I first started playing the harmonica about half my life ago, around 2005. (Go ahead, do the math. No, that’s not a very long life.)

When I joined Twitter in 2009, I needed to select my first significant username. I went with one of my favorite ways to play the harmonica: “fifthposition”.

Like Music Theory, but on a Harmonica!

In harmonica-speak, a “position” refers to the first note of the scale you play on a given harmonica (“harp”). First position means playing the harmonica in its original key: for a C harmonica, you play in the key of C. Positions follow the circle of fifths; second position on a C harp begins with G, third with D, fourth with A, and fifth with E.

A 10-hole diatonic harmonica has 20 reeds (thus 20 notes, across three octaves). Richter tuning, possibly used by every harmonica you’ve ever seen, enables us to reach notes not technically included in those 20 reeds, but playing a complete chromatic scale across the full range of the diatonic harmonica is an incredibly advanced ability that is probably out of the reach of most professionals.

Instead, we basically play in modes of the key the harp is in. First position is Ionian, second is Mixolydian; fifth position is Phrygian. For a C (major) harmonica, each reed is tuned to match a white key on the piano. Though we can’t easily get every note of every key on one diatonic, on a C harp, fifth position includes almost every note of the key of E minor.

I’ve always appreciated minor keys. Fifth position, particularly in the first four holes, has some beautiful bends and tremendously moody character. I recommend it.

Further Reading

If this sort of thing interests you, I also recommend Building Harmonica Technique by David Barrett and The C Harmonica Book by James Major.