RE: [Harp-L] Irish Harmonica

["Steve Shaw" <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

> I'm not very good at music theory so I have a question. Brendan Power  in 
> his instruction "Play Irish Music on the Blues Harp" said the two  most 
> common keys of harmonica for Irish music are D and G. He also  goes on to 
> explain that for most songs the harp is played in first  position. For the 
> tin whistle the two most common keys are D and "C".  I can see logically 
> why you would use a D harp which coincides with a  D whistle. But the G 
> harp in first position doesn't coincide with the  standard C whistle. It's 
> not logical to me. Can someone explain?
>
> Thanks,
> Jon Harl

Whilst I'm a whistle owner rather than a whistle player, I'm puzzled as to 
why you think C whistles are to the fore in Irish music.  If you play in the 
traditional keys, as you would have to if you played in an Irish pub session 
for example, you'd stick with your D whistle for most tunes.   There are two 
commonly-used alternative fingerings for getting the C natural in the G 
tunes on a D whistle, which is what you would do in a session.  Maybe you're 
thinking of the availability of the cheaper Clarke whistles (keys of C and D 
only).  You might use your C for just a few tunes and to accompany the odd 
song, but 'tis your D that would far and away be the most use to you.   With 
harmonicas it's definitely best to have a G  and a low D, one reason being 
the awkwardness of getting the Cnat on the D harp and the C# on the G harp.  
We're not all expert overblowers or past masters at getting bends accurately 
on pitch on the fly in fast tunes. The G harp at least is best tuned to 
Paddy Richter.  On both D and G harps you can play tunes in related modes 
(or positions if you like) such as Mixolydian, Dorian and Aeolian, relating 
to 2nd, 3rd and 4th position respectively, as well as first position of 
course.

For the last word we need to entice James Conway out of lurk mode, as he is 
not only one of the best Irish harmonica players on the planet but also no 
mean whistle-player!

Steve


http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/trad_irish_harmonica
HEAR my CD clips: http://www.gjk2.com/steveshaw/cd.htm

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