Re: [Harp-L] 3rd Position

[Eric Nielsen <ericbarnak@xxxxxxxxx>]

Doesn't St James have a major 7th as well? I'm harpless at the moment
(slap/slap) or I'd check.

Eric



On Thu, Apr 15, 2010 at 2:19 PM, Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> Seth Galitzer wrote:
> > My personal favorite is St. James Infirmary.  I believe the
> > traditional key is Dm.  You can find probably hundreds of versions of
> > this song online.  I'm partial to Louis Armstrong's rendition (or at
> > least one of them), myself.
>
> I love Armstrong's version too.  But 3rd position isn't tops for St. James
> Infirmary in my opinion.  The reason is that the song isn't in a dorian
> mode--the 6th degree of the scale is flatted in the melody.  It's a problem
> in the middle octave in particular, where the flatted sixth isn't available
> without overblowing. Lots of people overblow now, of course, but lots don't.
>
> 5th position (E on a C harp), which has a flatted 6th, would work better.
>  Even better is a Natural Minor harp in 2nd position, which gives you lots
> of great chords to work with.
>
> Regards, Richard Hunter
>
>
>
>
> author, "Jazz Harp"
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