Re: [Harp-L] What key harmonica is in your pocket?

[joe leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Apr 23, 2010, at 11:06 AM, captron100@xxxxxxx wrote:

> Someone wrote: > As a novice, all of the lessons are in the key of  
> C.  But when, you  who not only enjoy playing, but play well, just  
> reach in your  pocket to sit down on a lonely rock, overlooking a  
> river valley-- what key harmonica do you have?  Why?  Is one key  
> best for blues,  another for tunes, for country?
>
>   From what I've experienced, blues harpists seem to favor lower  
> keys as opposed to the more shrill higher keys.  I think the reason  
> has more to do with the keys that the people that they are playing  
> with use, rather than one harp being better than another for a  
> particular type of music.

My hero Capt. Ron is correct. Guitars (for blues) came along before  
harps. Your open sharp keys favor guitar. E is the home key and a lot  
of people learned that key first. That means that a person cross  
harping (probably the only alternative position in the beginning),  
would use an A. A is a LOW harp key. People wishing to play along  
with D would use a G harp. G is a low key. When A came along, we used  
a D harp. (D is a very easy harp to work with.)

>   Various genres of music tend to favor different keys.  For  
> instance, jazz often favors flat keys, i guess because many horns  
> are tuned to Bb.

Right. There are a LOT of jazz tunes in Bb. Now since trumpets, saxes  
(at least mine), clarinets were home keyed in Bb, that means that  
when these musicians are playing something in Bb they are ACTUALLY in  
C. So many times I have hear people cap on harmonica players  
(especially the chromo players) and say things like "Big deal, they  
play everything in C". Well, that's no different than a trumpet  
player playing everything in Bb. It's all open position.

Then if a horn player wants to play in F, they just play in G  
fingering. If they want to play in Eb, they play in F fingering.  
(TONS of jazz in Eb Btw and F Btw. ). So with only 3 positions, they  
could cover most jazz. At least 'Trad" (aka dixieland). So, when they  
get farther from their home key, they have the SAME difficulty with  
SEVERAL exceptions.

With a horn, you can SEE what your doing, AND you know where your  
mouth is. Harmonica playing is a 'blind art'.

>   Acoustic blues gtr players (e.g. Brownie McGee) seem to like to  
> play in key of E; others favor open D.  Electric rock guitar  
> players often like key of A.  Many piano players seem to the keys  
> that don't have a lot of sharps or flats, F for instance, I suspect  
> because with only one flat in that key, it is probably an easy key  
> to play in (i don't play piano, darnit).

Technically speaking, all keys should be equally playable on a pyano.  
You can see, touch, and the REAL trick is that you have to be a good  
(and I mean GOOD) reader in order to keep your place with remembering  
which notes need sharped and which need flattened. Keyboardists I  
have experienced seem to shy away from more than 3 sharps or flats.

>   Key of C is always good for when theory questions arise, since  
> key of C has no sharps or flats.  Me, i like 'em all.  The mid- 
> range harps like D take a little less breath and can wail a bit  
> easier than the deeper toned harps like G.

Exactly, bending gets more difficult as you range away from the  
MIDDLE keys (Bb, B, C, Dd, D, Eb, E ). The long reeds are hard to  
tame in the low harps. The short reeds are hard to hold in the high  
ranges.

> ron