Harmonica Positions
Now we're getting to the real beef of harmonica music theory; 'HARMONICA POSITIONS' are the most obscure part of harmonica theory because they embody a concept that is rarely (if at all) discussed with other musical instruments. But, for which I will now enlighten you...
Okay! So what are Positions?
Harmonica Positions are basically how harmonica players describe the ways in which they play different scales on a single harmonica. To expand on this: When playing a C harmonica (the one that most people learn on) the tuning is designed to allow as much versatility as possible, including many different Scales and Chords.
| BLOW | C | E | G | C | E | G | C | E | G | C |
| HOLE | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| DRAW | D | G | B | D | F | A | B | D | F | A |
The lowest note (1 blow) is a C and the highest note (10 blow) is also a C. According to the original Richter tuning such a harmonica would be described as being tuned in C Major. As a result the C Major Scale is very easy to play practically all the way along from holes 1 to 10 - we can describe the note of C as being the natural Tonic (i.e. Degree I). BUT, what if we wanted to play a tune in some other key? Say, for example, in G? Well, we would have to make sure we started and finished all the Scales we played on the note of G (2 draw, 3 blow, 6 blow, and 9 blow) and also play some G Chords. The note of G would become the new focal centre of our music - the new Tonic. In order to play the G Major Scale on a C harmonica we would have to use a completely different set of holes compared to the holes we would use to play the C Major Scale. We would have to, as is described technically, change Positions!
So there you have it... A Position, in harmonica playing, is essentially just a particular way of playing music in a different key to the harmonica you are playing it on. Playing music in the key of C on a C harmonica is called 'FIRST POSITION' (also called 'STRAIGHT HARP'). To play music in the key of G on a C harmonica is called 'SECOND POSITION' (also called 'CROSS HARP').
Alright... So why do we need to learn about them?
Now, you are probably asking yourselves "Hang on... Why not just call them 'playing in the key of C or G'? You use different keys on a keyboard to play different Major Scales, but we don't call them different 'Positions'! So why bother giving them a special name just for harmonica players?" Well, I'm glad you asked that question...
Okay, you DO need to use different keys on a keyboard in order to play different Major Scales, but there is one crucial difference: When you press a key on a keyboard you already know what note is going to be produced since each key (if it is tuned correctly) is only designed to play one particular note...
This is also true to a certain extent with harmonicas: If you blow on hole 4 on a C harmonica you know you are going to play a C, if you draw on hole 2 on a C harmonica you know you are going to play a G, etc... BUT (and it's a BIG BUT this time), what if you are NOT using a C harmonica? What if you are using an F harmonica?
| BLOW | F | A | C | F | A | C | F | A | C | F |
| HOLE | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| DRAW | G | C | E | G | Bb | D | E | G | Bb | D |
We can see that the notes are completely different. In fact, if you look carefully, you will notice that to play any C Scales we will have to play in Second Position (or Cross Harp), because the holes that all played G's on the C harmonica (2 draw, 3 blow, 6 blow, and 9 blow) now all play C's on the F harmonica! And THIS is the fundamental difference: To play music in a particular key on a harmonica you will need to play in a different Position depending on the key the harmonica is tuned to. Since there are 12 different keys (A, Bb, B, C, Db, etc) there are (in theory) 12 different Positions on a single harmonica. If all harmonicas were tuned like a C harmonica then there would be no distinction between a Scale and a Position. But there are 12 different tunings (one for each key), meaning that the only thing that stays constant is the series of holes you use to play a particular position. For example, to play First Position (Straight Harp) on an F harmonica you would use exactly the same holes as you would use to play First Position on a C harmonica - however, you would produce two different Scales (F and C respectively). To play Second Position (Cross Harp) on an F harmonica you would use exactly the same holes as you would use to play Second Position on a C harmonica - but, again, you would produce two different Scales (C and G respectively).
So we only need to use one harmonica, right?
The next question you are probably asking is "So, why do we need all the other harmonica tunings if we can play all keys on a C harmonica?". Well, I'm glad you asked that question...
There are many reasons why we would want to use different key harmonicas, but there are two major reasons that justify the need on their own: (1) A diatonic harmonica covers 3 Octaves (37 notes between 1 blow to 10 blow), but there are only 10 holes on a diatonic harmonica offering a total of only 20 different notes, and two of those are identical (2 draw = 3 blow). So overall there are only 19 different notes built into a harmonica (just over half the available number). As a result, one must learn to Bend notes to achieve variation (see the next section for more detail), but this doesn't change the fact the number of Scales and Chords on a harmonica are very limited compared to (for example) a keyboard (unless you can blow and draw on different holes at the same time - in which case there are fortunes for you to be made elsewhere, I assure you!!). (2) Certain styles of music sound better in particular positions because specific sets of notes are available... For example, folk and classical music sound better in 1st Position (as Herr Richter designed it); Blues, Rock, and Country all sound best in 2nd Position (in fact 90% of all these styles are played in 2nd Position) because the Blues Scales and Chords are all perfectly positioned (remember from the previous section on 12 Bar Blues?); 3rd and 4th Position both produce Minor music, in fact 4th Position has its Tonic note (Degree I) on the Relative Minor of the harmonica - so on a C harmonica you would be playing music in the key of A, and because a Relative Minor contains the same notes as its Relative Major (remember? C Major has the same notes as A Minor?), music played in the key of A on a C harmonica will sound Minor; 5th Position has a very 'Spanish' feel to it (it is also called 'PHRYGIAN MODE' which - as mentioned before - is very popular in Andalusian music).
