RE: Irish music on the XB-40

["james conway" <harp3333@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Glad to hear of your adventure with the key of G XB-40, James. Did you try 
>any of those "slurry" Gm fiddle tunes like "Farewell to Miltown Malbay" or 
>"Eileen Curran"? Would they tend to work on a bender in first position, or 
>would you be more likely to play them on an F harp?
>
>Bob Laughton

Hello Bob. Yes, I did try doing some G dorian minor tunes on the G XB-40. 
The notes in the G dorian minor
scale that require bends on a G XB-40 are Bb and F natural. The interesting 
thing  is that these notes can be found in more than one place on this harp 
due to the whole-step bendablility on every hole.  On a G XB  you can get Bb 
by bending 5 blow down a half step or by bending 5 draw down a whole step. 
You can get the F natural by taking the 7 draw down a half step or the 7 
blow down a whole step. Actually, I believe all the notes in the 3 octave 
chromatic scales available on this harp can be played in two different ways 
with the exception of a few. Now as far as which way I played a specific 
note(example: Bb on the 5 blow bend or 5 draw bend) depended on the phrasing 
of the tune  that I was playing and the notes that preceded and/or followed 
the Bb. I still need to work with this beast a lot longer to decide if I'm 
going to bring my 3rd position dorian minor tunes over to 1st position 
dorian minor. I strongly doubt it since I like using my tonic minor 
chord(456 draw and 89 10 draw ) for rhythmic chording along with the melody. 
I'm glad there's a Low F available. That'll be my likely choice for G dorian 
minor. Again, it'll depend on the tune at hand,it's sweet spots, and how you 
want to express it.
cheers,
James
www.jimmyconway.com
www.thesprigs.com

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