Re: [Harp-L] Why you should learn chromatic

[Philharpn@xxxxxxx]

Bent notes on a Richter-tuned harp have a soulful timbre, but sometimes a 
song just sounds better without bent notes. That's where the chromatic comes 
in -- and in keys additional to C.

The true test is the playability and the soundabilty. Some positions are 
virtually unplayable on a blues harp -- that's why there are only about a 
half-dozen (1,2,3,4,5,6 & 12) feasible positions. That's why nobody ever uses 
them. The same is true of the chromatic. All 12 keys are playable on a 
chromatic. But due to the instrument's layout and blow-draw pattern not all are 
practical. 

Just like moveable chords expand the range of the guitar and ukulele, 
playing a chromatic in the Eb position (?) may be the most efficient position 
after the C position on other keys of chromatic harps.

But this is one of those things that can be talked about all day, but the 
true test is in the playing.

Sometimes playing a tune on the diatonic is more work than it's worth -- 
and it doesn't sound all that great in the performance. (Bear in mind that 
most people on this list think ANYTHING played on a harp is always great -- no 
matter how pitchy it sounds.)

But sometimes, the blues harp is just not the right tool -- unless you are 
Howard Levy. Granted, more and more people can bend and overblow -- but only 
a few can work an overblow in the fast passing tone without disrupting the 
music. (Yes, you can; no you can't; yes you can; no you can't.)

The true test is to try a tune in different harps so see which sounds best.

Some jazzy songs and some blues sound great with bent notes. Others, 
Ellington tunes, don't always. 

That's why there are so many tunings available.

That's why the Hohner Slide Harp is available (a Richter-tuned chromatic 
with a button) so you can play all those bent notes when you want them but hit 
an unbent note when you really need it.

As for difficulty: if you are completely mystified by holes 4-7 on your 
diatonic, you will indeed have difficulty with a chromatic. But most people can 
play lots of folk songs on that middle octave. That's all a blues harp is.

Is bending harder than learning to push in a button? Not if you understand 
that bending is just like whistling: the "action" takes place at the base of 
the tongue. And if you can whistle a tune, you can bend a note. And anybody 
who can blow a note (like Jimmy Reed) can blow bend all the reeds that have 
windsavers on a chromatic right out of the box.

And in fairness to learning all 12 positions: you don't need to learn all 
12 keys either. Just the ones you use. If you walk into a music store and 
flip through the pages of a songbook, count the different keys. Some keys never 
show up; a few others seem to be on every page.   C,F,G are common. But 
often the sheet music is in the key it was recorded in.

If the tune is a guitar centered tune, it is likely to have sharp 
keys-because sharp keys are easy to play on guitar. If it is a horn centered tune, it 
is likely to have flats because horns and saxes favor the flat keys.

A great entry-level chromatic is the Hohner Educator -- it is inexpensive, 
has 10 holes, has an easy slide and is air-tight even with no windsavers (to 
buzz, stick or fall off).

Hope this helps. Get a chrome!
Phil


 





In a message dated 6/10/10 1:44:32 AM, cadean329@xxxxxxxxx writes:


> >"In fairness to the diatonic, the subject could just as well have been, 
> Why
> you should learn >all 12 positions :) Whether the mechanism is a button or
> overblow, in either case all twelve >scales must be grappled with one way 
> or
> another!"
> 
> OK, I have to ask. I have seen Howard Levy live a few times back in 
> Chicago
> and I have seen Jason Ricci on You Tube.
> 
> Is it really possible to bend, blow, draw, over blow, and over draw, the
> entire chromatic scale in all 12 keys on one diatonic harp?
> 
> Chuck
> "It's the early bird that catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the
> cheese"
> 
>