Re: [Harp-L] Let me pick the key

["John Kerkhoven" <solo_danswer@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Abner,

Happy birthday and congrats for keeping up the good work!

I disagree about learning to hear the sound of each of your harps. I mean,
that's not enough.

If you can isolate your bends (and it helps to have your overblows down too,
but let's ignore them for now), then with say, a C harp, you can find the
root note of the song being played in almost all cases, whether it's G or F#
or Bb. As soon as you know the root note, you can find a harp to play the
song.

If the band is playing in A and you pick up your C harp, you'll find the
root note on the 3 draw bent one tone down. Put the other way around, if you
find on the C harp that the root note is the 3 draw bent one tone down, you
know you are in the key of A. You can then stay with the C harp and play in
4th pos., you can pick up your D harp for cross, or grab your A and play in
first pos. and so on.

In practice, you can start with any harp to find the root note of the tune
and then go from there. Every now and then you get really stumped for any
number of reasons, but you will find that with practice and experience, you
can work things out quickly.

But you gotta know your notes on every harp. E.g., 2 half step bend on a Bb
is E; 1 draw on a G is A; 3 half step bend on an F is Eb etc.... And you
gotta know your circle of fifths.

Cheers,

John



> If your good like Richard then yes I agree with the statement.
> If your like me, learn to hear the sound of each of your harps and
hopefully
> I will learn.
>
> I played at open mic last night, and since it was a surprise Birthday
party
> ( my night ) I played almost all night long.