Hello colleagues. I hope you are all doing well.
I am not deep in the music theory - harmonica is my first instrument - but I understood that with the variability of harmonicas it is possible to (for example) play a song in 2nd position in a C harmonica and have the same sounds in 1st position in. G harmonica. I am sure the example is wrong, but this is what I want to learn: what is the rational to make this switches? Is there a table or text to guide us? Thank you for the patience with my lack of knowledge.
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No problem - The chart you are looking for is called the Circle of Fifths. Really this needs to be included with every harp.
To use it:
The key of your harmonica is 1st position. So a D harmonica would be “D” in first position. Then go one place to the right…Which is second position!
The terminology of positions is just what position you are at on the circle of fifths. It just is a means of selecting a key other than the key of the harp.
Please let me know if I can help further. Positions really confused me when I started. I also had a very weak music theory background, and had to learn A LOT when I started.
Honestly, 1,2, and 3rd positions are of the most use. They are the easiest to play.
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Well, if you can play 3rd position, 4th position is also a breeze.
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Okay. I think no one so far directly answered this, and I spent way too many hours on this wild goose chases on this exact question. I think what many here missed was that the question was specifically about playing a song (i.e., a set of tabs). So, I’m here to spare you what I went through:
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You CANNOT play a set of Tabs in a different position “on the fly/automatically” using a simple technique like “moving one hole to the right” (at least, not unless you are a super music expert perhaps)
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You CAN convert tabs for the various positions using tools like the seydel Tab Tool SEYDEL TabTool Online - C.A. SEYDEL SÖHNE (it won’t always be practical/easy to play)
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Thank you all!!!
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Do you get it now? If you need more help, let me know.
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Yes, thank you all for the support!!
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@scucugliam It’s really a matter of trial and error. Certain songs or tonalities just “sit” better, are easier to play or can be played more expressively in different positions or tunings. And it’s really just trial and error to discover that.
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