Harmonica tabs blues harp tablature 3rd position songs minor. This music will fit well for travel france, beach vacation, love and cool situations. Third position blues harmonica tunes, harmonica lessons. There are plenty of other positions worthy of exploration and overbending has come of age, but these three positions provide the foundation of classic harmonica blues.
On the c harp, the 4 draw is a d note, and 3rd position is the art of playing your c harp in the key of d. But third position isnt just for psychedelic latin bluesrock. Harmonica lesson 3rd position blues scale and how to. A contemporary blues harp player should be proficient in second, third and first position. Our harmonica playing overview section is an introductory primer on the two most important types of harmonicas, which harmonica to get, and the 1st and 2nd playing positions. If the music is in the key of c, then using a c harmonica is playing in 1st position.
Third position is when the one draw hole is the root note, so for example if youre playing a c harp in 3rd position youd be in the key of d. The notes in this scale are exactly the same as mimor pentatonic scale in 5th position. An earlier article harmonica world feb mar 2009 covered 3rd position blues basics. This harmonica playing general info section is an introduction to the two most important types of harmonicas, which harmonica to get, and the difference between 1st and 2nd playing positions. In this blues harmonica lesson, liam ward gives you a simple trick to get.
A great position for minor blues and lends its self to octave style playing. For the technically minded, 1st position is the key of the harmonica e. Carolans dream played on celtic harp by mark harmer. This style of playing is called 1st position or straight harp. There are numerous techniques available for harmonica, including bending, overbending, and tongue blocking. If you cant do this bend yet, then just play the 6d twice. Blues harp 2nd position blues harp or cross harp denotes a playing technique that originated in the blues music culture, and refers to the diatonic harmonica itself, since this is the kind that is most commonly used to play blues. Recall that the blues scale was introduced in a previous article octnov for 2nd position. When i first started to learn to play, the amount of instructional material was limited to a single tutor and source material was very hard to come by.
Last dance with mary jane for example, the tom petty song last dance with mary jane has harp breaks in the key of aminor. The blue highway one of the best blues sites on the web with tributes to blues greats and a blues mall for finding blues music and merchandise, a blues radio list and links to blues related sites. Third position uses a harmonica one tone below the tune key a g harmonica for blues in a, a d harmonica for blues in e etc. Third position blues has notes not available in second position. Third position uses a harmonica a key below the key of the tune so a d harmonica for blues in e, an g harmonica for blues in a etc. What lays out most naturally is a minor key scale, and an easy to play blues style. C on a c harmonica, 2nd position is a 4th below that g on a c harmonica, 3rd position is another 4th down d on a c harmonica. This page shows how the blues scale can be played in three different keys on a single harmonica. Thank you for your explanation marc, just to clarify, for the i chord we have d f a c, for the iv chord g bb d f and for the v chord a c e f and the reason we play in third position is that as we know have a flat 3rd, there is know a more bluesy feel to the music. Funky harp shows you how to play in third position and add the dorian scale to your musical repertoire. Third position blues learn how to play great blues harp.
Piano and harmonica duet playing a very relaxed and sensual bossa nova music. The iv chord in 3rd position the one you move to in bars 5, 6 and 10 of a twelve bar blues corresponds to cross harp from draw hole two, so you can slip in some familiar 2nd position licks as long as you remember to flatten draw hole three to keep things sounding minor. Modern powerful heavy blues tune featuring rums, live electric bass, live overdriven guitar and blues harp. Lots of sound clips, pictures and blues and harp related links. Learners generally start with simple melodies in first position in the key of the harmonica, then move to second position blues e. Jan 25, 2009 the easiest scale to play in 4th and 5th position is the minor pentatonic.
How to play third position blues on a harmonica harmonica. But when say i play in d with harp g in third position, how do you know that you play in 3rd without having the corresponding tab either in 1st or 2nd to be tranlated in 3rd. Advanced live brothers gage videos dave gage music youtube. After the 10th kim dae hwan memorialday in seoul, korea 1st march, 2014 blues harp. For example, on c harp, g major pentatonic scale and e minor pentatonic scale are the same thing. First position blues learn how to play great blues harp. And i will show you how you can use your 2nd position licks to. The blues harp is designed for this specific blues sound, but thanks to the modular system it can easily be adjusted and changed to anything you want it to be easy, quickly, at any time. One, they needed a small, compact unit, without any chromatic buttons or double reeds.
Positions refer to the position of the key of the tune, relative to the key harp you choose, on the circle of fifths. An instruction method for playing the blues harmonica tony little sun glover tony little sun glover b. Click here to get the full lesson and chart for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Visit the url above, start the middle player on the page to hear how the 3rd position blues scale sounds. Nov 07, 2018 and then theres one for if i really want to be super minory. There are good reasons, they are harder to sound than the lower ones, the breathing pattern reverses, and, for second position blues there is no flat third. Based on my own listening and experimenting, i think his specific harp part is played on a g harp in 3rd position. Specifically, using a c harp i will provide harmonica tablature to play the blues scale in c first position, g second position, and d third position. Heres the quickanddirty way to play third position harp. King biscuit time awesome blues site with focus on blues harmonica. For intermediate and advanced players most beginning students can spend a few hours or days with one of my beginning methods, and are then ready to start working with these products. Most of my private students can play better blues and rock harp after one hour than i could after three or four months on my own. Hello, with oh when the saint in 1st and second position i understand how to play something in 1st po and translate in 2nd.
Gussow blues harmonica tutorials on youtube 66128xtra. Using an f harmonica is playing in 2nd position, and using a d harmonica is playing in 3rd. For third position the notes are 4d 5b 5d 6b 6d 6d 7b 8d. While youre stuck at home, make the most of your time by learning a new language, skill, or even train for a remotework job with our new premium online courses. Gussow blues harmonica tutorials on youtube complete. This lesson is aimed at players who want to give third position a go. Watch a few samples of stephanies harp music videos taken from past performances to get a feel for having a harpist at your special event. This is not a pure instructional page but more a series of pointers from someone who has been playing blues harp for more than 40 years. The most popular tends to be the second position or first position, if youre a folk guy or a blues guy. May 31, 2008 history will show that your best blues harp players used mostly cheaper blues harps like the standard issue one around 20 dollars. Today i will teach you how to play the blues scale in 3rd position middle octave. For the 5th position, just play the major pentatonic scale of 2nd position. Hello, in todays harmonica lesson i will be explaining how positions work on harmonica.