[Harp-L] Re: Which Hole Number?



"That's probably because Sax's players need to have the scale in mind all the time, not like in our case that is, we can easily grab the right harp key."

That's not really true. It's not like a C harp just automatically plays in the key of C with no effort. In fact, you are most likely playing it in G, right? And in order to play that C harp in G, you have to play certain holes in a certain way. You are probably playing in and around the pentatonic scale, or if in 1st position, the major scale, even though you may not know every note of these scales.

The assumption that diatonic harps are easy to play in key is a common mistake among beginners. Even a diatonic harp is effectively a chromatic instrument that can be played in any key. Some are easier than others, but there is nothing magical about the instrument that keeps us in the proper key. That is an acquired skill based on familiarity with the instrument, good pitch hearing, and/or musical knowledge.

My point is that there is no fundamental difference between sax and harp in terms of one or the other always being in the right key or not requiring any knowledge of scales. You are doing the same thing as your sax player friend... you just don't know as much about it. And it is definitely worth learning more about what you are doing. Not only will this help you to do it better and more creatively, but it will also lead you to try other things that you aren't currently attempting.

Jonathan Metts



This archive was generated by a fusion of Pipermail 0.09 (Mailman edition) and MHonArc 2.6.8.