Re: [Harp-L] Re: music theory

["John Kerkhoven" <solo_danswer@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jonathan Metts wrote:
> If a harmonica player
> is going to learn just one bit of music theory in his or her entire life,
it
> should be the Circle of Fifths.

Agreed. And it's not useful just for figuring out which harp to play for
cross harp when someone else calls out a key.

When you get comfortable with the circle of fifths, you can figure out 3rd
pos. and 4th, and 5th and so forth. That translates to how tunes lay out on
the harp. E.g., on a C-harp, cross harp is G. On a G-harp, cross harp is D.
But D is also 3rd pos. on a C. Taking this a step further, A is cross harp
(2nd pos.) on a D. And A is fourth pos. on a C harp.

What is special about A and C? A is the relative minor to C; put another
way, C (the note) is the diminished third of A, Db being the natural third.

And here's the thing: a C harp can be really nice for playing a tune in A
minor because of how the scale lays out on the harp. That means, more
generally, that minor tunes can be played in 4th position. Bb minor? Try a
Db harp. How do you know to try a Db harp? Check the circle of fifths. Or
just "count" three half steps up from Bb to get to the minor third. Or,
remember that A minor plays on a C harp and Bb is up a half step from A, so
you'll go up a half step from C.

Here is a web page outlining the circle of fifths:
http://juliewaters.com/co5.php (I have no idea who Julie Waters is. It's
just a useful page.)

Another thing is when a band plays a tune, you want to be able to figure it
out quickly without having to get another musician's attention and try to
lip-read what he tells you over the music (if it's loud in a bar). Maybe not
everyone cares about this, but I like to be able to figure out on my own
what I want. If you can find the tonic note on any harmonica, then you can
do some quick calculating to get the key of the harp for the tune.

Digression: how do you know which note is the tonic, or root note? Think of
it as "home", or where you land in a tune. E.g. YOU KEEP your EYES ON the
ROAD your HANDS upON the whee-EL.

Example. Band plays a tune, you grab your C-harp and find the tonic is
2-blow. That's E. How do you know it's E? Either because you've memorized
the layout of your harp, or because you know how the scale is constructed
and that the two blow is 2 tones higher than the 1-blow which is C. C-D-E.
Back to the circle of fifths (if you're playing a straight ahead blues, for
instance), and you know that a tune in E calls for a harp in A. Then again,
if you can, you might just play the tune on the C-harp. This is fifth
position.

Everything I'm describing here is all stuff I've figured out over time,
things I've picked up from this list, from web sites, from here and there,
talking to other musicians and so forth. It is not rocket science. It may
sound confusing to those who are just learning, but it is working knowledge
that will carry you a long way. It just makes it so much easier to play with
other people because you are looking after your part of the job -- and it
gives you some cred.

The circle of fifths is useful for more than what I've outlined. For
instance, it also helps you understand scales in terms of sharps and flats.
Again, see: http://juliewaters.com/co5.php

As a counter-example to all this, I saw a blues band on the weekend with a
singer harp-player who kept asking his guitarist for the key of harp he
needed for the songs he played on. Everything went down well. So, if you
work in a friendly ensemble, maybe you don't need to know much at all!

John
Montreal