Re: [Harp-L] Re: music theory

[Philharpn@xxxxxxx]

OLD NEWS: I have heard of harp players who organize their harps in the box in 
the Circle of Fifths.

Also, the Circle of Fifths also tells you the I, IV and V chord at a glance 
(if you don't know them cold)

Key of C -- everybody knows Second Position is G (count clockwise from C(1st 
position ) G(2nd position)   and D (3rd position)

But   for the key of C the C is the I chord, the F (the note to the left of 
the C) is the IV chord and the G (the note to the right) is the V chord.

Most people know the common keys, but what the heck to you do for the Key B? 
Check the Circle: B is I; E is IV and F# is V.










In a message dated 8/2/07 1:20:52 PM, solo_danswer@xxxxxxxxxxxx writes:


> 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
> 
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