[Harp-L] Re: Harp-L Digest, Vol 129, Issue 3

[Paul Wilson <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 2 May 2014, at 1:33 pm, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 1 May 2014 14:19:53 -0400 (EDT)
> From: philharpn@xxxxxxx
> Subject: [Harp-L] sax-trumpet cross training
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Message-ID: <8D1338114FFF27A-331C-AE9A@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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> Have any sax or trumpet players found their "horn" background/techniques helpful to playing harp?

I played both tenor sax and trumpet before switching to harp a few years ago.

The biggest change in approach related to breath - especially in 2nd position where most of the effort is on the inbreath. In sax and trumpet it’s the reverse. Takes a bit of training to learn to slow down the inbreath. Yoga helps too.

Does the connection comes in handy? 

Yes … if you’ve played horn in the back line of bands. If you have, you quickly learn that you’re NOT playing most of the time. This discipline of appreciating when not to play is a rarity with scratch harp players it seems.

I wouldn’t classify myself as a great player, but I am regularly asked to join bands because (well at least one person told me this) I am happy NOT to play. Do a horn line now and then, do a fill now and then, then shut up. 

One other similarity I have discovered: a good mic & cupping technique enables you to sound like a tenor sax and/or muted trumpet. But only if the band is not too loud, and if the harp register is appropriate.