ficaro re more harp stuff

[WYKS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

On a C-harp, 12th pos is of course F.  (7th is Gb).  Someone just slipped--
easy to do.  I introduced the issue of "traditional" labeling a day or two
ago.  All I mean is, before jazz harp came along, dedicated blues harp
players tended to think in terms of 5 "useful" positions; and as I
understand it, they used used the label "4th" to refer to using 2-blow as
your tonic, and 5th to refer to 3double-bent draw (bent 2 semitones) as your
tonic.  (This reverses the correct logical order, using the circle of
fifths).  So far as I know, there was no "system" behind this reversal, and
the higher positions were not even referred to; it was just a convention,
largely an oral tradition, as I understand it. My source on this is Bob
Shatkin, a semi- reclusive Brooklyn guru who taught Paul Oscher, so blame
him if I've got it wrong.  I noticed that Musselwhite, who uses the logical
system in his manuals, nevertheless allows his album liner notes (Harm
according to) to describe his spanish-labled tune (Azure para Ampero, or
something like that) as "4th position", whereas, by his own system, it
should be called 5th position (it uses 2blow as the tonic).  I take this to
be a symptom of the switchover from the older oral tradition to the modern
logical notation.  But that's just my hypothesis.  What does Blackie use in
his book on harp, someone?  When was that published.  When is the earliest
written account of harp positions?  Note that Richard Hunter does not (so
far as I've spotted) even mention positions in his book an Jazz Harp.
Sorry all you folks who don't know what we're talking about--don't let this
drive you off the network.  Is that a danger here?  Newcomer Steve.

  I would be interested in the history of position playing.
What is the earliest 3rd position recorded, for example.  Indeed, we should
make a list of blues in 3rd and 1st and any others.