Seeking Enlightenment on Harmonica Positions
Going through the interviews, I notice some folks who play the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd postion, have never explored the 4th, 5th or 12th positions. Andy Just, for example, says he uses the 2nd and 3rd position often, but has never explored the 5th or 12th positions.
That makes no sense to me. Isn't the 1st position the same as the 4th, the 2nd same as the 5th and 3rd same as the 12th?
For example, on an G harp:
1st G Maj = 4th E Min
2nd D Maj = 5th B Min
3rd A Min = 12th C Maj
So what am I missing. I learned the 6 positions above, in pentatonic, so that I could play many keys with one harp. But it felt like I really just learned 3 positons because the other 3 were pretty much the same, but with different starting points.
So how can Andy say he's never explored 12th position if he's already explored 3rd?
Would you say that Silent Night is in a minor key? Or Mary had a Little Lamb? Just because they are in major keys does not automatically mean that their are also in the relative minor key that uses the same scale.
Positions are *key* positions. When you play in E minor on a C harmonica, E is the center of the universe. Playing in G (the relative major), G is the center of the universe. You might use the same scale for both, but that's about the only thing they have in common. When you play in fifth postion, Blow 2 and 5 are your home notes, not Draw 2 and Blow 6. Everything move in relation to your home note, and the same scale will sound very different when played against that home note and its I, IV, and V chord (and whatever other chords are involved).
If you handed Anfy Just a C harp and put on a backing track in F, he'd likely be all at sea unless he'd practiced playing in F on a C harp. F of course is 12th position, the relative major of third position. Knwoing one does not make you familiar with the other.