[Harp-L] tricks for reading and transposing on the fly for diatonic

[Winslow Yerxa]

OK.
Let's assume second position. (This trick can be made to work easily enough with other positions as well).
Your home note is Draw 2. Find it on the staff. That's your anchor point of reference. (Use another anchor note for another position; everything below will still apply.)
If Draw 2 is on a space, Draw 3, 4, 5, and 6 will be one the spaces above, and Blow 2 will be on the space below, with Blow 1 on the space below that. Draw 1 will be on the line above Blow 1.
If Draw 2 is on a line, then all those notes will also be on lines. As long as you keep track of the location of Draw 2, you have quick access to those other 7 notes.
Let's go back to Draw 2 being on a space, if only because I started with that.
Draw 2 bend will be on the line below, with the appropriate sharp or flat depending on the depth of the bend.
Draw 3, 4, and 6 semitone bends will probably be on the same space, with appropriate flat or natural.
The Draw 3 two-semitone bend will be on the line below the space where unbent Draw 3 is located.
Blow 4 will be on the line below Draw 4. Blow 5 will be on the line below Draw 5. Blow 6 will be on the line below Draw 6.
I'll let you work out the top octave for yourself; you see how the system works. Winslow Yerxa
Producer, the Harmonica Collective
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, Second Edition: ISBN 978-1-118-88076-0
            Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
            Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Expert, bluesharmonica.comInstructor, Jazzschool Community Music SchoolPresident emeritus, SPAH, the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica

      From: Arthur Jennings <arturojennings at xxxxx>
 To: Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa at xxxxx> 
Cc: Leonard Schwartzberg <leonard1 at xxxxx>; Harp-L <harp-l at xxxxx>
 Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2017 12:51 PM
 Subject: tricks for reading and transposing on the fly for diatonic
   


> On Apr 25, 2017, at 2:31 PM, Winslow Yerxa via Harp-L <harp-l at xxxxx> wrote:
> 
> [...]I have a couple of tricks for reading and transposing on the fly for diatonic that I figured out while playing Big River.[...]

I'd love to have some tricks like that. Any chance of you sharing them with us?