So how do we work out Positions?
You are unlikely to ever use more than the 1st - 5th Positions, in fact most of you will rarely use anything other than 1st, 2nd and 4th Positions, but it is still nice to understand how everything comes together. In later the section on Harmonica Scales I only cover the first 5 Positions, but these are substantial and include the Major, Minor, Blues and Pentatonic Scales (Pentatonic Scales are very popular in Country music). Something worth remembering is that to work out what key a particular Position is in you merely count UP a Perfect 5th (7 Semi-tones) from the Tonic note of the previous Position. For example, 1st Position on a C harmonica is in the key of C (easy enough to remember), to work out the key of the 2nd Position we just count UP 7 Semi-tones from C - this takes us up to G. Likewise, to calculate the key of 3rd Position on a C harmonica we just count UP another 7 Semi-tones from G - this takes us up to D. You can apply this logic backwards as well (which is probably what you are more likely to do in practise), say perhaps you want to play 2nd Position Blues in the key of A then you just count DOWN 7 Semi-tones from A - this takes you down to D. So to play 2nd Position in the key of A you need to use a D harmonica.
I have listed all the keys of all the Positions for all the different harmonica keys in a table below for your comfort and convenience (err... sorry, reference), so please feel free to use it as you wish. As I mentioned above, you will probably never need any Position above 5th, so don't get too stressed about remembering it. If you want to make your life easier when performing, then the best thing to do would be to just try and remember the keys for 2nd and 4th Positions. Sooner or later these will probably become second nature to you anyway.
Before I wrap up the harmonica music theory section I should point out that the next section deals specifically with note Bending; this is a key technique in playing harmonica Scales and music which needs to be mastered by anyone who wants to play properly - key because it allows you to reach notes that are not built into the harmonica and make them shake, warble, and cry like a baby. It is very difficult to teach Bending in written form, but I'll give it my best shot and hopefully it will help you.
Phew... I need a break...
So... There you have it! You now know more about harmonica music theory than around 95% of all amateur (and most so-called professional) harmonica players in the entire world. Give yourself a big round of applause or a pat on the back (which ever is easier), because you've come a long way very quickly. Well done! [;-)]
| Position | Other Names | Keys | |||||||||||
| Key of Harmonica | C | C#/Db | D | D#/Eb | E | F | |||||||
| 1st | 'Straight Harp' Major,
IONIAN MODE |
C | C#/Db | D | D#/Eb | E | F | ||||||
| 2nd | 'Cross Harp' Blues,
MIXYLODIAN MODE |
G | G#/Ab | A | A#/Bb | B | C | ||||||
| 3rd | 'Draw Harp' Minor,
DORIAN MODE |
D | D#/Eb | E | F | F#/Gb | G | ||||||
| 4th | Natural Minor,
AEOLIAN MODE |
A | A#/Bb | B | C | C#/Db | D | ||||||
| 5th | Minor,
PHRYGIAN MODE |
E | F | F#/Gb | G | G#/Ab | A | ||||||
| 6th | B | C | C#/Db | D | D#/Eb | E | |||||||
| 7th | F#/Gb | G | G#/Ab | A | A#/Bb | B | |||||||
| 8th | C#/Db | D | D#/Eb | E | F | F#/Gb | |||||||
| 9th | G#/Ab | A | A#/Bb | B | C | C#/Db | |||||||
| 10th | D#/Eb | E | F | F#/Gb | G | G#/Ab | |||||||
| 11th | A#/Bb | B | C | C#/Db | D | D#/Eb | |||||||
| 12th | F | F#/Gb | G | G#/Ab | A | A#/Bb | |||||||
| Position | Other Names | Keys | |||||||||||
| Key of Harmonica | F#/Gb | G | G#/Ab | A | A#/Bb | B | |||||||
| 1st | 'Straight Harp' Major,
IONIAN MODE |
F#/Gb | G | G#/Ab | A | A#/Bb | B | ||||||
| 2nd | 'Cross Harp' Blues,
MIXYLODIAN MODE |
C#/Db | D | D#/Eb | E | F | F#/Gb | ||||||
| 3rd | 'Draw Harp' Minor,
DORIAN MODE |
G#/Ab | A | A#/Bb | B | C | C#/Db | ||||||
| 4th | Natural Minor,
AEOLIAN MODE |
D#/Eb | E | F | F#/Gb | G | G#/Ab | ||||||
| 5th | Minor,
PHRYGIAN MODE |
A#/Bb | B | C | C#/Db | D | D#/Eb | ||||||
| 6th | F | F#/Gb | G | G#/Ab | A | A#/Bb | |||||||
| 7th | C | C#/Db | D | D#/Eb | E | F | |||||||
| 8th | G | G#/Ab | A | A#/Bb | B | C | |||||||
| 9th | D | D#/Eb | E | F | F#/Gb | G | |||||||
| 10th | A | A#/Bb | B | C | C#/Db | D | |||||||
| 11th | E | F | F#/Gb | G | G#/Ab | A | |||||||
| 12th | B | C | C#/Db | D | D#/Eb | E | |||||||