Re: [Harp-L] Modes, was 3rd Position Tunes

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

JP wrote:
> i'm not Mike but, the simplest answer is: positions
> have to do with which key you are playing in relative
> to the key of the harmonica. it doesn't matter what
> scales or modes you are playing, only the key.

There's a basic confusion here about what a "key" is.  The only thing
that defines a "key" is the notes that make it up -- in other words, the
scale.  No scale, no key.  That's why a lot of modern classical music,
like Schoenberg for instance, is described in terms of "tonal centers",
not "keys."  If "it doesn't matter what scale or modes you are playing,"
then the whole idea of the "key" goes out the window. I repeat: the idea
of a "key" is meaningless unless it's defined in terms of a scale.  

The only reason players use different positions is so they can use the
scale of a given harp in a different way -- i.e. to play that harp in a
different key, using a mode of the scale built into the harp.

A "position" on a diatonic harp is not exactly the same as a "mode", but
it's very closely related. Whether or not you bend or overblow, on the
diatonic harmonica you generally start with a scale based on one of the
notes of a single 7-note scale -- the scale that's built into the
diatonic harp you just picked up.  That's a mode, by definition. 

> another (common) example is the G blues scale: if i
> play G blues on a C harmonica, it's second position
> but i'm not playing in a mode.

It's second position, AND it's a Mixolydian mode, which is what you get
when you play a C major scale from G to G.  Using bent or overblown
notes in this situation doesn't change the basic fact that second
position puts you in a Mixolydian mode.  

Lots of players don't think about modes when they play, and they don't
need to.  But the modes are there.

Regards, Richard Hunter