RE: Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Chromatic: Advantages of each position

[Steve Shaw <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

It's possibly worth mentioning that traditional Irish tunes are a bit of a special case when it comes to choosing which chrom to use. There's no doubt in my mind that chroms in D and G are the best off-the-shelf harps to choose if you want to play in the traditional keys/modes (which are mostly D major, G major and related Dorian/Aeolian/Mixolydian modes). You need to employ a lot of ornamentation in Irish tunes, and the slide is a vital part of the armoury. If you're playing on a harp which requires a lot of button-pushing just for the notes of the tune you are effectively wrecking your ability to play a considerable number of ornaments. I'm not saying it's impossible to play Irish tunes in the "right" keys on a C harp, or whatever, but smart wannabe-Irish players choose D and G chroms. Alternatively, they may look into reverse-slide playing (I won't go there for now), or choose a "chromatic" that has been radically retuned (nor there). Brendan has written an excellent guide to playing Irish music on chroms (he recommends D and G harps) and I'm sure if he reads this he'll put me right/elucidate further! We purveyors of the jigs 'n' reels find that the path of least resistance is generally the one to take.