Cross Harp Keys Update!

[G.Jackson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

I was just re reading my post about cross harp keys AFTER I sent it.
A stupid way to work, sorry.

I realise I have made one our two errors of grammar. I hope that it
still reads resonably for you all.

This is for the beginers among us.

I ought to have said that if you start to play a tune in a different 
position than 1st position C (on a C harp). Then you are more than
likley to be playing it a different key, or CROSS HARPING as it is
commonly known.

Mind you If you start on G on a C harp you may still be in the Key of C.
So you have to play around a bit to work out where you are.
A piano/synth/guitar can help establish the key you are in, if your not sure.

This next bit is not usually (in books I have looked at anyway) mentioned.

If you play in a different key to the home key of the harp, not all the notes
of the scale will be available. Some may be with bending others will not.

This is obvious when you think about it, but not that obvious when you first
discover that you can plat in more than one key on the same diatonic harp.
At the begining I assumed if it was a C harp or tin whistle and I played
a tune on it, then that tune was in C!

Yes, you can laugh but it's true, and I bet I'm not the only one who was
confused by it all.

On a piano or keyboard intsrument, starting on ANY WHITE NOTE and playing
ONLY WHITE NOTES, until you get back to the note you played first but one
OCTAVE higher you will be playing a scale of some sort.
The CROSS HARP table in my last posting gives a little simple information
about those scales.

I hope this clarifies things a bit more, and I'm sorry I did not think to
include it in the first posting.

Mind you, as I said you don't always find the information in starter books.
All manuals seem to begin on chapter two, have you noticed?

Gordon Jackson.

E-MAIL to  GJackson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx