Tip of the Day

Joe Tartaglia's lessons on improvising have begun. I recommend students of ALL skill levels follow along and do the same exercises Joe does. "Official" detailed lessons on improvising will be arriving on the site the first of next month, but the more angles you hear of these concepts the better. Have fun!

The V7 Chord in 2nd Position is the same as the I7 Chord in 3rd Position. There's no easy way to think about the V7 Chord... you just have to memorize it! More info below...

V7 Chord
D F# A C

V7 Chord Blues Scale
- D F G Ab A C D

First Octave: 1+ / 1 2" 2 3''' 3" 4+ 4
Complete

Second Octave: 4 5 6+ 6' 6 7+ 8
Complete

Third Octave: 8 9 9+ 10 10+
This is missing the flat-5 (Ab) and the final octave note (D), but is very usable.

The V7 Chord in 2nd Position is great... it's the most available blues scale to date in our discussions.

The IV7 Chord in 2nd Position is the same as the I7 Chord in 1st Position. One easy way to think about the IV7 Chord is to blow when it comes... it literally is every blow note plus 3' and 10"+... this makes it easy! More info below...

IV7 Chord
C E G Bb

IV7 Chord Blues Scale
- C Eb (E-flat) F Gb G Bb C

First Octave: 1+ (2+) 2" 2' 2 3' 4+
This is fairly complete, we're just missing the flat-3rd.

Second Octave: 4+ (5+) 5 6+ 7+
No bluesy notes (flat-3rd, flat-5th and flat-7th) are available, so essentially there is no blues scale in this range. continue reading...

Let's now look at the I7 Chord in 2nd Position (same as the V7 Chord in 1st Position)

I7 Chord
- G B D F

I7 Chord Blues Scale
- G Bb C Db D F G

First Octave: 1+ 1' 1 2" 2
Sequentially this is complete, running out of range for the bottom two notes of the scale.

Second Octave: 2 3' 4+ 4' 4 5 6+
This is complete and very usable.

Third Octave: 6+ (7) 7+ 8 9 9+ (10"+)
This octave only has one of the three blue notes needed to make the blues scale. Though not a very bluesy range of the harmonica, if you play with a lighter feel the high-end is very usable. continue reading...

I'm hearing a good amount of song submissions where the last note of a phrase is held and then stopped abruptly... this is not very musical sounding. As you hold your last long note of a phrase allow it to decrease in volume (decrescendo) until it disappears. Add a tremolo/vibrato to that and you're golden. This also helps in our breathing... as soon as the note has "disappeared into the mist" you can take a breath and be ready for the next phrase. This little element will make your playing sound much smoother.

Generally speaking... a new cheap amp that's small with a small speaker (~2" to 8") will sound better for harmonica than a new cheap amp that's large (~10" to 15"). A small speaker will distort easily and sound reasonable, even if the speaker is not considered a good one. The large speakers will not distort easily and will sound thin and anemic (lack warmth, high-end crunch and bass response). Try this theory the next time you go to a local music store.

Did you know that the most common setting for Fender amps for harp is bass on 10 and treble on 0?

The major diatonic harmonica's tuning for 1st Position works well for both chords and single notes. Accessing the complete C Major Scale is challenging due to each octave being performed differently. Blues in 1st Position is very effective on the lower and upper octave, but the middle octave is almost unplayable. One's bending skills also need to be strong to access the bluesy notes in this position.

Next, we'll look at the harmonica from the 2nd Position perspective.

This is scale is very usable. The high-end is a little weak for playing bluesy, but it can be worked around. Does this scale sound familiar?... it's the same scale we use for the I7 Chord in 2nd Position (Cross Harp). We'll next review everything we've looked at for 1st Position before moving on to 2nd Position.

Let's now look at the V7 Chord in 1st Position

V7 Chord
- G B D F

V7 Chord Blues Scale
- G Bb C Db D F G

First Octave: 1+ 1' 1 2" 2
Sequentially this is complete, running out of range for the bottom two notes of the scale.

Second Octave: 2 3' 4+ 4' 4 5 6+
This is complete and very usable.

Third Octave: 6+ (7) 7+ 8 9 9+ (10"+)
This octave only has one of the three blue notes needed to make the blues scale. Though not a very bluesy range of the harmonica, if you play with a lighter feel the high-end is very usable.