Music Theory
Not sure if the other instructors are suited best for my question or you. Well, I'm one of those overthinking music theory people. Just for some reason it helps me understand in what I'm actually doing or being taught. So, my question is this...
When we go into a different position.. say on a C harp to third position, which would be D. Are we starting at what hole as a default. Typically 2nd position is the 2 draw...so where I get confused is we count five degrees from 2nd position to get us 3rd or we can go one whole step from 1st position and it will get us to to 3rd position. So where is the default hole or I would imagine it can be any D hole or even for 2nd position any G hole on the C Harp depending on the what we are trying to accomplish. Is that assumption correct? I guess what confuses me the most is the counting of degrees, but seems like we are going upward on the scale but then my starting point is on the lower part on the harp. Hope I'm not the only one not completely understanding this..????
Ben
Chicago, IL.
Well done Brian, that's a perfect explanation.
Ben, you asked about a "hole as a default" for each position. You're correct about 2nd Position being 2/3+ (then 6+ and 9+). For 3rd Position, as Brian mentions it, can be any octave of D, but 4 draw will be your default for a while, eventually with 1 draw being as common when you start incorporating more bending into your playing.
Reminder (if you haven't already seen them already) that there are two lessons on the subject...
1) Music Theory Study 2 https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/music_theory_study_2_modes_positions
2) Understanding Position Playing https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/understanding_position_playing
Brian: Great simple explanation. Ben: Another thing to remember is that scales go up ... and they go down.
"Positions," "Circle of 5ths," "Key Transpositions," etc. can seem like Greek at first (or like English, if you happened to grow up in Greece), but the way David progreseses through music theory in the lessons is really helpful, and never so much that you get dizzy. Even though I've played other instruments and sung since childhood, and even majored in music in college (so long ago that we had to walk through snow 10 miles each way to get to classes and studied under kerosene lamps), a few years ago I printed out all the PDF materials from David's Music Theory Studies 1-6, put them in a ring binder, and still pull them out frequently just to double-check stuff.
Thank you for the added tips Rob
Thank you David, Rob and Brian for your time, input and clearing out some fog. Much appreciated!
Ben
Hi Ben, I hope you don’t mind me chiming in. I’m still trying to learn this stuff too and have had the same question you asked. I think you and I understand it correctly.
I believe you to be correct, on a C harmonica 3rd position would be a root note of D. So, any hole with a D pitch would be 1st scale degree and on the diatonic harmonica that would be draw holes 1, 4, and 8. I think what might be confusing you is that when you count up 5 degrees to get to 2nd position and then count up 5 more degrees to get to 3rd position you are counting from 1 octave into the next octave. On a diatonic harmonica you would be counting from blow hole 1 to draw hole 4. Since any D note is a root note in 3rd position you can jump back to draw 1 or up to draw 8 and still be on a root note, but in a different octave.
Hopefully, I have this correct. Its still a little foggy for me, so I wanted to chime in and see if David could confirm this or clear this up for both of us.
Brian in Tennessee