I'm sure someone will toss about the circle of 5ths, that ok - maybe if I read the explanation, the circle will makes sense. Hopefully.
Here's what I understand: If the song is in the key C, you can play a Bb harp in 3rd. position. Song, key of G, play A harp 3rd. position etc. Correct?
I was at a jam, casually talking to a seasoned harp player about positions and he said "... and if you are jamming, and the band calls a minor tune, just go one step down on the harp - if the band plays a D minor, pick a C harp.
So I experimented with a D minor jam track using a C harp, 4 draw sounded ok, but had to bend 3 and 2 to get it to sound right. 1 draw natural ok, split octaves awesome. Working from the 4 draw UP worked too. Except for 7 draw?
Hmmm, sounds suspiciously like 3rd position?
So if playing a C harp to a D song, play 3rd position. But how can the same logic be applied if the song is in D minor while using a C harp. Still 3rd. position?
---------- Go ahead and play the blues if it'll make you happy. -Dan Castellaneta
Yes still in third. You can play 3rd position in both major or minor. It's just a question of note selection. They define the mode you're in. Here's Jason explaining it all better than I ever could.
"Here's what I understand: If the song is in the key C, you can play a Bb harp in 3rd. position. Song, key of G, play A harp 3rd. position etc. Correct?"
Half right. C on a Bb harp is 3rd position, but G on an A harp is 11th. A on a G is 3rd; maybe that's what you meant to type.
"So if playing a C harp to a D song, play 3rd position. But how can the same logic be applied if the song is in D minor while using a C harp. Still 3rd. position?"
Yep. Major, minor, makes no difference. D on a C harp is 3rd position.
@Kingley - Bingo! Exactly what I needed to hear. (Jasons vids especially)
@Pistolcat - yeah, captcha ate my post too. Argh!
@Timeistight - "Yep. Major, minor, makes no difference. D on a C harp is 3rd position." That sums it up for me :-) And yes, sorry I mis-typed the A & G.
Thanks guys!
[edited for spelling errors] ---------- Go ahead and play the blues if it'll make you happy. -Dan Castellaneta
Last Edited by ReedSqueal on Feb 09, 2013 3:13 PM
Sorry for the cross post, but I thought this may help from another thread today, and has 3rd position info. It is a merged version of the Circle of Fifths chart that tmf714 posted, and the two little cheat cards I've had in my harp case for years. I have annotated my understanding of how to use each of these in hopes it will help with the positions. I am not claiming any particularly deep knowledge of music theory! ;-) I also created a PDF version for downloading and printing.
Last Edited by 