[Harp-L] slide chrom v short harp

[George Brooks <gbrooks1@xxxxxxxxx>]

Chris Michalek wrote:

>Learn the guitar or keyboard first....

>This is Peloquin's secret. What really sucks is that he's a better
>harmonica player than most and it's not his first instrument.

I think this is great advice, with the caveat that I believe, along 
with Michael Peloquin, that piano is better than guitar for learning 
how music works.

Howard Levy, who is also a better harmonica player than most (and 
whether you like his music or not, this is unquestionably true), was 
playing piano and composing music before he ever picked up a harmonica. 
 Mike Turk, one of the heaviest jazz harmonica players in the world, 
went to Berklee, where they required him to play another instrument 
(sax, I think), and he plays piano, too.  William Galison plays guitar 
and piano in addition to killer button chromatic and short harp.  Many 
of the great horn players from the be-bop era could play piano well, 
including Charlie Parker.

I think it's incredibly hard figuring out where all the notes are on a 
diatonic harmonica.  On a piano, it's easy, and the understanding that 
you gain will transfer back to harp.  I don't claim that it's easy to 
play piano well, but it *is* easy to play, say, an Eb in any octave.  
It's incredibly easy to play simple chords on piano, to (for instance) 
play a C major triad, lower the 3rd degree by a semitone to play the C 
minor triad, then lower the fifth degree by a semitone to produce the C 
diminished triad.  You'll *see* the chord on the keyboard and *hear* it 
at the same time.

The digital revolution has some very scary aspects, but one beneficial 
result is inexpensive consumer-level keyboards with very good piano 
sounds.  For under $100.00, you can buy a small keyboard with a decent 
piano sound at a big box store.  If you had the knowledge of a Richard 
Hunter (the List's reigning champ of good-but-really-cheap), you could 
probably negotiate the waters of Ebay and come up with something 
serviceable for the price of a harp or two.

George