[Harp-L] Adventures in 3rd Position

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

So, the bass player who does all the singing in my band  calls the  
Doors tune "Riders on the Storm" on the spur of the moment at some  
gigs.  The band leader/guitar player tells me it's in E minor  
dorian.  Usually if I'm just given the key of a tune, I'm good to go,  
even if i've never actually played the tune before.  So, I grab a D  
harp, play 3rd position and it doesn't sound right.

So, next time this tune gets called out of the blue, I play a C harp  
in 5th position, which sounds a little better, but it's still not right.

Well, thankfully, i am blessed with musical resources because the  
band leader of my band, like the band leader of the jazz band i sit  
in with all the time, also has a Masters in Music.  In fact, he also  
has a jazz band, but figured (correctly) that he could get more  
bookings with a blues band. So, instead of just sitting in with his  
jazz band, like I used to, now I'm a full time member of his blues band.

Anyway, I ask him about the changes, and he explains to me that the  
first two chord changes (E and A) are EACH dorian.  I say, well, that  
means I need the minor sixth of the key in order play the minor third  
of the  IV chord (which is the minor sixth of the key), which is like  
playing natural minor, but when I play the harp I'd ordinarily use  
for natural minor (5th position) it's  not working.  My bandleader  
tells me no, don't do that,  because to play dorian over each CHORD I  
need to be playing the major sixth of each CHORD, and suggests that i  
use two harps: one to play dorian in E on most of the tune and one to  
play dorian in A on the IV chord.

Using two harps is something I'm comfortable doing, so the next time  
Riders on the Storm gets called. i grab an D harp and a G harp.  i  
play the D in third position for E  minor for most of the tune, and  
on the IV change i switch to the G  harp and play it in third  
position for A minor on the IV chord and everything sounds GREAT.

You know, I would never have thought of doing that without being  
told.  Live and learn.

JP