Yup! Hit another wall. I'll give it a day or two before my enthusiasm re-ignites.
Up to now I've only really played second position apart from first position melodies but not blues.
I was wondering how many of you are multiposition players and how many are dyed in the wool second position only players?
The reason I ask is that for the past five years or so I have been second position only. It took that long to get it set in my muscle memory. I've been trying to learn a minor scale in third position and this has shown up a weakness in learning the newly required muscle memory. I'm finding it nigh impossible and it's this that's causing my frustration.
I really don't know how you can go from first to second to third to twelth or how the hell Brendan can master all the various tunings and whatnot that he uses.
I'll have a break for a short while and try again soon. B*llocks!
Well I'm sure I won't be popular around here with this but...I don't play all that much Blues {almost none}, so I gave as much focus from the start on 1st, 3rd, 4th positions. Sometimes 5th position too. I like working with 3rd position because if you start on the 1 draw you really have to get good at landing right on whole step draw bends on the 2 and 3 holes. Hey, I like Blues, I just figure you guys got that covered, so I'd use the harp for my own nefarious purposes.....
Last Edited by on Nov 12, 2012 1:33 PM
The nice thing about 2nd is I can use it for anything, especially if I use overbends or half-valving. Whether the song is major, minor, or modal, for example, I am comfortable playing it.
Generally, I use 2nd for any sort of diatonic progression built around 7 chords (like blues, for example). I play a lot of 3rd whether the tune be minor or funky. I also play a lot of 12th - pretty much most major tunes.
I am way more fluent in 2nd than anything else. I can jam in 1st, 5th, and 11th, but generally don't.
This is a funny thing. Take your C harmonica and learn the major pentatonic scale. 1D 2B 3B(or 2D) 3D** 3D 4D 5B 6B... Youtube random jam track in G major and play. When you feel comfortable search for "king of fools" with pat ramsey and jam along with the track. Try to land on 2B some times and you´ll be playing in fifth.
When you really got i down you can start playing some serious bluegrass like this guy.
If you're playing blues in 2nd position you're already 2/3 of the way to playing blues in 3rd position.
The D and G are common between both positions. Thus if you can play the blues scale for the I and IV in Second position you can already play the blues scale for the I and the IV in Third.
All you really need to learn now is the V chord which is A and is actually 4th position.
The great thing about Third position is that it give you a lot of great stuff for the V chord in Second position.
While I can play some third and fourth and twelfth stuff, I hardly consider myself fluent in those (third is my best). I recently started playing some major key tunes in second position and am finding that quite a revelation. Second really is good for a lot of stuff, especially if you can overblow at least the 6, and there are a lot more splits available in second in the upper half of the harp than I had thought. There are years worth of things to discover about second position if you play the whole harp. ----------
"I've been trying to learn a minor scale in third position and this has shown up a weakness in learning the newly required muscle memory. I'm finding it nigh impossible and it's this that's causing my frustration".
tooka - Take your time, breathe, relax, don't rush, It's only impossible if your in a hurry - don't let instant gratification rob you of all the wonderful treasures awaiting you if you only persist and let time bring out the master musician in you!
Whenever I hit a wall it is always the same cause- I am not letting what is in me out uncensored. I haven't hit a wall in a few years. If I want to play a thousand songs in a row at the same beat I will. No concerns for others, acceptance, or shame. Just enjoy the joy of what is wanting to come out of you and let it out without fear, judgement or shame. Screw all the techno mumbo jumbo stuff will free you raps(unless that is what is purely you). That is just ways of sidestepoing who you really are. People spend a lifetime in that realm and often get famous. that is not what art is about. It is about you coming out pure you. Get over that one and no blocks will ever come your way, just inspirations. Walter
PS: I can play a lot of different positions, fancy, amped up distorted crowd pleasing, run of the mill "great" stuff, but I am pretty much a 1-2nd postion player of minimalism. I play what makes me feel good. ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year in the Tunnel of Dreams Studio. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
It´s a good idea to get out of 2 pos at times, disturb your clichées. The other neatly laid out positions (1,3,4,5,11,12) will give you a feel for using more of the full range of the instrument; and, as an added attraction, will make 2 pos feel like a sort of homecoming when you get back to it. (KingaBad has it correct above.) Position playing is NOT very complicated. (I made a crappy video purporting to demonstrate that a while back, but there should be no scarcity of learning material on the web.) Advanced playing is complicated, but that´s another thing.
The thing that got me into 3rd position was one of Adams videos. Basically if you can play 2nd position blues scale you can easily start playing 3rd position blues scale. The breathing pattern for the first few notes is the same in the middle octave in third. Just start on the the 4 draw instead of the two draw – NB you don't need to bend the 3rd(second hole you hit) in third to give you the minor.
2nd – 2, 3', 4+, 4', 4 3rd – 4, 5, 6+, 6', 6
I hope this makes sense. Adam probably does a better job then I can:
