[Harp-L] Sax to Harp question

["John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx>]

Rob,

I have no formal music training.  But what i do when a musician  
writes a part out for me in notation is to convert the written music  
to degrees of the scale  (4th, flat 5th, etc.). I am able to play a  
diatonic harp in 6 positions and I know which holes correspond to  
which degree of the scale in which position.  So, if  I know what key  
the tune is in,  I decide which of the 6 harmonicas I can use to play  
in that key is easiest to use to get all the notes I have to play in  
order to play the tune (keeping in mind that for some tunes you may  
need to use 2 different harps for different passages of the same  
tune).  Then I write out tab.

Now, if you are not sufficiently proficient in multiple positions to  
know off the top of your head which holes corresponds to which  
degrees of the scale in which positions, you may want to convert the  
notes to letter names  (A, Bb, etc.).  Then look at diagrams of which  
notes are available on the various harps you can to use to play in  
the required key to see how they lay out, taking into account the  
available bends (I don't OB).  Diagrams of the notes available on  
diatonic harmonicas in all 12 keys are available on the Suzuki World  
Class Harmonicas website.

I've never played a half valved harp, and i don't OB, either.   
Sometimes the written music has a note or notes i just can't get on  
my instrument.  If those notes are not essential to the melody I will  
make a decision as to whether I should just lay out on that passage  
or if I can play different notes to approximate the passage that I  
can't get note-for-note. Many times, there are approximations that  
work just fine or sometimes even sound better played on harp than the  
written part would.

I'm sure this isn't what they teach at Berklee or Juilliard, but it  
works for me.

FWIW,

JP