[Harp-L] Re: What position am I playing?

[Steve Baker <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

M. Erikson, as you say you're playing in C major, the parallel major  
key to A minor, which the harp is tuned to. This is hard to assign a  
position to, in the sense used with the standard tuning, but could  
maybe bear comparison with the similarities between 2nd and 5th or  
1st and 4th in that tuning, which use the same notes in each case but  
are major or minor depending on your choice of root note. It's also  
confusing that Hohner doesn't use Lee Oskar's key designation and  
calls this Dm (natural), as it only gives a natural minor scale in A  
and not in D. In D it's dorian (those Greeks again).

I totally agree with you about the melodic potential of this tuning  
and use it in the same way myself, I once played a Billy Holiday  
number (long time ago, can't remember the title) in C on a natural  
minor harp in Am (Hohner Dm) because it was much easier to get all  
the notes like that. Sounded great too,

Steve