Re: [Harp-L] Don Les / arpeggios

[Michael Rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>]

What is the purpsoe of a position?
Michael Rubin
Michaelrubinharmonica.com


On Tue, Jan 8, 2013 at 1:29 PM, Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> Michael Rubin wrote:
> <<Richard says:
> <<Sure, it's always important to know how a chord relates to the key you're
> <<in.  I'm all for it. Every player should know how chords work. But the
> <<technique for playing an arpeggio does not change when the position
> changes.
> <<
> <True, but as you move from harp to harp, the technique and hole order for
> <playing the cross harp blues scale never changes,  barring muscle control
> for lower or high harps.  And it is the same for any melodic line, which is
> exactly what an arpeggio is, a melodic line.  That is the POINT of
> positions, learn it one time and switch harps, you are in the same position
> and the harp changes the key for you.
>
> First, an arpeggio is not a melodic line--it's a broken chord.  Its
> function may or may not be melodic.  There are plenty of examples from the
> classical music canon of arpeggios used for a rhythmic and/or harmonic
> function, for example.
>
> Second, I don't understand the above argument at all.  So you change harps
> and the key changes.  So?  Or rather, so what?  How does that affect the
> playability of a C arpeggio on a C harp?
>
> My argument is this: you play a C major arpeggio on a C harp using the
> same techniques and the same notes, REGARDLESS OF THE FUNCTION OF A C CHORD
> IN THE KEY YOU'RE PLAYING IN.  The argument has nothing to do with changing
> harps.
>
> Any questions?
>
> Regards, Richard Hunter
>
> author, "Jazz Harp"
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>