[Harp-L] Major cross

Bob Laughton bob@xxxxx
Wed Feb 8 18:10:15 EST 2017


I play fiddle and harmonica, and find that many up-tempo melodies are
easier to start on an up-bow, while others work better starting out with
down-bowing. It sets up the tune to take advantage of the instrument and
vice-versa.

Similarly, Irish accordion players mostly use diatonic two-row button
boxes tuned in B/C and rarely play '1st position' in either of those keys
- the awkward two-row fingering sequences to play the most common scales
of D major and G major are eventually mastered when you are learning.
Interestingly, there is also a slightly less-popular tuning of C#/D, and
in that case the tunes in D-major are played diatonically. And of course
... endless debates over 'cross-fingering' versus 'push-pull' styles of
playing.

I look forward to trying out one of Tony's harps!

Cheers,
Bob Laughton in California



More information about the Harp-L mailing list