Re: [Harp-L] piccolo harmonica (was 2nd position only useful in blues?)

[Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

On Oct 6, 2008, at 8:33 PM, Captron100@xxxxxxx wrote:

> Smo-joe wrote, re Charlie McCoy:
> Another thing he does (and I do  too) is to use Piccolo harps.  
> There  are tunes where you might want to go  to a higher octave but  
> RETAIN the bendability and texture of the harps  lower octave but  
> you want to
> be an octave HIGHER. The piccolo allows  that.
> As far as I know, I am not aware of anyone else using  Piccolo  
> harps.  (btw, the vest pocket harp is the same size and tuning as   
> the Piccolo but is in the same octave setup as the standard   
> Richters).
>
>
>   I don't understand that last sentence, re "the same octave  setup".

Actually, I may have originally had this backwards. It may be the  
Piccolo harp that has the same octave set-up as a standard Marine  
Band.  In other words middle C. My memory isn't what it used to be  
but I think it was the Vest Pocket Harp that started one octave ABOVE  
middle C.

In other words, you could be playing along using mostly the lower 5-6  
holes of a Marine Band and then when you wanted to go up an octave  
instead of FIGHTING with the 7-10 switch in blow draw pattern OR  
fight with the inability to bend the notes you wanted, all you had to  
do was switch to a VP and AUTOMATICALLY you had the SAME set-up as  
the lower end of a MB ...BUT an octave higher.

This was handy for me, because I wasn't that accomplished at the  
time....Still am'nt.  lol As I recall, the VP was only available in  
like G, A, and maybe one other...Bb? ( I think I had a G & Bb). . In  
any case, they were hard to get ahold of and I had to call Hohner  
when they were out on Long Island N.Y. (before they moved to Va.).  
Bob Bauer sent them out to me.

>   I've owned a couple of old Vest Pocket Harps, back when they  
> were  made in various keys, whereas, if i remember correctly,  
> nowadays they are only  made in a very limited amount of keys.   
> They were diminutive versions  of standard richter diatonic harps,  
> but tuned one octave  higher.

Yeah, that's them. I think they were once made in like 9 keys and  
later dropped to 3 or 4? They were 3 1/8" long, and slightly narrower  
and less thick than a 4" MB.
>    What is a piccolo harp, the exact same as a Vest Pocket harp,  a  
> smaller version of a standard diatonic harp but tuned an octave   
> higher?

Piccolos are same size as a Vest Pocket BUT they are middle C  
tuned...NOT an octave higher and were made in Bb, B, C, D, E, F, G,  
A, and Cm, Fm, Gm.

>   And are they available in all keys?

Vest Pocket was made in (like I said) maybe G, A, Bb, and ARE an  
octave higher. In conclusion, NOW I would advocate just using regular  
harps, and doing the work it takes. I used them as a stop-gap measure  
when I wanted to go higher up the harp and still wanted to use the  
lower blow/draw pattern(s). In fact, I think I got the G because it  
was a HIGH G and I didn't want a GM and couldn't get a Spl-20.


> Ron
>
>
>
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