For all those interested in different position playing... the master lays out a real info packed short on 12th position.
To me, this is the greatest illustration possible because he is playing harp side by side with piano. This has been a great new source of inspiration for me -- I hope someone else catches the bug now!
EDIT: To all traditionalists: you needn't shy away. Howard keeps this clip overblow free!
This is a great lesson on 12th. I love 12th, and I'm so glad I got to learn 12th from Chris before he died. Chris was a real master of 12th position....
On another note, seeing Howard accidentally play the harp upside down was awesome! If he still does, then I'm not such a dufus for still doing it either! :) ---------- == I S A A C ==
I'm not an accomplished 12th position player, but the breath pattern for the 12th position scale is the same as 3rd position, just starting on a different note.
In the middle register (the scale starting on 5D) if you don't OB or bend you get a LYDIAN scale/mode which has a sharp 4th, major 3d and major 7th. You can bend for perfect 4th in the lower register and you can bend for flat 3rd in the lower and middle registers. The availability of the flat 3rd is very useful.
I've been kinda sorta trying to learn 12th position for a while, but haven't really made a serious concentrated effort. These are just the odds and ends I picked up along the way. Levy sure sounds good playing in 12th.
SInce Nov 2010, I have been playing 12th position a lot, with a non-blues group. Songs like "All of Me", "Bill Bailey wont you please comne hone", etc.
I ussually play the second octave since my bending is not dead accurate. The 12th position can use a lot of the 3rd position patterns as Howars Levy and our own HVYJ says.
I may now start working my way down to that 1st octave, like Howard was doing. We all gotta set goals. ---------- intermediate level (+) player per the Adam Gussow Scale, Started playing 2001
@toxic_tone - You could use this scale, but it would be the wrong harp. I don't know, for some reason you ruined my brain and got me confused by asking.
I will try to search out an answer for you though.
Edit: Thought about it a little more, and you'd want to use an A harp to play 12th position in D. The key to figuring out which harp to use for 12th is that you move backwards once in the circle of 5ths. This is why you use a C harp to play F in 12th.
Last Edited by on Mar 14, 2011 2:13 PM
I've been learning 12th (major scale) for a few months now. Chris Michalek has a very good video on it too. What I like about it is that it has two full octaves in the middle of the harp, and you can get as far as the fifth in the octaves above and below those so a lot of songs "fit" well into that position. You do need to be able to hit your 2d'', 3d' and 3d'' bends accurately (also, Paddy Richter tuning helps quite a bit there with the 3d''). The 6ob is also in there and the 10d''.
By the way, a really good tune to start working on 12th is the old folk tune "Five Hundred Miles". Start as 5d, 5d, 6d, and it flows easily from there without any bends (although scooping the 6d sounds very nice in it).
The reason trying to play blues in 12h position makes your brain hurt is that 12th position gives you a MAJOR 7th and most blues use a flat 7th.
The breath pattern for the D minor pentatonic scale is the same as the breath pattern for the F major pentatonic scale on a C harmonica--you just use a different note for "Do."
The problem i have picking up 12th position is that the "feel" seems different and I'm uncertain about how the scale tones relate to chord tones in 12th. Of course, i could study 12th a little harder in order to try and figure this stuff out, but I haven't made the effort.
Last Edited by on Mar 14, 2011 4:42 PM
Levy, you are a stone cold MOTHERRRRRRRRRRRRR with that thing. Mannnnnn, you have got it all. Style, class, good presentation, tone, poise, knowledge, and absolutely ZERO FEAR! (most harp players look like the proverbial "deer in the headlights", heads down, wandering aimlessly around the playing area, scared to death) I do admire your playing so very much. It's a real joy to struggle with some of your work and try to cop off some of it for use in my own shows. Trust me, ace, I DO NOT hand out compliments to chumps or wannabe's. Listening to you is a total joy. With great admiration and respect. JoeLeeBush
