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

[Jp Pagan <jpl_pagan@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Richard Hunter
<turtlehill@...> wrote:
>
> I'll start by noting what a relief it is to be able
to talk about stuff
> like this without everybody (including me) going
berserk.  This list has
> certainly become a very nice place to visit. 

glad you think so and that i haven't messed with that
feeling ;)

> Well, it's nice that we can disagree strongly and be
so civil.  Final
> comment: while modes and positions do not align
exactly, it's a very
> convenient way for players to think about the
instrument.

on this we can agree. i'm not going to belabor this
argument on-list any longer except to say that perhaps
it comes down to a matter of perception (though, in my
perception, it comes down to me being right! :) but
seriously, we do agree on the above. 

i wouldn't want anyone out there beginning to learn
these things, however, to get the impression that it
ends there, or that they need to be constrained by the
modes easily available on the harmonica. 
it doesn't take thousands of hours to learn to play
music that isn't modal, but it can feel that way when
we talk about bends and overblows as bizarre,
esoteric, alien techniques, which they are not. 
i feel that positions and modes are best understood
separately (the first as a harmonica specific
relation, the second as a widely accepted musical
concept) with the added advantage that, on a
harmonica, they are related in ways that are useful
for us to exploit but should never be limited by. 

ok, so much for not belaboring. all y'all go practice
now. next topic, "why not 11 holes"?

  --Jp

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