[Harp-L] Third Position and outside the box opportunities

[B Boggs <ceudoazul@xxxxxxxxx>]

For a few months last spring, I was invited to practice with two horn players, a drummer, and a female vocalist for two small gig locally.
  A five-watt Supro amp with 8 inch speaker worked, at our sound levels, for my harp.
  The challenge of learning lines on a diatonic and finding notes on different keys was a stretch and valuable.
  We covered old Chick Webb Orchestra (with Ella Fitzgerald singing during the 30's), Jeff Beck's "Led Boots" and James Brown, "Think". 
  It was raw stuff and some magic at times.
  What helped me get by was recording the practices  and listening to the original recordings of the covers (which also opened my ears to some incredible music).
  The people listening were cool and it was a lot of fun!
  BB
   
  
From: "Robert Vivona" <ravivona@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Third position

  Steve,

I can't answer your original question about third position, but I just
wanted to comment that I went through the same process of trying to
work out
harp parts for a bunch of songs, most without harp in them (mine was in
a
female led blues/R&B band that I still play in). At the time, I was
just
starting to play with other people and was not all that confident about
my
playing. I'm not sure about your current level, but I'm guessing from
your
post that you're somewhere in the same place I was.

Let me just say that this was one of the best experiences for improving
my
harp playing I've ever gone through. It really jumped me a level or two
(or
three). Stick with it, continue to be brave (I know I needed to be
several
times ;-) ands enjoy the ride. It will definitely pay dividends.

Bob

> 
> Since I recently began playing harp with a guitarist/singer, I have
> discovered that third position works better for some songs.
Unfortunately,
> I'm not very good in third position. I can play third on minor blues
> songs, by ear, but I am struggling to find much in third on non-minor
> songs. Is it acceptable to play the minor blues scale over a major
scale
> in third position? I am just not getting the feel for it.
>    What has been interesting, though, is that I find myself using 13
> different harps in the course of a three-hour night of playing. What
I'm
> doing right now is not at a very high level, but I'm in the process
of
> trying to find harp parts on about 60 songs. Since I'm not the
world's
> greatest musician, that process has been a challenge, figuring out
fills
> and little solos and trying to fit harp into this acoustic sound in a
> tasteful way. Sometimes, the challenge is to make myself play less on
a
> song.
>   Steve Webb
>   Harpin' along in Minnesota




       
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