From: Philharpn@xxxxxxx
Date: November 27, 2007 3:01:22 PM EST
To: randy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] stevie wonder newspaper story
I see that the Reporter of the Newspaper Story on Stevie Wonder
repeats that canard that the chromatic is harder to play than the
diatonic.*** ( see BF quote below**). Anybody who says that grossly
misunderstands the basic differences* and similarities between the
two harps.
This reporter further obfuscates matters by bringing up circular
breathing. Circular breathing works on exhale notes -- horn players
use it and Sinatra is reputed to have used it. I don't know how many
people use circular breathing on the harmonica but I would wager it
is a very small number if for no other reason that it doesn't work
(if at all) very well on inhale notes, a good portion of the notes
played on the harmonica.
Granted this is the popular press, aimed at the general public, but
the danger of this type of dribble is that it seems over into the
harmonica world and some kid going to the Stevie Wonder concert who
thought Wonder's technique was difficult is now convinced it is
impossible.
The chromatic gets a bad rap -- it is NOT all that difficult to play
on its own. Compared to the blues harp, Marine Band, Richter-tuned
harps, it is not all that different. And if you want to play songs
more complicated than folk songs right out of the box, you can
"find" all the notes on a chromatic -- which is something you could
never do on a blues harp unless you are an experienced player.
Which is to say: If you can play a Marine Band harp, you can
certainly play a chromatic. And if you can play a piano or guitar,
you also can certainly play a chromatic.
And perhaps more people should take up the chromatic. Some songs
sound best with a lot of bent notes; others lose their sweetness
unless every pitch is the same timbre (instead of a mix of bent and
unbent notes). Some songs sound better on guitar; others on the piano.
For all practical purposes both harps are the same -- if you focus
on the complete 2nd octave*. How DIFFERENT can the two harps be if
the chromatic consists of the same notes as holes 4-7 and the same
blow-draw pattern.
People who find the chromatic "difficult" are those who do not
"understand" its layout. (How difficult can the 4-7 hole module
repeated be? They also "expect" the chromatic to have a layout for
the first octave just like a blues harp. It does not. Consequently,
it "does not bend" like a diatonic. (The original chromatic was
Richter tuned -- just like the Koch chromatic and Hohner Slide Harp
-- and offers all the bending of a blues harp plus the precision of
a slide chromatic for half-step notes except for A in the first
octave, which requires a bend).
The only redeeming feature (beyond spelling Stevie Wonder's name
right) is the quote from Randy Singer explaining Stevie's chromatic
technique of jabbing the slide.
I just hope this news story doesn't scare too many people away from
the chromatic.
Footnotes:
*Yes, fans the 1st octave and 3rd octave are "incomplete" --
lacking notes and offering bends generally not available.
**"Chromatic has up to 16 holes compared to the 10 holes on
diatonic harmonica, so it offers a wider ranger of sounds. But
chromatic harmonica is also significantly harder to play."
***It helps spread the misinformation about the alleged
difficulty of the chromatic when the source Mel Melton who leads the
Wicked Mojos and then he piles on by stating (as if it is a fact)
this bit of nonsense about circular breathing being required to play
the chromatic: "So chromatic is a totally different monster, a lot
harder to play. It takes a lot more oxygen. You really have to learn
circular breathing."
Phil Lloyd
In a message dated 11/26/07 10:32:46 PM, randy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
>
> http://www.newsobserver.com/442/story/786481.html
>