Could someone PLEASE explain



Positions on the harp work just as you said.
	Taking a harp in C, then obviously (?) 1st position is C, and
basically, you just keep going up in fifths from there, so 2nd gives
you G (mixolydian mode), 3rd is D (dorian), 4th is A (aeolian), 5th is
E (phrygian), 6th is B (locrian), and so on, the only other natural
mode that uses the notes of a C major scale being the F (lydian) that I
would define as 12th position.
	Before anyone starts yelling about this, I know there are other
definitions out there, including the one that Lee Oskar are using, but
I think this approach, based on the circle of fifths is best for a
number of reasons. The first is that it has a logic that is based on
sound musical theory. Secondly, it can be applied to any tuning that
contains a major scale, which means all the commercially available
tunings with the exception of the harmonic minor, which is a special
case anyway. All the others are based round a displaced major scale in
one form or another.
	What I tend to do is to relate the positions to the holes in
which they start. So first position is always the scale that starts in
4 blow and runs up to 7 blow. Second always starts in 2 draw/ 6 blow
and so on. This makes it easier to understand the natural minor
tuning, for example, where 2nd position on an AmN harp is the *same
scale* as fourth position on a regular C, and so on - of course the
manufacturers have made the situation even more confusing by labelling
the natural minors in 2nd position - the excuse being that this is the
position in which they are most likely to be used, but first position
gives another natural minor scale, (on an AmN, it's a Dm dorian, i.e
flat third and seventh relative to the major), which is actually the
same scale you get in third position on a regular C harp, except that
most of the draw notes on the C are blow notes on the AmN, and you get
a Dm chord and an Am chord, instead of a C and a G, so there's plenty
to get to grips with in there!
	See the current series of articles in "Harmonica World" on the
subject of alternate tunings (blatant plug!)

	Steve Jennings - Editor "Harmonica World"





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