position
Fri, 08/24/2018 - 08:21
I"m a little confused about the term position. When you are playing a piece in C and using the A harmonica it is in 2nd positon (5th down). I was listening to stiches in Bbminor and played in 12th position using an Ab harmonica. How do you decide what is the best position to use when playing a composition?
Hello gaokerlund. Position playing is no doubt a challenging concept to get your head wrapped around. For this reason, I did a detailed lesson on the subject here https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/understanding_position_playing
To answer your question about the song in C...
If the band is in C, you will go a fourth up (C D E F) or fifth down (C B A G F), which places you on the F harmonica.
If a song is in Bbm, you would use the Ab harmonica in 3rd Position, or the F harmonica in 12th.
There is also one more lesson (more theory-driven) here... https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/music_theory_study_2_modes_positions You may want to do the first study here though, unless you already have some music theory experience https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/music_theory_study_1