[Harp-L] Ninth?

["John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx>]

Per Larry Marks:

Why one would focus on the difficult 3rd position instead of the much  
easier and more useful 4th (relative minor).

Per Michael Rubin:

I see 3rd as much easier and more useful than 4th.  We are all
different in how we learn.  To me, 3rd is like put a guitar capo up
the harmonica neck two holes up from cross harp.  It also has more
rock out potential than 4th, imo.

Maestros:

Why play 4th or 3d when you can play 5th?  5th has all the  
considerable advantages of 4th (except for the lack of a major second  
in 5th) and  all the rock out potential of 3d and is EASIER and more  
useful than 3d  because there are not as many bends and there is no  
major sixth to worry about.  It's like playing 2d except it's easier  
than 2d (not as many bends). You just use blow 2 for root instead of  
blow 3.

Okay, if i need a major second, i'll use 4th and if I'm playing  
dorian minor, I'll use 3d.  Otherwise, 5th is my first choice for  
minor key playing by a wide margin.   Very easy, very bluesy, very  
flexible and, IMHO, very underused. Despite the conventional wisdom,  
I find 3d more problematic than useful for most minor key playing  
(unless the material is dorian minor).  For natural minor, I'll use  
4th before i'll use 3d, but I'll always use 5th as my first choice  
(unless the melody includes a major two, in which case I'll use  
4th).  For me, 3d is usually a distant third choice. But, YMMV.

JP