[Harp-L] Modes/minor questions

[Eric Chard <jeric@xxxxxx>]

I really appreciate the discussions of theory, although I may be 
thinking too much rather than just practicing.  Be that as it may:

At 08:38 AM 2/15/2006, you wrote:
> "Minor" tunes are in Dorian mode, so 3rd position (the majority), or
> Aeolian mode, 4th position.  The fact that I was cheerfully playing all
> these modes/positions, blissfully unaware that here on Harp-L and elsewhere
> there were angst-ridden discussions going on about how to do it, has led me
> to the conclusion that its often best to see the harp as a bunch of notes
> waiting to be played rather than a complex beast with almost as many
> positions as the Kama Sutra!  ;-)

Thank god!  I'm at the stage where I just try a buncha harps and find 
one that sounds good with the song.  (Can slow things down a lot.)

A musician friend told me "knowing music theory  won't lead you to 
the right note: it just helps you GUESS _better_."

For some reason, I'm fascinated lately by minor keys.  It appears the 
way to find relative minors is to take the key, and subtract ..uhhh.. 
four semitones?  Which is usually two notes, but not always?

Re modes: "Dorian"=minor?  Or, are there also MODES for MINOR scales, 
i.e. Dorian in Am?
(I know that Am is the same key signature as C, so "C-Dorian"= "A 
minor", right?)

Just for sitting around and blowing haunting improvisations, the Lee 
Oscar natural minors are GREAT fun, at least to the player.  I crave 
a harmonic minor just to see what it sounds like.

Eric



************************* Synergy Productions *********************
**               Media Production for the New Millennium               **
**             http://www.oz.net/~jeric/index.htm 
          **
**    "Mammon, of course is no friend to purity, but purity         **
**       doesn't put 200 tons of structural steel into orbit."           **
***************************** Seattle *********************************