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

[Cara Cooke <cyberharp@xxxxxxxxx>]

I think with a lot of relative relationships, too, especially when a fiddle
or jazz tune seems to change keys.  I like to keep them all on one
harmonica, if at all possible.  For me, it limits confusion later when you
are trading "licks" with the other players to be fumbling around with only
one instrument.

Cara

On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 10:53 AM, JersiMuse <jersimuse@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> No worry Cara, thanks to have precised.
> It's always difficult on an email to get the real feeling of the person who
> writes (plus my English is far from being perfect, which may not help :-)).
>
> I do think with relatives also, but relatives to a scale and/or root, not
> to
> a position.
> At the end, I'm not sure the difference is huge. But it does make a
> difference.
> Effectively, it also depends on each one's needs, and on the "culture"
> related to the music one plays.
>
> Have a nice day,
>
> Jerome
>
> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] De la
> part
> de Cara Cooke
> Envoyé : mardi 3 avril 2012 17:20
> À : harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Objet : Re: [Harp-L] Re: positions you can use on diatonic
>
> Thank you, Brendan.  Educational, as always.  Until I read the material at
> that link, I was unaware of that method.  However, I realized as I was
> reading it that I use some of the same symbology and somewhat similiar
> ideas
> for my personal harmonica tab (devised decades ago).  I guess my ideas
> weren't all that off if it works for them, too.  The purpose built into my
> tab was to be able to type the tab out on an early, rudimentary keyboard --
> without the special symbols usually found in harmonica tab -- while
> providing some form or concept of timing of the notes (not generally found
> in tab for any instrument at the time).
>
> Jerome:  If you understand, great.   I apologize if I seemed too cutting.
> It didn't sound to me as if you did "get it".  Your remarks made it sound
> to
> me like you consider the physical layout of the harmonica, and the notes on
> it, to be an opinion.  While no one way of approaching artistic endeavors
> ever really works completely for everyone, a term like "position"
> is still a reference to a fact.  It is not an opinion.  It is a foundation
> term that we can share amongst each of us on the same instrument because it
> has a solid base and doesn't really rely on artistic interpretation.
> Believe me, if we had no such terms with which to work, there are a lot of
> people who would never understand what l have to say about playing
> bluegrass
> on the harmonica.  Bluegrass musicians don't communicate in a way that is
> particularly helpful to most harmonica players, though those of us who play
> bluegrass also have no difficulty understanding what is meant.
> The terminology, and the concepts that work with it, helps players from
> different musical worlds bridge the communication gap.  I try, as much as
> possible, to learn the terms and concepts that allow me to communicate with
> others, even if it is not crucial to how I would play or approach my
> instrument or music.
>
> Cara
>
> On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 3:48 AM, Brendan Power <bren@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >wrote:
>
> > Jerome wrote:
> >
> > " To my opinion, if positions only refer to root notes, they are
> > useless, and the note name is a much better and precise information.
> > Especially when you communicate with other people from the band, who
> > are usually not harmonica players.
> > I'm surprised that harmonica players so much feel the need to use a
> > separate vocabulary, enabling them to better communicate with other
> > harmonica players, and complicates their communication with other
> > musicians. Whereas, to my opinion, playing music should mainly be the
> > encounter of different instruments."
> >
> > That's true: the concept of Positions on a harmonica is only of use to
> > harp players (for the player himself and also to describe what you are
> > doing to other harmonica players). It means nothing to other musicians
> > and would only confuse things, as Jerome says.
> >
> > As he only plays a C harp, it is better for Jerome to ignore the idea
> > of Positions and just talk of the root note and the scale ("I'm in D
> major"
> > not
> > "I'm playing 3rd position major on a C harp".
> >
> > However, for the majority of us who use many different key harps,
> > Positions are a good way to maintain your bearings no matter which key
> harp you use.
> > It's like the clever Chinese 'Jianpu' numeric notation system used
> > widely in
> > Asia:
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbered_musical_notation
> >
> > Notes are given numbers relating to the key and scale they're in,
> > which means you can switch keys easily without having to change the
> > notation. The Nashville Number System does the same for chord charts.
> > This is the way I think when playing all the time - I never consider a
> > note's name (E, F, F# etc), just its number in the key/scale I'm in.
> >
> > Harp Positions are similar: they work irrespective of the key of the
> > harmonica, so are very useful for us. However, Position and harp key
> > alone are not enough: it's essential to name the scale and root note
> > too, especially when playing with other musicians (that's ALL they
> > will want to know).
> >
> > Brendan Power
> > WEBSITE: www.brendan-power.com
> > FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/tethnik
> > YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/BrendanPowerMusic
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>