chrisjaybecker
6 posts
Apr 24, 2017
9:12 PM
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I'm not saying I'm the first person to figure this out as the basic relationship to the Circle of Fifths to harp positions is well documented in harmonica land. But I recently figured out something really cool.
Music Theory 101says that the Circle of Fifths shows us relative Fifths when we go clockwise, and relative FOURTHS when we go counter-clockwise. This is always helpful when trying to figure out the I, IV, V chords in the key of F#.
Harp players generally know that we can find the POSITIONS A GIVEN HARP CAN PLAY IN when we go clockwise... so say we start at C which is 1st position, G is 2nd, D is 3rd, A is 4th, E is 5th.... etc.
Here's where it gets interesting... going COUNTER-CLOCKWISE shows us which harps to use to play IN A GIVEN KEY. Let's play in the key of E: running counter-clockwise, E harp in 1st, A harp in 2nd, D harp in 3rd, G harp in 4th, and C harp in 5th.
Isn't that cool? So, to be technical, when we want to know which keys a given harp can play in, we count in Fifths; when we want to know which harps can play in a given key, we count in Fourths.
You guys probably all knew that, but, for me, it's pretty cool. Now I'll never have to use one of those harp position charts again. I'll just keep a Circle of Fifths app on my phone, along with my "Harmonica Key" app which tells me every note of every harp by key, including non-Richter tunings. I love technology.
Last Edited by chrisjaybecker on Apr 24, 2017 10:10 PM
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STME58
1965 posts
Apr 24, 2017
9:57 PM
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There is a ton of information packed into the circle of fifths. I found this little exercise helpful in understanding it better.
Have you noticed that when you go one step clockwise, you add one sharp, so 6 of the 7 scale notes are the same? When you go one step counterclockwise, you add one flat and 6 of the 7 scale notes are the same. 12th position is not used a lot but it really isn't that hard. (once you work around for having to bend the tonic in the low octave and the OB in the middle)
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RyanMortos
1630 posts
Apr 25, 2017
7:40 AM
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"Now I'll never have to use one of those harp position charts again. I'll just keep a Circle of Fifths app on my phone..." (chrisjaybecker).
You don't even need that. With a few minutes a day every day you can memorize the circle of fifths and all 12 major scales then you can always know what the 5th of a scale is or that the circle of fifths is C, G, D, A, E, B, F#, Db, Ab, Eb, Bb, F.
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~Ryan
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WinslowYerxa
1302 posts
Apr 25, 2017
10:32 AM
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Nice insight, chrisjaybecker. I give the same information in Harmonica For Dummies.
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Winslow
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Goldbrick
1791 posts
Apr 25, 2017
12:29 PM
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if you play guitar just look at the relationship of the 2 bottom strings to get your cross harp
i.e 3rd fret 6th string G 3rd fret 5th string C
so C harp for G blues
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nacoran
9441 posts
Apr 25, 2017
12:56 PM
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To remember the circle, write this counter clockwise (skipping of, but including circle and fifths)
Circle of Fifths
Baby Elephants And Donkeys Go
Baby Elephants And Donkeys Go
It's not perfect, but it will give you the letters in the right order if you go counter clockwise. Then you need to remember that the left side of the circle has flat signs.
(And that there is no key of O!)
I'm still trying to improve the mnemonic, but it's a quick way to do the circle of fifths.
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Nate
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dougharps
1413 posts
Apr 25, 2017
12:57 PM
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Back in the '90s I started organizing my harps in the order of the circle of fifths. Before too long I had it memorized, without even trying.
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Doug S.
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dantana
11 posts
Apr 26, 2017
8:47 AM
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Good thread! Useful and helpful, thanks all.
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Tuckster
1564 posts
Apr 26, 2017
9:29 AM
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Early on,I memorized all the keys for 2nd position.Little did I know that I was also memorizing the circle of 5ths.
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RyanMortos
1631 posts
Apr 26, 2017
9:34 AM
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"I started organizing my harps in the order of the circle of fifths. Before too long I had it memorized" (dougharps). I did this as well as practicing writing out the circle of fifths and scales. Makes it quick & easy to find the harmonica your reaching for too.
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~Ryan
See My Profile for contact info, etc.
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1847
4088 posts
Apr 26, 2017
9:51 AM
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once you have that all figured out, the next step is to memorize where all the notes are on the harmonica.
this may seem impossible at first, but you really only need to start with the notes on a C harmonica. this is much easier than it seems.
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nacoran
9443 posts
Apr 26, 2017
10:39 AM
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1847, it's probably also worth memorizing them as scale degrees. If you know where do/tonic is on one harp you know where it is on every Richter 10 hole diatonic. It's a shortcut, but it still gives you the ability to talk to guitar players.
Doug- and organizing your harps by the circle is also really useful for keying songs. If the harp you grab sounds terrible with what you are playing, jump to the other side of the circle. If it sounds close, but not quite right, move a step either way. Way faster than trying to find it with harps arranged lowest to highest.
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Nate
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