Re: [Harp-L] Making the Move to Chromatic

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In my opinion, the biggest issue in switching from diatonic to chromatic is that many of the expressive devices that work very well on diatonic don't work as well or at all on the chromatic, and so the player has to learn a new vocabulary.

In other words, they're different instruments.  No instrument is appropriate for every musical context. It takes time for a player to learn what the chromatic does well, and to incorporate that into his or her music.

The exciting thing about that is that learning chromatic opens up avenues that don't exist on the diatonic.

Regards, Richard Hunter

author, "Jazz Harp" 
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