Never underestimate the power of the right book. The C Harmonica Book by James Major (Mel Bay, $7.95) covers evertthing you wanted to know about postions 1-6 and 12. The 8 1/2 x 11 inch 48-page book has drawings, tablature, and even a full page glossary of music/ harmonica terms.
There is a book for every key ($95.40 for all 12).
I did a rave review in American Harmonica Newsmagazine when the C Book (and rest of series) first came out in 2005. I think it is arguably the most complete harmonica reference book on the market today. It not only covers more stuff than other books, it covers it in an easily understandable manner.
The chief advantage with the C Book (and the others) is that the player can SEE at a glance what positions or collections of notes to play a song or riff in on any given harmonica.
This is very harmonica friendly. If you can count the holes on your harmonica, you can follow the directions on how to play blues scales, pentatonic runs and broken chords (arpeggios).
And what happens when you switch harps? Go buy the book for that key of harp! Just use three keys of harp? Order those books ahead of time so you are ready for any problem.
Now, I know there are gifted players on this list who can play anything, anytime, on any harp -- but there are a limited number of them. More people are learning to OB all the time. But the rest of us have to resort to bent notes or valved harps or special tuned harps. That's where this book(s) comes in.
Here's the blurb from the Mel Bay web site:
"Finally! There is a definitive reference guide available for harmonicas in each and every key. This ground breaking series unlocks the musical power of the 10-hole major diatonic harmonica. One key at a time, each is designed to present detailed musical information for beginners, intermediate and advanced players who are either music readers or non-reading players. Learn the notes, intervals, bends, overbends, dyads, chords, arpeggios, modes and scales that are specific to each harmonica key. There is also a special section in each book showing other types of diatonic harmonicas and the variations unique to them like extreme bending, low-tuned, octave and tremolo-tuned models and more.
"Have you ever wondered which harmonica is the best one to use when you're ready to play a tune? Have you ever sat with a lap full of harmonicas desperately trying one after another, searching for the key that has all of the right notes? The Complete 10-hole Diatonic Harmonica Series is the definitive music reference guide that resolves those dilemmas and more. The C Harmonica Book is packed with information about chords, arpeggios, modes, positions, scales, bends, overbends and basic music theory unique to the 10-hole C major diatonic harp. Learn how to effectively play blues scales in seven different keys. It's simple. If you have a C harmonica you should own the C Harmonica Book."
Phil
In a message dated 10/8/08 9:55:51 AM, hvyj@xxxxxxx writes:Rick, Since you are such a fountain of 12th position knowledge, can you also spell out the F major pentatonic (country) scale in 12th position for us? Thanks, JP On Oct 7, 2008, at 10:18 PM, Rick Dempster wrote:
> OK....you arksed for it! Starting on the 5th at hole 1B: > > 1B 1ob 2D// 3D/// 3D/ (3D; the flat 5) 4B 4ob 5D > 6D/ 6ob (7D; b5) 7B 8B/ 9D 9od 10B// > > (10B/; b5) 10B > > > .....made the flat fives optional, just to distinguish the > pentatonic from the .......hexatonic? sexatonic? > hmmm...sexatonic? so it is good for you! > > RD > PS Hope I got it right! > >>>> "John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx> 8/10/2008 12:15 >>> > Rick, > Can you spell out the F blues scale in 12th position on a C > harmonica for us? > JP > >
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