Re: [Harp-L] O, Come All Ye Faithful played in three

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi, Mox.

As I've already revealed, the third version is played on an A-flat harp in 4th position.

Some unbent notes can sound out of tune, and that's what you're hearing. Blow 2 on an A-flat harp is the C-natural you're hearing.

This note (Blow 2, and also Blow 5 and 8) is often tuned a bit flat so that it sounds more harmonious in the context of the blow chord. If I were to play it as part of the A-flat blow chord it would s fine. It'd sound even better if it were tuned even flatter(!) But as soon as you move to another key, it runs the risk of sounding off, whcih indeed it does in the key of F.

There is no perfect way around this problem of a note sounding OK in one context but flat or sharp in another. The widely used solution called equal temperament used on pianos tends to make harmonica chords sound harsh, and very few harmonicas are tuned this way.

However, players like Howard levy who are prone to play any harmonica in any key, prefer equal temperament to avoid exactly what you heard. (The harp, by the way, was a pre-MS Hohner Meisterklasse, probably made sometime in the late 1980ss or early '90s).


Winslow 
zzzzz



________________________________
From: Mox Gowland <mox.g@xxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
Cc: winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Saturday, November 8, 2014 2:40 AM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] O, Come All Ye Faithful played in three




Trying to deduce the third version,
 I kept hearing a low blow note that appeared to be 
slightly out of tune. 
This made me think that it was an overblow.
The note in question is a 'C' to be found on an 'A' 
harmonica . 
As the music is in 'F' ,
I would be inclined to assume that we are in 9th position 
.

Mox