Hi everyone, I’ve been learning improvisation for about a month now (started with 3rd position on a C harp, which might seem like an odd choice but I loooove Dm backing tracks so much and I’m having a ton of fun) and so I’ve been doing some research and something surprised me, how can there be so many positions on just a single harp ?
I mean, could I really in theory pick up my C harp and play over any backing track, regardless of the key, given the fact that I know my scales for every positions ? It seems to me that there aren’t enough holes on the harp to have twelve different blues scales that actually sound different. And so if that is the case and that my C harp can sound good in any key, why should I bother buying more harps ? Couldn’t I just learn all twelve positions ?
I didn’t know anything about music theory and blues in general before I first picked up my harp so this is still very confusing to me, I hope that what made some sense lol.
And also I was wondering, is there somewhere where I could reliably find information about blues music theory (like every scale for example), a website or a book. Because I think that if each time I want a learn something I have to ask you guys you might get tired of me after a while
See this post and let us know if you have further questions. The link that David @DavidW gave to you is very informative, but it does not show you how extremely difficult it is to play the 10-hole blues harp in all 12 positions. Howard Levy is amazing and makes it all seem easy. But to play well in all 12 positions on one harp you need to master all bends, overblows and overdraws! That means not only being able to play them (accurately and easily) but also being able to incorporate them into the music fluidly. This is something that very few professionals can claim to do.
Having control of the over bends, overdraws, the inhale bends, and blow bends all allow for total chromaticism on the diatonic. Howard as well as Jason have this control. It’s what makes their music so compelling.
Something to be aware of: even Howard uses many harps. He CAN play in any key on a single diatonic, but if you attend one of his concerts, you’ll see that he has many different key harmonicas and uses them all.
The reason for this is that each position has a fairly unique character and sound. There are some players who restrict themselves to a C harmonica (this is mainly chromatic harmonica players). The diatonic players who took this approach did so as a way of forcing themselves to learn the more difficult keys.
The short answer to your question is yes, it is possible. But even when it is possible, you’ll still want many keys of harmonicas.
The question was “could I really in theory pick up my C harp and play over any backing track, regardless of the key”.
I could have just said 'Yes’.
Instead I provided an example of someone proving it was not only theory, but practice too.
I never suggested it was easy… LOL!
@mauraulucien to answer you’re original question - there are 12 notes, so there are 12 different places that you could call “home base”, so there are 12 positions, that’s how there could be so many positions.
You’re exploring 3rd position and finding you love it. That’s the mystical musical journey. Explore the positions that invite you, and ditch the ones that ain’t any fun.
Howard Levy is literally one in a million harmonica player in his approach. Very few people are gonna want follow his lead on this subject.
@davidkachalon I don’t think Jason Ricci plays in all 12 positions. You can correct me if I’m wrong, but I’d be surprised if he plays often in more than 5 or 6 different positions.
Yes @Corky_Music! I love Natural Minor tuned harps! Steve Baker played them brilliantly on a few songs at SPAH last week as well!
@Hogie.Harmonica Right on the money man. Each position has its own strengths and weaknesses. It’s about exploring positions strengths and weaknesses, and choosing the one that serves your relationship to the music and the muse.
Maybe someday they will make a harmonica like many digital pianos. My friend only plays in Con the piano . If the key is different , say F#, he pushes a few buttons and when he plays C the F# is sounded. He transcribes everything to C.
