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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Adventures in Sixth Position
Adventures in Sixth Position
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hvyj
749 posts
Oct 28, 2010
9:28 AM
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There have been a few posts about from players (including me) who first learned to play 3d position by accident, either having picked up the wrong harp or because someone in the band called out the wrong key by mistake.
Anyway, the other night I was sitting in with a friend's duo who were playing a lot of mostly original tunes in different minor keys, some of which worked in 3d position, some 4th and some 5th, depending on the tune.
Anyway, a tune was called in A natural minor. I tried an F harp in 5th position which didn't sound quite right, so I went to pick up my C harp to play in 4th position, but I picked up my Bb harp by mistake and started playing it. You know, it didn't sound bad at all, especially when I bent D3 a whole step and got a flat 7th. I'd never attempted to play 6th position before, but it worked surprisingly well. Live and learn....
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KingoBad
468 posts
Oct 28, 2010
9:48 AM
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If I play anything above third position I get a nosebleed.
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TNFrank
616 posts
Oct 28, 2010
1:55 PM
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I normally just play in one position, sitting up. Guess I could try a second position laying down or something.
Really though, all joking aside, I understand 1st Pos and 2nd Pos more or less but I'm not sure I understand much more then that and my book doesn't really talk about it in a way that i can understand, it gets all "Theory Speak" about it instead of just talking in normal English. I'd really love to find a web site that would explain all this to someone like me with no real knowledge in theory.
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hvyj
753 posts
Oct 28, 2010
2:22 PM
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I don't want to be to be rude, but unwillingness to learn basic music theory is one of the reasons harp players in general have such a bad reputation among musicians. However, it is true that almost all of the available instructional materials do a poor job of teaching positions above third.
But, take a look at the website "Diatonic Harmonica Reference" if you are interested. The tabulature on that site is a little awkward, but there is a ton of useful info including basic information on the most commonly used positions (1st through 5th).
Playing a harmonica in different positions is nothing more than playing the instrument in different keys. It actually isn't hard to do. People who play other instruments do it all the time. I mean, how many guitar players, sax players or keyboard players can only play in 2 or 3 different keys? And if they could only play in 2 or 3 different keys, who would take them seriously as musicians?
Last Edited by on Oct 28, 2010 4:03 PM
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