In 1963, a blues artist called 'Danny Boy' recorded a great record, Wild Women. It featured some remarkable playing from an unknown harp player.
Apparently, the harpist turned up to the session without a harmonica (!), so one had to be found on the spot. It's probably this fact that explains the unusual harp sound.
I have good ears, but I've never been able to figure out how the harp was done. It is not played in First, Second or Third position.
The song can be heard at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX-cSEjIGOE. It is in the key of A. See if you can figure it out.
The harp playing on the cut sounds like it is on a C harmonica playing on a song in A, so it is 4th position rhythm playing. 4th on a C easily offers A natural minor, the Aeolian mode of C. You can play A major if you use bending and/or overblows to play major in 4th position. This harp is not really doing that. The blues is somewhat amenable to minor over major and it sort of works, but I would prefer a different harp on this song.
Learning positions can help you out in a pinch if you don't have the key of harp you might normally choose on hand for a song.
I would use a D harp in 2nd on this song if I had one available at the time, but I could get by on a C if I had to. ----------
Doug S.
Last Edited by dougharps on May 20, 2020 8:23 AM
Sounds like A harp 4/5 draw alternating with a 3 blow with a little bit of 4 sometimes, with 5 draw bending down and going into a 4 draw (maybe bent). I think I heard a little growl... sort of the draw version of a rolled r in a couple spots.
At the 2 minute mark he seems to be doing a 3 draw into a bend down to the 2. Is there a moment in particular that you are interested in?
Nate, I harmonically distanced myself from my spouse and revisited the song to try an A harp as you suggested.
I am still pretty sure it is a C in 4th. The chords on a A don't sound the same, and all the notes are there on a C.
That being said, if I didn't have a D harp for 2nd position on the song I would then pick an A in first, then a G in 3rd before I would consider using a C in 4th. ----------
Thank you all for the replies. I think that Fourth Position is right. When I play it, the Five Draw sounds a bit shrill, but it's probably all in the technique. Revealingly, the A side ('Kokomo Me') is also in A, meaning that the poor sod had to hover again around the three draw, two draw and two blow. But it leads to a different sound. I like the quirkiness of all of this and the way the harp floats in that space between major and minor.
Last Edited by Laurie McVay on May 20, 2020 9:26 AM
I can't check 4th right now. It might be. I didn't check the whole song. I was able to get the part I did in 1st. (I think we cross posted Doug, I didn't see your post when I posted.)
The singer sounds like he's singing in the key of A. The harp player is using a C harmonica, but playing it in fifth position, not fourth. Fifth position would normally be used for a minor-keyed song in E.
dougharps, you and I agree that the harp player is using a C harmonica. But here are the positions and resultant keys, as I understand them, using a C harp: C in first-C; C in second-G; C in third-D; C in fourth-A; C in Fifth-E. You can play a minor keyed E scale, in fifth position, by starting with a blow in hole 2. The second and fourth notes have to be hit bent.
Wolf, I am glad we agree that he is using a C harp to play his part on this A song. That is the important answer to the original post.
He is using a C harp.
My understanding of positions and the circle of fifths matches yours. I am glad we agree that playing in the key of A on a C harp is considered playing in 4th.
Your post indicates that you view his notes fitting an Em scale as your rationale for calling his playing 5th position on a C harp. You seem to be saying that he is not playing in A or Am, but in Em.
Could you be making a distinction without a difference?
I think he is playing his part in the easily accessed Aeolian mode using a C harp, thus playing in the key of Am over an A major song.
Blues will often let you play minor over major, though usually not major over minor!
The key of Am includes an Em "v" chord. So he can use those Em scale notes and still be playing in 4th in Am!
Maybe you just want to point out that musical nomenclature is relative?
You can choose to view playing over a chord in a song as changing the position to the key of the chord in order to play in that chord's scale.
My view is to keep it simple as regards positions.
I relate the key of the harp and the key of the song to name position number. I don't call it changing positions if I play over chord changes in a song, even though I may effectively use the scales based on the chords.
Calling it 5th could really confuse players who are still trying to figure out the circle of 5th and which harp key they can choose to play for what song key. The original point of so-called "positions" is to choose a harp for a song.
The circle of 5ths offers much more information than position as regards theory, but why confuse the issue of "positions"? Modes are useful too, but "mode" does not equal "position" in today's modern definition of position.
What do we gain by saying that this harp example is playing 5th position in Em on an A song?
I am not saying that you can't choose to call it 5th, I am questioning WHY you would choose to call it that in this thread. ----------
Doug S.
Last Edited by dougharps on May 25, 2020 8:12 AM
Hi dougharps, I play all 5 positions, some better than others. If you also do, try this: Take your C harmonica and play it in 4th position. Take your C harmonica and play it in 5th position. Use your ears to decide which position best produces the harmonica notes you hear in "Wild Women".
The song is blues in A per the guitar and vocals. The harp is C. By definition he is playing 4th position.
I hear it as riffing/chugging on an Em chord, which on a blues in A would be the Minor Dominant (v) chord.
So I see it as playing the v chord over a blues in A on a C harp. That chord is consistent with fourth position. Em is the v chord in Am blues.
However, if we somehow removed the vocal and guitar and just left the riffing/chugging on the Em chord as being the song, I would see it as a one chord song in Em on a C harp, thus fifth position. So I see your point if we just take the harp alone and ignore the song it is part of.
To me, the context matters.
Since he is playing the repetitive rhythm as accompaniment to others who are playing a blues in A, I call it fourth position on a C harp for an A blues, comping on the v chord, Em. ----------
He is playing in A on a C harp. His note choices are consistent with riffing in E (on a C harp) but that does not change the fact that he is playing in A, same key as the song.
