Re: [Harp-L] Scottish/Irish tunes

[Steve <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

> On 26 Nov 2013, at 12:45, "brian.irving" <brian.irving@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> A question for all you trad Celtic musicians!  Which are the commonest keys
> for Scottish/Irish traditional tunes?  So far, from my limited collection of
> recorded tunes I've identified D and A with some in C.  So harps in A, C and
> D would cover them.  Any other harps essential for a gig bag for celtic
> jams/open mics?
> 
> 
> 
> Brian (dyed in the wool blues man but looking to expand repertoire)

G is essential and you really need it Paddy Richtered. Same for A harps. Not quite so essential for D harps but still desirable. Standard tuned D harps are too high pitched for my taste so I use low Ds which I play mainly in the middle octave.  Brendan has a YouTube in which he suggests playing tunes in the low octave on a Paddy Richter standard D. I'm sure Tony Eyers will pitch in with his alternative tunings if he's reading!
>