Re: [Harp-L] RE: the practicality of 4th position

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Straight harp (1st position) in a minor key would be like playing a C harmonica in C minor. *That* would be first position (straight harp) in a minor key. What you really mean is fourth position, which happens to share the same note set as first position, but is in a different key with a different home note.

But I do understand what you're getting at, especially when you bring up Neil Young, who deserves more respect as a harmonica player than he often receives. He often goes back and forth between a major key and its relative minor (such as G major and E minor on Heart of Gold, or Bb and G minor on My, My, Hey, Hey/Out of the Blue), so that he can start out in first position and seamlessly segue into fourth as the backing chords change key to the relative minor, sometimes within the same phrase.

Winslow
 
Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
            Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
            Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Harmonica Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance


________________________________
 From: "Hellerman, Steven L." <shellerman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Friday, May 31, 2013 11:25 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] RE: the practicality of 4th position
 

Also, Neil Young, Heart of Gold. Like Dylan, straight harp in a minor key. 

Hey, Mick Zaklan, about those blues in 4th.... What sort of technique? Was that like Jimmy Reed style, or overblows? Or do I not have a clue?

SLH


Message: 10
Date: Fri, 31 May 2013 14:07:06 -0400
From: John Kerkhoven <solo_danswer@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] the practicality of 4th position
To: Joel Fritz <williemctell@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
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For the record, so did Bob Dylan. All Along the Watchtower, Hurricane.

> Rhythm Willie recorded several tunes in 4th.
>

Message: 5
Date: Fri, 31 May 2013 11:20:53 -0500
From: Mick Zaklan <mzaklan@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] the practicality of 4th position
To: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
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   I'd refer anyone curious about 4th position to my post on 5/1/10, "4th
position, a blues overview".  I think 4th may be the most
under-used practical blues position out there right now.
   I'd back that up with two SPAH anectdotes.  At the Sacramento convention
I used it in the jam circle.  Mark Hummel was in the circle at that
time.  When Mark was leaving the convention, Rupert Oysler asked him if
anyone's playing had caught his attention during the previous night's jam.
Mark told him somebody a few chairs down had intrigued him because he
couldn't figure out the position being used.  After a few questions, Rupert
figured out it was me.  I was playing standard Jr. Wells licks, but playing
them in the key of A on a C harp.
   At a Jimi Lee hallway jam the following year, I played a solo in E on a
G harp.  Jimi stopped the jam on the spot, and asked me what harp I had
just used.  He loved the sound of it.
   Neither of these two incidents were minor key tunes.  They were major
key, standard blues that everyone else was using a cross harp on.  It just
required a couple of bends to make this "minor" position sound "major".

Mick Zaklan