RE: [Harp-L] First Position and "Country"

[Steve <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

Well, Aongus,
I play both ten-hole harps and tremolos, and I can assure  you that, though
first position is often best for playing Irish tunes, there are plenty of tunes
that can be played in second (and third, and fourth, and twelfth!). The
point is that many Irish tunes are either pentatonic, hexatonic or in Mixolydian
mode, so they can be played, without bends, on either blues harps or tremolos.
I'll give you just a few examples: try Red-Haired Boy (which is an Amix tune)
on a D harp. Similarly, lots of polkas and slides which are "in A" can
easily be played on a D harp, no bending! I play Ger The Rigger and Bill
Sullivan's as a set, both "in A", on a D harp. Connaughtman's Rambles
is easy on a G harp, even though its tonic note is D. That lovely Dave
Richardson jig, Calliope House, tonic note D, is also fine on a G harp (or an A
harp if you choose to play it in E, as some fiddle players do). That's just a
few. A good way of "educating" yourself to be more confident out of
first position is to
try out the tunes of "Dirty Old Town" and Auld Lang Syne in three different
positions on the same harp, first, second and twelfth. You  may need Paddy
Richter to help you on a ten-hole harp, or, alternatively, use a solo-tuned
tremolo, but no bending is needed!

 

Lots of “minor”
tunes are good in third position, thinking of Morrison’s Jig (on a D harp) and
some in fourth, for example “The Butterfly” (on a G harp). For twelfth, try
Cronin’s Hornpipe on a D harp or Gillan’s Apples on a D harp. 
 > Though no expert, my own conclusion is that first position is favoured in
> Irish Trad. The harmonica is tolerated, though not really smiled upon in
> establishment Irish Traditional Music circles. One must remember that it is
> not so long ago that even the button box was not regarded as a "proper Irish
> Traditional Music instrument". In competitions the harmonica class is mostly
> tremolo and I don't know if any genius has come up with the knack of playing
> a tremolo in second position. A chromatic is not allowed to be a harmonica
> in trad music competitions - being put into the category of "other
> instruments" - even if you swear never to touch the button.
> 
> When I invested in my first chromatic as a teenager, I unconsciously
> developed the bad habit of transposing every tune I tried to play to the key
> of C. It is only in my old age, playing along with sessions. that I have
> succeeded - again unconsciously  - in sort of weaning myself away from first
> position.
> 
> In Brendan Power's splendid tutor for playing Irish Traditional Music on the
> Chromatic he recommends using both G and D chromatics and he even has a
> video on YouTube demonstrating "in flight" swapping of chromatics. If a
> virtuoso like Brendan Power will go to such lengths to stay in first
> position, I reckon it must be an endorsement of first position as "the
> position of choice" for Country or at least for Irish Country. 
> 
> Beannachtai
> 
> Aongus Mac Cana
>