[Harp-L] Re: High A harmonica?


On Nov 11, 2004, at 6:20 PM, Rick Dempster wrote:

I'm with you on this Joe;

Jeez, I appreciate that. I was beginning to think I was alone.

"....As most of the work on Richter tuned harps is done on the lower half of the
harp anyway, and since the upper half is set up differently
anyway, Charlie only needs the lower half of the higher pitched harp,
and so it really doesn't come off as all that shrill"..............

I see the high G (I don't own a high A; I might file up a high G yet) as being
dynamically similar to playing in 1st position; A bit like a clarinet or the upper range of a piccolo trumpet, depending
on what you are playing.

Ahh yes, that's what I was getting at. Listen to Jimmy Reed, some of his stuff is very shrill but then he is in 1st position on an ALREADY high harp. But if you are using the higher harps for second or third, you're actually down 4 steps and into their "Subdominant" range (exampl: Hi G plays in D MEDIUM). And WHAT you are playing makes all the difference in the world. I happen to dabble in clarinet and some keys sound OK, while others are just too "Pinchy" due to the relative proximities and combinations in that particular tune.

I often use the low G while backing up, and switch for the solo.

Same here. I switch because I need to to overcome the high sound volume of the other instruments. They seem to conspire to make white noise and blank out all LOW sonic sounds.

I find that unless my A harp is really fresh and bright, I am likely to get
drowned, even though my regular band plays very soft and mellow.

Exaactly, eveen soft & mellow for a band is way beyond the tonal "carry" of a harp in the low ranges.

I think the tonal qualities of standard-tuned guitars playing in E are
probably even heavier than the same played in D.

That is beyond my thinking. I know very little about guitars.

Rick Dempster




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