Subject: [Harp-L] Harmonetta update

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

Michael: this is all most interesting. At the very least, you're helping  
keep the harmonetta alive as a viable harmonica related wind  
instrument...and will probably be able to teach it once you progress further.  That's a 
good thing...and I'm sure most appreciated by Mr. Herndon..
 
My curiosity lies in whether you ever studied or played piano or  
keyboards?  - I wonder if having that foreknowledge would help? Or since  you find 
the Harmonetta more closely related to the accordion set up,  have you ever 
played accordion? If not, that probably accounts partly for the  lack of 
retention, or difficulty in playing both melody and chord buttons at the  same 
time. The rest might be attributed to your switching off to other fingered  
instruments such as the mandolin - so your muscle memory is still connected  
primarily there - and your brain is thinking in terms of bass chords. It must 
be  difficult to switch back into 'harmonetta mode' all in the course of a  
week?
 
I still do what I call 'faking' a lot of the left hand chords for  the most 
part since my piano lessons were rudely interrupted by emigrating to  the 
US -  making them up as I go along, but lately (and for the first time  
ever), I've been 'doing a Kalina'  (borrowed the idea after watching Ron  Kalina 
do just this at several SPAHs)  - playing my keyboard with  one hand while 
playing a Super 64 chromatic at the same time - switching hands  where 
necessary. It amazed me that I could sync the upper register so completely  - even 
improv-ing and free-style playing. Never knew that was possible (for  me).
 
...I don't imagine the Harmonetta is an easy instrument to learn  in any 
case, though...since Mr. Herndon seems to be one of the  remaining few people 
playing it at all...but it certainly lent a nice background  line to the 
chromatic jazz players in the last video I watched of him.   Somewhere I have 
in my own video collection a SPAH seminar with Bob Herndon  playing along 
with many of those same chromatic players from a couple of years  ago. Should 
dig it out.
 
I'm seriously intrigued by the new (44 key) melodium (I think they've  
changed the name slightly from melodica) made by Suzuki. There was a smaller one 
 on sale at SPAH -but Daron had a brochure showing the bigger keyboard 
which  immediately grabbed my interest. Since I love my keyboard (too huge and  
unwieldy to cart around), it seems just the right size of instrument to 
learn to  play and carry.  I haven't looked into it seriously enough, yet...but 
will  probably do so in the next couple of months.
 
But I've long been intrigued by the harmonetta as well and have followed  
your adventures. Just observing you playing these 'new' instruments (to  you) 
has sparked quite a bit of interest in general, I think. So keep up the  
good work on the mandolin as well. Perhaps one day your new baby girl will  
become a virtuoso on one or other of them (teaching by example is most  
definitely the best method)<G> 
 
Elizabeth
 
"Message: 9
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2010 12:01:50 -0500
From: michael rubin  <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Harmonetta  update
To: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>

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