Re: [Harp-L] Donald Black, Highlander extraordinaire

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Neat little video clip. Though it is in fact a news clips, it could
very well be a commercial, what with a clear explanation, benefit
statement, demonstration, and even implied social result (girls
dancing).

Donald has wanted for a long time to have a tremolo harp that would
allow him to play a mixolydian scale (major but with the 7th note in
the scale lowered) in first position, to match the highland bagpipe
scale. It would be like taking a diatonic harp and lowering Draw 3 and
Draw 7 by one semitone.

You could get the same scale by playing a D-harp in second position. So
why bother to retune an A harp?

Aside from preferring first position, Donald answers that question by
with tune he plays on the video. He's able to play both A major and G
major *chords* (not just notes from those chords one at a time) and
this give him the ability to create enough chordal rhythm that people
can dance (as they do in the video) to his unaccompanied harmonica.

This simple change basically transforms the diatonic harmonica from a
German oriented tuning (I chord and V chord, or A and E on an A-harp)
to a Celtic oriented tuning (I chord and bVII chord, or A and G). You
still have the ii chord and the fragmentary IV chord.

I hadn't heard of Donald busking with an amplifier. I'm wondering
whether that was purely something staged for the video as the dancing
appears to be (not that spontaneous dancing doesn't happen with celtic
tunes - it does quite a lot, but it was sure convenient).

Winslow

--- James Thurgood <jthurgood@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Here's a commercial(!) for the new Highlander, with
> our pal Donald Black: 
>
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6280000/newsid_6289000/6289001.stm?bw=nb&mp=rm
> 
> - thurg
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  
>
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