A lot of Stevie Wonder songs/melodies, like "isn't she lovely", sound really great in 12th position. 12th position has has a really nice clear, clean tone (as long as you stay in the middle and top octave), so it it's a great way of immitating Stevie's chromatic harp sound.
Would it be possible for someone to explain 12th position or direct me to a tutorial somewhere? ie, where does it start, does it lend itself to a blues scale, what are the advantages of learning it? I hear it mentioned a lot, but cant find much info. Thanks ---------- Greeno
By a coincidence I tried 12th for the first time yesterday. It was Armstrongs summertime version. In goes in d/bm with lots of 2, 3 and minor 3 scale degrees but no 4 so it's real nice in 12 on a A harp starting on draw 6. I found an very helpful document by googling "summertime notes" with four version including one with scaledegrees.
http://plutowski.com/tab/Summertime.Fakesheet.doc
@ greeno- check out scalefinder at overblow.com you can get Any key position on any harp. If you want to see 12th position on a g harp choose g in the first column, then c in the next and then you can choose mode/scale ie blues in next. Then you can see where all notes lies with or w/o overbends and bends. http://overblow.com/?menuid=26# I think copy/paste will show you 12th major scale... ---------- Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
Last Edited by on Dec 28, 2011 2:15 AM
I haven't messed around with 12th position too much, but do play the melody to "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" from time to time as an exercise more than anything.
... Maybe summertime in d/bm on a A harp is considered third position? I'm not sure. Maybe Michael or hvyj comes by to enlighten us down the road... ---------- Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
Just yesterday, Jon Gindick sent me this link to his new youtube song in 12th position. I congratulated him on a tune I have been wanting to do. I like what I heard.
Thanks Michael. I had a feeling that was the case but I got confused by the stated D/Bm key. I'll embed the link above since I think it's kind of nice. The song is great on harp anyhow... Summertime song study
...'Twas my first third position song too :) ---------- Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
@greeno: 12th position uses the same breath pattern as 3rd position except you start on draw 5 for root. Draw 6 is the major third, draw 6 bent is the flat third.
Now, in the lower register draw 2 full step bend is root, so 12th is easier to play in the middle and upper registers.
12th is Lydian mode, so you have a major 7th and sharp 4th (no perfect 4th).
@Pistolcat: Bm on an A harp is 3rd position, D on an A harp is 12th position. Same breath pattern for each because D is the relative major of Bm and Bm is the relative minor of D, so both scales have the same notes, just starting on a different note (start on 4 draw for 3rd and 5 draw for 12th).
Last Edited by on Dec 28, 2011 11:30 AM
I haven't learned 12th position yet, but maybe some day... here is Alex Paclin's two YouTubes on 12th Position:
and Part-2 where he plays "Yesterday"...
I became very curious with 12th position after listening to Carlos del Junco's song "River II", but he alternates between 12th with a B harp and 2nd with an A harp (playing in the key of E). Love that song !
Last Edited by on Dec 28, 2011 1:59 PM
After listening to the Russian Maestro's Version I was able to figure out Yesterday in 12th! (It's easier to ear for me when I hear the melody on another harp)
