Re: [Harp-L] Reading Music



Paul Bowering wrote:
I posted this a couple days back but forgot a subject header so I'll re-ask.

How do you account for the harp's diatonic layout when reading. I can read for
other instruments but always think in terms of playing a 'C' harmonica
regardless of what key I'm actually using. Do the readers here make a written or
mental transposition? Or, do you just read and know where a note lies regardless
of harp key and position?
Didn't see a response to your question.

I read music because I first learned instruments for which instruction usually includes reading - first piano, then trombone. I envision music relative to a piano keyboard.

Anyhow, when I read music, I pretend that I am playing in whatever key the music specifies. I locate the tonic for the key/instrument/position in which I am to actually play. From then on, I just read intervals. I have trained myself to quickly read intervals in music, and because of the way I practice, those intervals are second nature for me to play on my instrument. Brings my sight-reading speed from glacial to slow.

I didn't see it in the discussion under this subject, but my reason for wanting to be able to read music lies in playing with larger bands. (Same would be true if I were playing with an orchestra.) If I am not a guest artist like Larry Adler, there is no time for the leader/conductor to sing my part to me and everyone else.

It is not easy to memorize a part for an instrument in a section of a large organization right away. Usually, you will slip into and out of the lead to harmony and rhythmic counterpoint. Also, your part may be similar to but different from the guy with the same instrument sitting next to you. It is common to make notes on written music about metric variations or other comments the leader may make during rehearsal. To do that, you have to know where you are.

But as a member of a small band, I let my ear do the job. I certainly don't need to see any written music. I don't even have to be able to read the chord blocks. My ear will quickly identify the chord and the scale will be immediately obvious to me. I do read music when I am not certain of or can't recall some part of the music, say, the bridge from a tune or a complicated head. In my case, mostly for jazz.

[Sidetrip] By the way, I am proud to say that I have played mostly as a sideman. I believe that sideman is one of the most challenging musical jobs and my respect for good sidemen is unbounded. Above all, since a sideman's job #1 is making others look good, they have the most practiced ears. If I had a mind to, I could probably rip off any pop tune on a single hearing. No written music need apply.

-LM



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