.

Click here to download lesson resources

Blues Scale in 2nd Position

What does it sound like?

You don’t need the 7 overdraw

Personally, I don’t usually bother playing the 7 Overdraw, instead I just leave it out. This turns our Blues Scale into a Minor Pentatonic Scale which is the important bit.

I know a lot of other harmonica players who also leave that note out so don’t feel bad if you can’t play it.

How to start using the upper octave

Once you are comfortable playing the Blues Scale or the Minor Pentatonic Scale above the 6 hole how do you start using it?

Well, I suggest that you take some of your licks from the lower octave and work out how to play them higher up.

This will really solidify your mental “roadmap” of the harmonica.

Click here to download lesson resources

Thank you

Thank you so much for taking part in this lesson. I hope it was useful for you. If you enjoyed it please feel free to share it with your friends on Facebook and/or Twitter.

See you next Wednesday for the next harmonica lesson!