I had a similar moment of realization about how to play blues on the harmonica. I just couldn't figure it out and thought those great blues harmonica players were just really good at bending notes. But one day in college I was playing some blues on the guitar with some people and someone joined, playing blues harmonica really badly . She was not good, but she was doing it, and on a break I asked to see her harmonica. Indeed, @jim-yates, as you say, it was an A harp and we were playing in E. Aha! Cross harp, what a concept! To play straight on the harmonica, your tonic is the 4th hole, but to get those blue notes, your tonic is the 3 hole. I still can't play like Sonny Terry, but I can manage some amateur blues and have fun.
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Dusty T., Northern California
Site Moderator
As a musician, you have to keep one foot back in the past and one foot forward into the future.
-- Dizzy Gillespie