Playing positions
Winslow Hi. OK sometimes I think I know where this whole issue of positions is and other times I don’t have a clue. If I was asked to explain it I would have to admit that it’s the secret handshake of harp players. Just kidding, but serious I could not explain it. I know how to use it but let’s take a specific example to try to help me understand. So I look at some music with tabs that states the piece is played in the key of G. Ok I know that second position on the C harmonica is G, but why don’t I just play with a G harp in first position. Second position apparently gives me more notes if I can bend but if the music doesn’t state 2nd position what is the difference. Can this question be answered in one sentence for a simpleton?
Winslow thanks for your prompt and comprehensive reply. I am going to spend time working to understand your reply. Once again I appreciate you taking the time to assist me with this question.
Winslow Hi
My apologies for harping (sorry) on about this issue of positions as there are still a few gaps in my understanding that I hope you can help clarify.
Taking a hypothetical, can we walk through this scenario:
I am asked to play the lead of the song, the tune of “I have a dream” by ABBA. (I chose this because it’s a very easy tune to play and hopefully understand). Because the tune is Pop/ Ballad and reasonable slow I would first up think of it being played first position (straight harp). Just my guess at this stage.
I am given tabs that are in the key of A. The tabs show the first four notes as 3+ 5+ 4 5. Now on an A harp that is E C# B D.
My Major Diatonic chart tells me that the D harp played in second position is the key of A.
OK so:
1) How would I know if I should play it in first or second position, therefore what harp to use and why?
2) What holes would I play if I played in second position?
Can I find any of this in Davids Music Theory lessons.
As David says "If the band is playing in the key of A you play in the key of A". OK got that but first or second position.
You may have a better example to use.
Winslow Hi, I have been rereading your BH for Dummies pg 210 & 211 and I think I have now solved the issue.
Choosing a position for a song is as much art as science.
Science creiterion 1: Do the notes of the melody match the available unbent notes in the position?
Science Criterion 1a) - Can any unavailable notes be reached reasonably by bending?
Science Criterion 2: What are the most important chords in the song?
2a) If they're the I chord and the IV chord, second position might work better (I chord is draw, IV chord is blow).
2b) If the main chords are the I chord and the V chord, then first position might work better (I chord is blow, V chord is draw).
But sometimes, even if none of the above criteria are met, one position will somehow seem to sound and feel better for a particular tune.
Thanks Winslow, some good practical suggestions that I can use. Much appreciated.
OK now I get it. I hadn't come across Davids lessons on Understanding position playing when I asked So together with Winslows responses to my query earlier it now makes sense. Can't get over just how much material there is on this site. I love it.
Hi, John.
How about this:
You use the position that best expresses the music.
For instance, Neil Young's use of of a G-harp in first position for "Heart of Gold" is a best use - you couldn't get that feel very easily on a C-harp.. But Little Walter's use of a C-harp for "Off the Wall or "Hate to See You Go" is also a best use - those sounds would be near impossible to achieve on a G-harp.
Here are some details that may help.
The bendiness of the notes of the G chord on a C harmonica is a huge part of why you'd play in second position. The same notes on a G harp won't bend.
There's a second reason, related to bending but independent of it.
The notes you play in blues in G are not the notes of the G major scale. Or at least not *just* those notes. The so-called blue notes in G are Bb, Db, and F.
None of these notes are built into the G harp, and you can't bend down to create any of them in the middle octave (Holes 4-7).
In the bottom octave you can get Db and F by bending Draw 2 and 3.
In the top octave you can get all three blue notes by bending the blow notes.
As a result, you often hear players zooming back and forth between the top and bottom octaves in first position, treating the middle as the "fly-over" octave. For instance, Walter Horton's recording of "Hard Hearted Woman" or Sommy Boy II's "Trust My Baby." Jimmy Reed, on the other hand, would often just stay in the top octave in tunes like "Honest I do."
But staying in the top octave can get shrill, and managing all that jumping around demands a lot of finesse and management that you just don't need to bother with in second position.
In second position, playing in G on a C harp, F is built in; it's part of the C major scale. You can bend for Db and Bb in Holes 1, 3 and 4 and for F in Hole 2. So you have a lot of fluidity, and all the blue notes, in the lower 2/3 of the range of the harp, with no need to jump across a "floy-over" zone, and less danger of tiring the ear with shrill high notes.
There's another reason that second position is more comfortable in blues. You have theree main chords, I, IV, and V or, in the key of G, the chords G, C, and D.
A G-harp gives you the I chord (G blow chord) and the V chord (D draw chord). But not the IV chord (C).
A C-harp gives you the I chord (G draw), the IV chord (C blow) and at least a minor version f the V chord (D minor, draw notes from hole 4 up).
What's the most siginficant chord change event in blues? It's the move from the I chord to the IV chord. And you get that in second postiion. You don't get it in first.