3rd position blues scale and how to start improvising with it

Jun 1, 2016 | Advanced Intermediate Harmonica Lessons

Hello and welcome to this week’s harmonica lesson where I will be showing you how you can use your knowledge of 2nd position to play in 3rd position.

For this lesson you will need a harmonica in the key of C.




How to play the blues scale in 3rd position (middle octave)

First of all, lets have a look at how to play the blues scale in 3rd position middle octave starting on the 4 draw.

3rd position blues scale

Shape of the scale

You might have noticed that the ‘shape’ of the scale is quite similar to 2nd position – draw, draw blow, draw bend, draw, until the last two notes which are the other way around – blow then draw

How can you use this idea?

Well, you can take any of your favourite blues licks in 2nd position between 2 draw and 6 blow (for now) and move them up two holes to make them 3rd position.

The only thing to watch out for is the 5 draw and 6 blow which in 3rd position become the 7 blow and 8 draw.

Experiment – You will find some of your moves don’t work. But, you will also find that some of them do and that will help you get a little more comfortable in 3rd position.

This will get much easier the more you practice playing the blues scale in 3rd position.

Thank you

Thank you so much for taking part in this lesson. I hope it was useful for you. If you enjoyed this lesson, please share it with your friends.

See you again for the next harmonica video!

Check out these other lessons…

Slapping The Blues – Harmonica Tutorial + Tabs + Backing Track

Slapping The Blues – Harmonica Tutorial + Tabs + Backing Track

In this week's lesson, I'm going to show you how to play tongue slaps so that you can play a fun 12 Bar Blues tune called Slapping The Blues. https://youtu.be/Bv_ktA9fGFY This lesson is taken from my harmonica school curriculum and is for Advanced Intermediate...

New Year Harmonica Resolution – Start As You Mean To Go On!

New Year Harmonica Resolution – Start As You Mean To Go On!

Hello and welcome to the first lesson of 2022! Happy New Year! I hope you had a good break over the festive period and are all excited about starting up again? Because it is the first lesson of 2022 I thought it would be a good idea to set some personal goals for your...

Learn Blues Harmonica