Re: [Harp-L] re:modes and positions

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

IronMan Mike Curtis wrote:
<4th is by far my favorite position for playing in minor  
<mode.  And I use it a lot for major modes, too.  3Dbb 3D 4Db 4D 5B  
<6Bb 6Db 6D.  It's not hard - really.

I'd say it's only about 20-25 times as hard as playing the same scale in first position in the second octave (no bends or overblows required), and 10-15 times as hard as playing it in second position in the first-2nd octave (one bend and one overblow required) or 3rd position in the first octave (three bends required).

That's assuming that you've taken the trouble to valve the harp, which is the only way you're going to get a meaningful bend on blow 6.  

The big problem is getting all the bends in tune and close enough in timbre to the unbent notes, which I frankly doubt is really possible until I hear the recorded evidence, which I also frankly haven't heard from anybody yet.  

In short, I doubt that this is the easiest or most musical way to go.  And since it's obviously limited to single-note playing, I don't see what the advantage of the approach really is.  I suppose there might be limited situations in which the timbres of all those altered notes make musical sense.  Sounds like a lot of work for a limited return, though.

That said, as Tony Glover wrote, blow as thou pleasest.
   
Thanks, Richard Hunter