2nd position
it's like a ball bat to the head when you thought you understood something and find out that you may not have.
here's my question.
is second positon ONLY played on the lower register of the harp?
if I referenced the C harp, F is sharped when playing in G and playing cross harp. got that much. ignoring the initial pick up notes, if one trys to play a song the begins and ends on G notes, just starting on the 6 blow G isn't necessarily playing in second position or is it?
if I got this right, you could not play an accurate G scale because you can't get to a sharped F note in that register?
so a true 2nd position can only be played where the 1/2 step draw bend is available on t he lower octave?
I read somewhere else that you could start 2nd postion on 6 blow but the key's scale could not be right?
any help you can be, it'd lessen my overthinking headache
Monty Wheeler
Second pos by definition has a flat 7th scale degree. There is no f# on the harp so we play F natural...has a blues sound and works. See Music Theory #2 lesson.
In second position you can create a complete major scale in the first octave by bending the G in Draw 2 down one semitone to F# (instead of the usual two semitones down to F) and in the top octave by bending Blow 9, which only bends one semitone, from G down to F#. However, in the middle octave that bend is not available. The options there, aside from substituting another note, include playing Overblow 5, vusing alved bending in Blow 6 (by adding valves or buying a half-valved diatonic) or by tuning Draw 5 up one semitone (or buying a harp in Country Tuning or Melody Maker tuning).
Many tunes don't need the major seventh (F# in G). Pentatonic melodies like Amazing Grace only use the first, second, third, fifth and sixth notes of the major scale (G, A, B, D and E in G). And blues and blues-influenced music usually flattens the seventh degree of the scale.
With my limited knowledge of music theory - I would think that you don't have to play all notes of the scale. So it's possible to play in 2n positionon on "high register". Yes, some notes might be missing, but you might not need them or find substitution.
To simplify overthinking: 2nd position is used because it plays mostly on draws, which gives more options and control (and headaches)