Re: Positions, chromatics, jams and an unholy mess

[Mark Crowley <Mark.Crowley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

hi

Been falling on my face at jams too much lately  - 3/4s of the music played isn't blues -  its all minor key "new rock" (not that I mind the different music)

there is a belief out there that all songs can be played either cross or straight harp. If yr lucky and the guitarist does happen to know what key the piece is in they'll always demand thats the same key harp yu need.  Eg, if it's a song in A you obviously need an A harp. simple - quit yr whining.

Have been learning 3rd position and lately 4th and 5th position..... to try and maintain a semblance of playing in key

This is still no remedy - its taking up to half the song to figure out what I should be playing - juggling up to 3 or 4 harps - or walking away in disgust playing nothing at all.

Does a single chromatic solve these problems?

At least a single chromatic can provide you with all the notes to learn lots and lots of scales in different modes and keys -  doesn't it? (I realise we are talking about going back to square one and years and years of work here)

But don't chroms have different layouts too.. in diff keys... so you are still going to possibly require an armory of those? (lets not talk about overblows on diatonics, please - i will never be the guy that plays 12 keys on a diatonic)

whats the point of a valved diatonic (suzuki promasters) versus a chromatic?

should i be looking at determining the most common keys these characters are playing in and fitting up with those minor key LO's instead?

or should i buy a chrom in C and start learning my scales all over again? 
or do I buy 3 chroms in different keys as well?

I've been looking at key charts, scale charts, harp charts until my pupils are spinning..

Wile E Coyote -  falling off that cliff into space every day - thats me.

mark