playing in third position
Dear David. Thank you very much for your masterclass in Trossingen, your lessons I had were the best I ever had ! I'm still working on it.
In Trossingen you showed us a table ( that I call holes and chords) for the second position. I tried to do the same table for the third position ( using your book exploring 3rd position page 7). Here what I got :
Third position
I chord (Dm) = D F A C
IV chord (Gm) = G Bb D F
V chord (Am) = A C E G
holes..... 1......... 2..............3................4...........5..........6........... 7.......... 8...........9...............10
I chord... 1.......... 2’, 2’’......3’’.......... ...4+, 4... 5..........6............7+........ 8...........9’+, 9........10+, 10
IVchord...1...........2, 2’’ .....3+, 3, 3’... 4.......... 5......... 6+........ .7...........8...........9+, 9.........10’+, 10’’+
Vchord....1+,1’....2+, 2.....3+, 3’’........4+, 4’....5+........6+, 6.....7+........ 8+.........9+ .............10+, 10
My questions are :
a) In your book « exploring 3rd position « , page 7, are you talking about the dorian scale ?
b) About Dorian major and Dorian minor ?
c) If I’m playing the D blues scale ( D F G Ab A C D) on which chord can I play Ab (3’’’ and 6’) ?
In the D blues scale there is no Bb. Was this note replaced by another one ?
Sorry, I tried to draw a table but table tag is not allowed . Also I could not attach a file.
Thank you
Paolo
Thanks for your replay. You did not confuse me ! but gave me some understanding. I thank you also for your book "harmonica for dummies" that was translated into french. Very very useful.
on the forum there is a section where it says ask David I think if you posted your comment there you would of gotten a response from him
Paolo -
I see nobody has replied to your questions. I don't have Dave's third position book, so my answers are coming from a more general understanding of music theory. I hope that any differences between his terminology and mine don't cause any confusion.
Question C): The Ab is a blue note. You can play it over any of the three main chords. It will be a tension note or dissonance over all three chords. You can relieve the tension by resolving up to A or down to G.
The minor blues scale does not have a 6th degree, so there would be no Bb (or B natural) in the D blues scale. If you take the minor pentatonic: 1 b3 4 5 b7 and add the b5 you get the blues scale. Note that the scale also does not have a second degree.
If you're playing a blues tune in D where the IV chord is G minor, then you could continue to use the D blues scale. Or you could switch the the G blues scale: G Bb C Db D F. When you use the D blues scale, the notes of the D minor triad (D F A) act as upper extensions to the G minor chord: D = 5, F = 7, A = 9, C = 11. Of course the higher you go up this ladder of extensions, the more jazzy and less earthy your playing will sound.