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Hi Fugz. A good book that will explain how to jam in first position and second position is Rock n' Blues Harmonica by Jon Gindick. http://www.harmonicastore.com/instruct_books.shtml

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In order to use different scales (with any instrument) on a song, you need to know what chords are being played and then learn and use the appropriate scale for the chord change. This is called CHORDAL IMPROV and is very common with every instrument except harmonica.

For instance, on a "C" diatonic when you are playing in the key of "G" for 2nd position, the C scale now becomes the IV chord (sub-dominant) relative to the 2nd position key of "G". Therefore, you can play the 1st position C Major Scale over the IV chord in any song that has a IV chord in it when it occurs.

If you leave out the hole 5 draw (the 4th degree of the scale) and the hole 7 draw (the 7th degree of the scale), you are now officially playing a C Major Penatonic scale with works great on any C Major chord in any style of music. This scale can be played in 3 different octaves on a diatonic.

This approach I am describing for diatonic is call TARGET SCALES which is the big brother to the TARGET NOTE system found on the BASIC BLUES IMPROV page. A full advanced study of Target Scales is planned for the site, but I have about 12 bigger projects to get to first.

Play on,
(Dave, signed in as. . .)
Webmaster

Why do you say that Chordal Improvisation is uncommon with the harmonica?

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Therefore, when playing in the key of G, the G scale becomes the tonic chord and the D scale becomes the sub-dominant chord, if I may expand upon your analogy?

Why do you say that Chordal Improvisation is uncommon with the harmonica?

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Close. The D scale is the dominant chord (V chord) and the C scale is the sub-dominant chord (IV chord).
The V chord scale for 2nd position would be as follows:
1D 2B 2D-b 3D-bb 3D 4D
Notes on a "C" DIATONIC- D E F# A B D
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"Why do you say that Chordal Improvisation is uncommon with the harmonica?"

Because aside from myself and a few others, most players, especially blues players, will play modally. That is, they take one scale or set of notes and use them for the whole song regardless of the chord changes. Examples would be: John Popper, Mickey Raphael, Paul Butterfield, James Cotton. Playing modally (versus playing "over the changes") is not a bad or good thing, it's just what most harmonica players do.

Play on,
(Dave logged in as. . .)
Webmaster

-During the I chord, choose notes from the G blues scale to improv with.
-During the IV chord, choose notes from the C blues scale to improv with.
-During the V chord, choose notes from the D blues scale to improv with.

Is this correct? All my friends play guitar or bass (none of them play harmonica), so I literally have no idea if I'm barking up the right tree or not.

Thanks,
Bob

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So, would it be safe to say that if one is jamming out to a G-C-D blues improv, the following guidelines would hold true:

-During the I chord, choose notes from the G blues scale to improv with.
-During the IV chord, choose notes from the C blues scale to improv with.
-During the V chord, choose notes from the D blues scale to improv with.

Is this correct? All my friends play guitar or bass (none of them play harmonica), so I literally have no idea if I'm barking up the right tree or not.

Thanks,
Bob

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-During the I chord, choose notes from the G blues scale or a "G" country scale (G major pentatonic- G A B D E G). Whatever flavor you want.

-During the IV chord (assuming it's Major), choose notes from the C Major pentatonic scale (C D E G A C) to improv with.

-During the V chord (assuming it's Major), choose notes from the D Major pentatonic scale (D E F# A B D) to improv with.

Other than the I chord, if the chord is major- play a major pentatonic; if the chord is minor- play a minor pentatonic. This works for all instruments.

Play on,
Webmaster

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Dave...This is meat and potatoes kind of information. I was just wondering if you could further clarify "playing modally"? When you say that you choose one scale and use it for the whole song, should the scale that you choose be the tonic scale? And if so, would the notes that you play for each chord change encompass all of the notes in the scale or would they be a subsection of the tonic scale?

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"When you say that you choose one scale and use it for the whole song, should the scale that you choose be the tonic scale?"

YES. THIS IS HOW MOST HARMONICA PLAYERS SOLO. MOST PLAYERS DON'T GO ABOUT LEARNING SCALES, THEY JUST PLAY NOTES BASED ON RIFFS THEY LEARNED AND THE NOTES ULTIMATELY MAKE SOME SORT OF TONIC SCALE WHICH USUALLY ENDS UP BEING AN AMALGAM OF THE BLUES AND COUNTRY SCALES-
http://www.harmonicalessons.com/scales.html

"would the notes that you play for each chord change encompass all of the notes in the scale or would they be a subsection of the tonic scale"

I'M NOT SURE I UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION, BUT THE ANSWER IS YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT THAT SOUNDS GOOD. THIS ISN'T A COP-OUT ANSWER, BUT THE WAY IT IS. THERE ARE MANY, MANY WAYS TO APPROACH IMPROV. LEARN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN AND THEN LET YOUR EAR BE YOUR GUIDE. (By the way, not yelling here, just trying to differentiate the questions and answers).

Play on,
dg

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Thanks for clarifying a lot of stuff, but, I guess it's true, you have to feel the music and try not to get bogged down with too much theory. If that happens, then the music becomes less expressive and more mechanical. How much do you charge for private lessons?

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Good luck,
Dave Gage

http://www.harmonicalessons.com
Listen to CD Song Samples-
http://www.davegage.com/sound.html