RE: [Harp-L] Re: Danny Boy




To answer some of these:

* The Diatonic can play a full natural scale over one octave - ie all 8
notes.  Outside this, a tune may fit, or may need bending (or even harp
swapping) to play.

* "Danny Boy" fits on a diatonic harp played "straight", all except for one
note at the end of the verse, which needs a bend.

* "Paddy Richter" is an alternative tuning, which has the 3-blow taken up a
semitone, so on a C harp, instead of having 2 Gs, you get a G and an A, thus
avoiding the bend required on a standard harp


* Brendan Power (who posts to these lists) is one supplier of this tuning,
but it is one of the more common custom tunings.
http://www.brendan-power.com/

* This isn't the only way to play this tune, but is one of the most
discussed.

* If by "the National Anthem", you mean "God Save The Queen", it can be
played straight on a standard harp, by starting on 4-blow, ie the root note
for that harp.  If you want to play it in the key written, ie G, that means
you will need a G harp.

Mike

There are two places in the first part (last syllable of "calling" and "dying") that need the missing 6th if you're playing straight harp, and one place in the second part near the end ("love"). Paddy Richter is a whole tone up on 3-blow, not a semitone. I'm a voice in the wilderness here, but I tune up 2-draw instead of 3-blow. You end up with the same notes as the "usual" Paddy Richter. Don't ask me why I've stuck with it all these years but I have. Tuning up 2-draw means you don't even have to take the reedplate off. I'm not claiming that as a good reason for doing it my way, but it helps... ;-)


http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/trad_irish_harmonica
HEAR my CD clips: http://www.gjk2.com/steveshaw/cd.htm

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