Re: [Harp-L] positions you can use on diatonic

[Rick Dempster <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Been on this list intermittently since the mid nineties, so excuse me if I'm repeating myself, but the subjects do tend to roll around again. I play steel guitar (non pedal) and know that there are things that work better playing where the open chord is the root, or the 5th fret the root, the seventh, the 2nd, the 10th etc. etc. Depends on the tune. This is thinking 'position'.
On harp, I tend to think in terms of a C harp all the time, so instead of 2nd, I think G, D instead of 3rd etc.
Here's a question though, for people who think in terms of 'positions': do you call D MAJOR, on a C harp  3rd position - where the draw 2 is flattened one semitone only, the 5 hole over-blown, and then open draw 5 used strictly as a 'blue' note ?
To further make my case clear (or even more opaque) where the accompanying musicians are playing a major 3rd on the root chord.....ahh!! I'm probably going to regret this.....!
RD


>>> Cara Cooke <cyberharp@xxxxxxxxx> 01/04/12 5:03 PM >>>
What is hard to remember here is that "position", "scale", and "mode"
are just terms -- names, like Tom, Dick, and Harry.  They each mean
something individual, and each of those meanings are related to each
other, as if Tom, Dick, and Harry were cousins.  But they are not
interchangeable anymore than Tom, Dick, and Harry could be
interchangeable and still be separate people.

Using the Circle of 5ths to give meaning to each position, mode, and
scale is simply a "rule of thumb" -- the creation of a mnemonic using
something that most musicians eventually know through study or
practice.  In fact, the circle of 5ths, itself, is simply a mnemonic
using the analog clock face (which makes the circle of 4ths
counterclockwise).  (There was once a time when everyone knew how to
read analog clocks, even when they didn't have numbers on the face.)
Hasn't anyone ever wondered by we don't discuss the Dodecagon of 5ths?

Perhaps, for the sake of these arguments, we should rename the
positions according to the Dodecagon of 5ths?  <wink>

Cara

On 3/31/12, Arthur Jennings <timeistight@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> That's the way I use the word, too.
>
> If position equaled mode, there wouldn't be positions 7 through 11.
>
>
> On Sat, Mar 31, 2012 at 6:38 AM, michael rubin <
> michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Larry and everyone,
>> Although many people equate positions with modes or scales, they do
>> not understand what a position is.
>>
>> If I play in the key of G on a C harp, I am in second position.  It
>> does not matter if I am playing the G Mixolydian scale or the G
>> harmonic minor scale or any scale or mode.  The thing that makes it
>> second position is that in the Circle of Fifths, the name of the harp
>> is the starting point and therefore is first position, move clockwise
>> from there to G and that makes it second position.
>> Michael Rubin
>> Michaelrubinharmonica.com
>>
>> On Sat, Mar 31, 2012 at 8:05 AM, Jim Rumbaugh
>> <jrumbaug@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> > Originally asked "But still, most people cannot play 12 positions or can
>> > they?"
>> >
>> > As diatonic player of 10 years, 6 enough for my needs, 3 for major, 3
>> > for
>> > minor.
>> >
>> > I am impressed by:
>> > 1) the number of people that play more than 6 positions
>> > 2) the number of people that wont play more than 1 or 2
>> >
>> > I see both ends.
>> >
>> > For now, and my needs, 6 is enough
>> >
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Arthur Jennings
> http://www.timeistight.com
>