[Harp-L] Harmonetta update

[michael rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>]

I am in the unusual position of being at someone else's office who has
lent me their computer but the office has restrictions such as no
facebook, youtube, etc.  I am here for two hours.  Perhaps I can come
up with some interesting topics, we'll see.

I have been practicing harmonetta since meeting Bob Herndon at SPAH.
My first two songs have been Blue Skies by Irving Berlin and Georgia
by Hoagy Carmichael and a few cowrites.  Herndon gave me very specific
advice about always using the middle finger for the triad and the ring
finger for the sixth and the index for the seventh.  Sometimes it does
not feel quick or comfortable but I keep trying to correct myself when
I make another move.  He also has very specific opinions as to which
chords should be played with the left hand and which should be played
with the right hand.  My original concept was to switch hands for
every chord, allowing one hand to prepare for the next chord while
playing with the other, but I am trying now to adhere to his rules.
There have been a couple of times when the quickness necessary to play
the song in time while following the rules seems impossible and so I
have been rulebreaking now and then.

The real challenge comes from playing the melody at the same time as
the rhythm.

For those of you who do not understand the harmonetta, it is basically
an accordian where you have to blow or draw air to sound the reeds.
What I mean is you push single buttons for each note.  It is fairly
easy to push three buttons with one finger because three buttons of a
major or minor triad form a triangular shape.  If you put your finger
in the middle of the three buttons' triangle you can play all three at
once.  Then you can push seven other single buttons with your
remaining fingers or push other triads with your other fingers.
Although the harmonetta is not in my hands to check, I assume it would
not be hard to play 12 notes at one time.  This means you can play as
complex a jazz chord as you choose.  Herndon suggest limiting your
chords to a maximum of five notes to keep the sound clean.  For
example, the chord C7b9 suggests the notes C E G Bb Db D# F#.  Herndon
would choose only five of those seven notes, at home I have his
suggestion of which notes.

Voicings or inversions are when you play one chord with different
chord tones in the bass.  For example, a C major chord is the notes C
E G.  The other two voicings would be E G C and G C E.  By moving your
mouth left and right on the harmonica part of the harmonetta you can
play these different voicings in three different octaves.

To play a melody note that is in the rhythm chord being played, you
would place the melody note at the top of the voicing.  For example,
if the rhythm called for a C major chord and the melody called for an
E note, you would play the G C E voicing, putting the E at the highest
point of the voicing, making it the easiest to hear.  Which octave you
choose depends on which octave the E note is in compared to the rest
of the melody.

To play a melody note that is not in the rhythm , you would play the
chord and push an extra for the melody note, voicing the chord so that
the top of the chord is alphabetically just before the melody note.
For example, if the chord is C major and the melody note is A, you
would play the voicing C E G and press A as well, making A the highest
note heard.

The trouble comes when the melody note changes on a upbeat or when a
melody note has a time length that has it continuing while one chord
changes to another.  It is very challenging at a slow pace to make the
note sound like it continues through the change.  As I play the piece
faster the illusion is better.

The reality is I have a limited time to practice, especially
considering I have to earn a living and help take care of my two month
old baby.  I am working on diatonic, chromatic, bass harp and
harmonetta and I am very serious about mandolin.  I take mandolin
lessons so I feel responsible to practice a lot on it.  I basically
break it down like this:  I take mando lessons on every other Thursday
so I begin practicing mando the Sunday prior to the lesson.  After the
lesson I switch to bass harp for a few days and then harmonetta for a
few days.  Diatonic and chromatic are restricted to the work I do with
my students and gigs and whenever they just happen to find their way
to my mouth for a jam.  But basically, no serious practice on either
instrument.  Luckily a few of my students are very advanced and so the
work we do pushes me too.

The reason I am including this last paragraph is to discuss a new
problem I discovered on the harmonetta and that is a lack of
retention.  After not playing Blue Skies for a while, which I thought
I had at an among friends performance level, I performed it for a
friend and could not do it!  I am hoping that the more I practice
harmonetta (and review all the songs I've learned before going deeper
into a new song) the more it will come naturally and I can find ways
to substitute what I cannot remember, just as I can with the other
instruments.
Michael Rubin
Michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx