[Harp-L] Positions a misnomer and harp Jargon

["John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx>]

You know, playing a harmonica in a different "position" is just  
playing the instrument in a different key.  Musicians who play other  
instruments do this all the time as a matter of course.  Harp players  
in general tend to make a big deal about it.

I was at a jam the other night and this player was really struggling  
with minor key tunes.  Nice guy, so we got to talking and i tactfully  
suggested that he might want to try playing minor material in either  
third or fifth position (neither of which is difficult to do) instead  
of staying in second position all the time.  This suggestion  
confounded him and he was resistant to any further explanation.  The  
problem seemed to be that he had no understanding of where any of the  
scale tones were in second position, so the concept of playing in  
another position was beyond his grasp.  As a practical matter, it's  
harder to play completely by ear in other positions because one  
cannot bend randomly and still stay in key like many players are able  
to do when they play in second position.

FWIW.

JP