Understanding Diatonic Harmonica Positions

When you first start learning the harmonica you may come across the term “position”. For example, a song might be in “first position” or “second position” which for the most part doesn’t matter if you’re simply learning a song that has been transcribed by somebody else, however it’s very important if you’re transcribing songs or simply want to make the most out of your instrument. In this post I’ll break down exactly what harmonica positions are and how they apply to the diatonic harmonica.

This lesson assumes that you have an understanding of what musical keys are (C, C#, D etc) and the circle of fifths (or just how to find the perfect fifth from any given note).

Typically diatonic harmonicas are tuned in a way such that the blows and draws of each hole match the notes in the major scale of the key that it is tuned to. For example, a C harmonica is tuned so that a simple blow or draw will only give you a note in the C major scale rather than any sharp or flat notes. This approach gives the most notes in the most octaves possible for that key, however there are plenty more notes available if techniques such as bending are used. These notes do not all fit into the major key that the harmonica is tuned to. C diatonic harmonicas can actually play all the notes from C4 up to C7 using bends and overblows which is where positions come into play.

First position

The first position of the harmonica will always match the key that it is tuned to. First position on a C harmonica will be C, first position on a G harmonica will be G. Playing any notes in this position will always play the corresponding major scale, and most songs can be played in first position by using a harmonica of the correct key. Naturally, this means if you wanted to play many different songs you would need to own many different harmonicas and swap between them. Changing position offers a set of notes that belong to a different key and a slightly different timbre (sound).

Second position

To get to the second position, you must move to the right of the circle of fifths, or move up to the perfect fifth. In the case of a C harmonica, the perfect fifth up from C major is G, therefore second position contains the notes of the G major scale. As a matter of fact, moving to another position one perfect fifth up will always be a major scale. This lesson does not cover modes and their relation to positions as that is a more complex subject. Playing notes in the second position, commonly referred to as “cross harp”, provides a more bluesy sound because bends are required to get those notes which introduces imperfections in pitch.

Third position and beyond

Similarly to the second position, you can access the third position by moving one perfect fifth up from the second position. If G major is the second position, then moving clockwise around the circle of fifths gives D major. Playing in this position requires a new and different set of holes and bends to the previous two positions. To summarise, using this knowledge you could now use a C harmonica to play a song that is in the key of G major or in the key of D major.

You can continue to move clockwise around the circle of fifths until you reach C again and you will have discovered all twelve positions, so does this mean you can play any song you want just using a C harmonica? Not exactly. As the position increases, the number of notes available in each key becomes smaller and smaller, and the techniques required to get them become more difficult. For example, in second position (G major) you may only need to use bends, but once you reach sixth position (B major) almost all notes will be bends and overblows at which point it is more suitable to use a different harmonica. Also, using a different position heavily reduces the chord possibilities due to needing to focus on single holes to achieve notes in that position.