11 and 12 diatonic

["George Brooks" <gbrooks1@xxxxxxxxx>]

I think I have been accused stating that the exploration of positions past
third was first sparked by the ability to play chromatically on the diatonic
harmonica.  I definitely did not say this, I did not imply it, and I do not
believe that it is the case.

Mark Crowley posted:

>since 1929 (at least) it seems other positions
>have been used - and not essentially for a search
>for complete "chromaticity"

And earlier:

>it's neither here nor there to me - i just found
>it hard to swallow that exploring positions other
>than 1st to 3rd was implied to be an extremely
>'recent' activity

The post Mr. Crowley was responding to was mine (he begins his earlier post
"hi, george").  What I wrote, in relevant part, was this:

>The techniques of overblowing and overdrawing have made it possible to play
>the "diatonic" harmonica as a fully chromatic instrument. People played
>their diatonic harmonicas in a number of different positions (mostly first,
>second, and third) long before these innovations appeared upon the scene,
of
>course. I think it's the ability to play the instrument chromatically that
>has generated discussion of the positions past third.

I readily conceded that people had been playing in a number of positions,
**mostly** first, second, and third, long before it was recognized that a
Marine Band could be played chromatically.  I did state my opinion that it
has been the ability to play chromatically that has generated **discussion**
of the remaining nine positions, and I believe this to be true.  Anyone can
disagree with me, but it will ultimately be more productive to disagree with
something I actually say.

Winslow, Pat and others have provided examples of early recorded work using
positions other than first through third.  During the same time, there must
have been hundreds or thousands of recordings where the harmonica was played
in first, second, or third position.  What I glean from this is that players
were indeed beginning to explore the out positions quite early, but not in a
systematic way.

I do believe that the ability to play the diatonic harmonica chromatically
has given a tremendous boost to both discussion of and actual exploration of
playing in the positions past third.  I do not recall reading of
pre-overblow examples of recorded work in, for instance, seventh, eighth,
ninth, tenth, or eleventh positions.  I have heard Howard Levy and Carlos
del Junco play convincingly in all of them.

George