[Harp-L] Playing Cuban music on diatonic

[Ben Hewlett <ben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all, if you are free in London Friday at 8pm, come to SOAS in Russell Square (in the JCR) to see a Cuban salsa/son band I'm playing in. 

It's the last night of a one week course on Cuban big band music and has been excellent if somewhat challenging, but should be really fun to watch - so come on down and bring some rum!

It's been tricky to sight-read all the dots and play them fast and syncopated; and working out which harp to use in which position has been interesting. 

If I'm given a flute or violin chart (both C instruments) and the music is in A minor, choosing the right harp and position instantly and then being able to read the tunes knowing where the notes are has given me a lot to think about. 

I guess I could choose any of the 12 keys of harp and each has 12 positions to select. I'm not taking the 'just use a chrom' option at this stage.

I had the same experience on an Aebersold course a few years ago but never really concluded my thoughts or tactics.

Anyone want to share wisdom or experience on this subject?

Ben Hewlett
Ben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01454 881 089
07973 284 366