Re: [Harp-L] Theory, etc. - history of positions

[icemanle@xxxxxxx]

My theory is that the harmonica made it's way across the Atlantic to the new world in the mid - late 1800's, civil war times. A very cheap instrument to buy and own, it became an allowed instrument of the poor black slaves, who were denied their rightful heritage (African) and not allowed to bring instruments of their own to retain their culture and heritage. The heritage lived on, however, in their voices. Singing in the fields expressed their sole's pain at being ripped from their mother country. The voice and music had those wailin' moanin' flatted 5th's resolving up and down to the 5th (cross harp = 4 hole inhale bend, 4 hole inhale). This very inexpensive little pocket instrument found its way into the hands of the slaves who discovered that their voice inflections could be created on the harmonica. Possibly, they didn't know (not being able to read the instructions) that you were supposed to EXHALE for the notes to create music. Someone inhaled, raised the back half of their tongue towards the roof of their mouth, and lo and behold - MOANIN' sound.
 
The rest, as they say, is history.
 
The Iceman
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx




--- Marc Spilka <marc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

<snip>
> Who is credited for inventing cross harp?  i'm assuming it was some
> old time
> poor uneducated musician but how the hell did someone come up with
> the idea
> of playing a harp a 4th above the tonic key?

You mean a 5th above the tonic key. C-D-E-F-G, 1-2-3-4-5 (you count the
starting note)

The origin is lost in the mists of time. Early American instruction
books dating from the 1870s and 1880s make no mention of it, and the
very earliest recordings, circa 1900, are in first position. Jump ahead
to the 1920s, with not much harp recorded in between as far as anyone
knows - and we find recordings of second position playing, starting
with Henry Whittier, a white rural southerner. Fourth position (A on a
C harp), fifth position (E on a C harp) and 12th (F on a C harp) also
made appearances during the 1920s.

So evidently playing a harmonica in a key other that the labeled one
started very early. Why buy five harp, even at a nickel apiece, when
one will do?

Once in a while I have heard the term "cross" or "crossed" used to
describe playing a diatonic accordion in other than the labeled key, so
the term may be borrowed from accordion - or maybe accordionists
borrowed from harp players - who knows? Cajun players of the one-row
diatonic accordion, whose ten buttons have the same note layout as the
ten holes of the diatonic harmonica, commonly play their instruments in
what we call second position. C is the most popular key of box, and
they usually play it in G.

Winslow



 
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