[Harp-L] another harp experience

[Moandabluz@xxxxxxx]

   I thought I would share this harp experience with the list. Last night I 
played the national anthem prior to a high school hockey game here in 
Minnesota. I just played through the mic that the PA announcer uses, but with a big 
rink made of metal (tin?) and that big sheet of ice, the built in reverb and 
"big" sound was pretty cool. 
   I debated for awhile how to approach this, but ended up playing 
traditional style.. I used a B-flat Sp20 harp in first position and played it on the 
bottom octave. This required some bending, but it helped with the expression, I 
thought. I had considered a melody maker at one point, or maybe a low D and the 
middle octave.    
   The trickiest bend was on the line "Oh say does that STAR SPANGLED banner" 
where you have to play a 3 draw bend three notes in a row. Try that on a 
stock harp when you are nervous. I don't know for sure how close I came to the 
right pitch, but people seemed to like it.   
   
Still a fool for the Harp
Steve 'Moandabluz' Webb