[Harp-L] Re: the flat third

"hazcon" <hazcon@xxxxxxxxxx> · Fri, 5 Feb 2010 11:10:14 +1300

Thanks John for the very detailed and informative answer.What you have

outlined confirms what i seem to do (instinctively) when i play.I get very

frustrated,bored even,just hanging around those first four holes and can't

help myself it seems wanting to fly around the harp and in doing so use a

lot of major notes against a blues.I have always thought that i am doing

something 'wrong' as such, so it is good to see that others feel it is OK

sometimes in a blues context to utilise the whole harp.

             I have been playing for quite a while and have always

struggled a bit with the concept of scales and theory, utilising the notion

if it sounds good it is good.Of course others hearing my playing might opt

to disagree ;-)I guess i think notes rather than scales or position, if 
that

makes sense.
Quote John

" AGAINST the chord changes (which is why some musicians claim there is

no harmony in blues)."

                       I am not sure in musical terms what this means?But i
                      am sure it would be useful to know .(hint ;-) )
            Some very good info in your post that i will spend some time
pondering on.
Rick
in nz

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx>

To: "hazcon" <hazcon@xxxxxxxxxx>

Cc: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>

Sent: Thursday, February 04, 2010 21:07

Subject: the flat third
Per hazcon:
I find the 1V chord the 'hardest' chord to play during a stock  standard 
blues and it seems that people seem to spend an inordinate  amount of 
time learning to overblow holes 1&4 to get the flat third  it they must 
feel that it is an important note to be able to hit..

I like to do variations on the scale running up the harp from the low 
octave to the top so my thinking is that a quick run on the 1V up  from 
(say) 4 blow to the impressive 10 hole bent would be facilitated  by not 
having to worry about bending the 8 on the way through if you  catch my 
drift.
Rick,
I catch your drift.  But you may be making things harder than they  need 
to be for playing stock standard blues as blues is meant to be  played. 
The flat third of the I chord is the same note as the flat  seventh of 
the IV chord (both are blue notes), so, that's not a bad  note to play 
when you transition from the I to the IV and you can  work licks around 
that note over the IV chord as well as playing  around with the flat 
fifth (another blue note) of the blues scale of  the key you are in. 
it's not tough to play blues over the IV chord.   No OBs required.  Keep 
in mind that you can play the blues scale  AGAINST the chord changes 
(which is why some musicians claim there is  no harmony in blues).
Now, an effective, but underused, approach to playing the upper  register 
in second position blues playing  is simply to play  Mixolydian on the 
high end (major third, flat seventh) which means  just play on the high 
end with no bends.  if you do it right, it can  sound very bluesy. When 
running up or down between the middle and  high registers, try this: 
Don't play draw 5 or blow 6 but play blow 5  and draw 6 instead (the 
sixth and the ninth) which sound very smooth  and melodic as passing 
tones.  They are not blues scale notes, but so  what--they work.  and 
they allow the run to flow and the contrast  will  better emphasize the 
blues phrasing you are moving to or from.
it's perfectly acceptable and authentic to use a major third 
occasionally when playing blues. Blue notes are important, but it's  not 
necessary to be bound to the blues scale when playing blues.   Don't 
force fit blues scale notes into everything you play just  because you 
are playing blues. A little variety in note selection is  an acceptable 
and authentic part of the blues idiom and can serve as  a frame around 
the blues picture you are working on creating.
JP