Re: [Harp-L] naming positions with Spiral tuning

["Mox Gowland" <mox.g@xxxxxxxxx>]

Robert Hale, Spiral Advocate wrote !

>OK. I will continue to name my spirals by the major scale they contain,
(Draw 2 thru Blow 6) even tho it FEELS like Second position (2P) habits.

Happily, this convention produces the same results on the Circle of Fifths:
Positions 1, 2, and 12 are Major; Positions 3, 4, 5 are minor.<

Unhappily this is wrong


Please Robert, don't go down this road
start thinking more broadly
The position played on a diatonic harmonica
is realative to the tonality of the harmonica, n'est-pas?

The chosen tonality of the music can be Major OR Minor
Therefore playing in D MAJOR on a C harmonica puts me in 3rd position
etc..........

A perhaps better aproach to naming positions on spiral tuned harmonicas could be relative to the number of #'s or b's that the player must add (bends, overblows/draws ) to recreate the tonic major scale of the required tonality.

Take our example of 'playing in D Major on a C harmonica puts me in 3rd position'
C spiral - no #'s or b's 
D Major has 2 #'s in its key signature
conclusion
'playing in D Major on a C spiral harmonica puts me in P2 #

Likewise
B on A spiral = P2#
C on Bb spiral = P2#

Similairaly for the flats
F on  C spiral  = P1b
Bb on F spiral = P1b

With such a system positions are named after the required n° of  suplementery #'s or b's needed to respect the tonality of the music in question.

Hope this helps
Mox

All spelling mistakes are my own and may only be distributed under the GNU General Public License! - (© 95-1 by Coredump; 2-012 by DevNullius)