[Harp-L] When Johnny Comes Marching Home

["Harmonicology [Neil Ashby]" <harmonicology@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Winslow:

This statement of yours seems unclear to me: "When Johnny Comes Marching Home is in a minor key, so it doesn't work at all in first position without using overblows or a harmonica in a minor tuning ... If you're converting it to a major-key tune that's another story. But that's a "major" change to the song's character and should be acknowledged as such."

The original "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" seems to have been written in G-Minor (Bb-Major) with 2 flats and no accidentals; therefore the tune can be easily transposed to C-Major (with no accidentals) and sound EXACTLY like the original but at a different pitch (as is often done for singers) and-then performed in 1st or 2nd position without difficulty. The "character" of the 2nd position is exactly the reason for the popularity of the 2nd position even though the notes are the same.

/Neil (" http://thebuskingproject.com/busker/2025 ")