Re: Harp and the NOSE & Misc.

[Jack Ely <IMS_ELY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

    (I've been trying to catch up with the HARP-L mail for over a week. I had 
    to take a couple work breaks.  :-)  With your indulgence I will comment on 
    various posts/questions which may be a little old).
    
    SUBJECT: Nose Open vs. Nose Closed:
    
    	Pete Pedersen once said in a seminar that ALL air, in or out, goes 
    through his harmonica (and empathizes this is the way it should be). I've 
    watched him closely and I think he practices what he preaches. This must 
    take incredible breath control.
    
    SUBJECT: Soaking (Non-Wooden) Chromatic Harps:
    
    	This "trick" came from Dick Gardner. For a quick, emergency cleansing 
    and sealing of the slide mechanism. Run water in your cupped hand and with 
    your other hand run the harmonica (mouthpiece  down) through this make 
    shift trough while working the slide rapidly. Do not submerge the 
    harmonica beyond the depth of the mouth piece assembly. And - be careful 
    to tap excess water out before you turn the harmonica upright - then play 
    a bunch of draw notes, slide in / slide out to get rid of more water. This 
    results in a kind of lubricating and sealing treatment. Gives the same, if 
    not a little better, results as warming up your harmonica by playing it a 
    few minutes before a gig. The harmonica will "bark like a dog" -- for a 
    while. [I don't recommend doing this with a wood combed harmonica - maybe 
    the older laminated wood Herings would stand up to it].
    
    SUBJECT: FAQ:
    
    I agree that we need it - I agree that it should be information, not 
    misinformation. It's good that we are all reminded that a FAQ should 
    contain "Factual Answers to Questions". ;)
    
    Hopefully Winslow will accept nomination as fact finder/verifier and many 
    thanks go to ????? (Sorry, I'll have to look up the name) for volunteering 
    to be Gopher editor.
    
    Someone suggested both graphics (whatever format) and ASCII be included 
    because we don't all possess the tools to download / view / hear pictures 
    and sounds. Again I agree.
    
    Who invented the harmonica? - I don't think anyone really knows - so it 
    could be stated that there are at least three credited with it. Frederik 
    Buschman (sp.), Mathias Hohner, ?? Weiss - Giving M. Hohner exclusive 
    credit is like crediting Sears for inventing hand tools.
    
    SUBJECT: LEARNING CHROMATIC:
    
    Jim C. writes...
    
    >I'm starting to play chromatic and would like to get comfortable playing 
    >in most popular keys.  I'm memorizing diatonic scales in the keys of 
    >interest to me and have found it difficult to move (transpose) a song or 
    >lick from one key to another.  It's much easier on guitar where you can 
    >see the fretboard or simply move the capo.  Does anyone have any tricks 
    >or techniques for learning to play in different keys on the chromatic and 
    >for moving songs from one key to another?  I'm also interested in any 
    >other insights into playing chromatic.
    
    Scales is where it's at...
    a) Learn the C scale
    b) Learn the C chromatic scale
    c) Learn the major scales progressing through the circle of fifths.
       (reason - you flat the 7th note as you progress, previously flatted     
       notes remain) - there's a similar rule when you hit the sharp keys but     
       I don't remember. Cham-Ber Huang's method pointed this out - I suppose 
       a good theory book would as well.
    d) Do all this by READING notes.
    e) A Pete Pedersen tip - Learn to play a real easy song, like Mary Had A    
       Little Lamb, in every key. Going up a half step each time through. Try 
       to find a simple song where the last note becomes the first note of the 
       next key you are going to play it in.
    f) There is no shortcut - If you want to see some results a little sooner 
       you might try some songs in F which lays pretty nice on the chromatic. 
       A minor - the relative minor to C - is pretty easy, you may be playing 
       in A minor without realizing it. Try playing "When Johnny Comes       
       Marching Home" - it will come out in A minor even if you are playing by 
       ear - and the key signature won't give you a clue if you're reading it 
       from sheet music written in C.
    g) If you already play another instrument, especially keyboard, you have a    
       jump on the rest of us. If you don't, you might want to consider    
       learning some keyboard. Heck, there's even music software out there -    
       and we're computer geeks aren't we? I've seen the Miracle Piano System       
       for about $200 bucks recently.
    h) Get hold of some good drills - I was just listening to a tape of our    
       'Ask The Pros' panel discussion from BHF '94 and Don Les ;-( says
       (something like) "If you learn the proper drills then it's not so   
       difficult to learn a difficult new song because you've already been 
       there". [Winslow - we must hypnotize you so you can recall the drills
       Don mentioned in your conversation at SPAH].
    i) I never did any of the above - So if you ever meet me you'll understand       
       why I'm such a lousy player.
    
    ...I've been piece mealing this post together for over a week now so my
       apologies for any redundancies...
    
         Jack Ely - Columbus, Ohio  --New Addr--> IMS_ELY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx