[Harp-L] transferring instruments - sax to harp

[philharpn@xxxxxxx]

The music world is full of examples of music written for one instrument and played on another. And not all of it is classical.


Some of the times the music can be transferred note for note; other times certain notes do not fall in the right pattern on the second instrument for too much success.


Doug Tate used to talk about the difficulty of playing notes in a smooth run (legato) when dealing with change of breath direction. Some of the notes could be played smoothly and some roughly. His solution was to play ALL the notes roughly so the whole pattern was consistent.


This is what has to happen with the transfer of sax to harmonica. Chances are the Richter chromatic might be the best instrument in 2nd position to mimic a sax. Best to check with a sax player who plays harp for the final answer. 


No matter what happens, the transfer from sax to harp (unless it's Moon River) is not going to work completely. 


People play all kinds of horn, guitar and piano riffs on the harp. Most of them sound pretty good. But they sound different than the original instrument.