Mickey uses 2nd position most of the time, but I understood from other
threads that nowadays he uses special harps a lot too. Minor tuned and stuff
like that.
Charlie McCoy, to name a very influencial player, uses mostly 2nd position.
Sometimes he plays special tuned harps as well. Like a raised 5-draw. On his
website he used to have a list of what harp (key/position) he plays on what
song. Dont know if it's still there... yep, it's still there: click a record
to see a list http://www.charliemccoy.com/recordings.php
Wayne Raney, to name an oldie but very goodie: 2nd position (& tongue-block)
most of the time
When you're going for fiddle-tunes like Old-time/Bluegrass/Irish type stuff,
it depends a lot on the scale of the tune.
Mark Graham: He plays 1st position a lot, mainly because the melody asks for
it, but it's also very handy because of the way he plays rhythm (U-blocked,
puckered, or tongue-blocked). He plays 2nd position if the tune is bluesy or
in the mixolydian scale (flattened-7)
Brendan Power: again it depends on the scale of the tune. In his method/book
he makes a lot of use of the Paddy Richter tuning (raised 3-blow)
Buddy Greene: 2nd position mostly
Mike Stephens (family? ;-)): 2nd position
etc etc.
Hope this answer your question a bit
Cheers
Bart
the Netherlands, Europe
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tony Stephens" <tnysteph@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 4:05 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] First position
Just wondering, is country harmonica played more in 1st position?
Does Mickey Raphael use 1st often?
What about 3rd position?
Just asking.
Thanks