[Harp-L] Chromatic KEY choices

[Winslow Yerxa]

Depends on your definition of "easier" :)

People argue for and against having chromatics in different keys and advance all sorts of reasons pro and con.

I do both.

That is, I can and do play in all 12 keys on a C chromatic.

But I also use chromatics in other keys for specific reasons.

And I can read in one key and play in another. Sax players do this all the time. Someone hands them a piece of music or a chord chart written at actual pitch, and they have to take their Bb or Eb instrument and transpose in their heads so that the music doesn't come out in a different key from everyone else in the band.

On a C chromatic, every key has a different set of possibilities. Different harmonies and chords. Different things you can do with the slide related to the scale of that key. Different same-breath melodic sequences.

Maybe you want all those huge D minor-type chords in the key of A instead of the key of D. So you pick up a G chromatic. Blues harmonica players do this all the time. Here's a recording where, as part of a challenge a few years ago on Modern Blues Harmonica, I played "Consipracy Theory," something over a backing track in E that had been created from Little Walter's "Roller Coaster." I chose to use a D chromatic to play in third position in E instead of second position on a diatonic in A. And yes, I do use the slide quite a bit, mostly to access the slide-in draw split of G#-D, which outlines an E7 chord instead of the usual E minor6 chord:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2901194/Conspiracy%20theory.mp3


A lot of fiddle music is in keys closely related to D, and I often use a D chromatic because it offers more useful chords and chord fragments.

Here's a link to a hybrid recording I made of "Hillsdale," using two different chromatics. Most of the tune is played on a D chromatic, and I use chords and splits that can only be played on a D (starting about 0:43) . But later in the tune (about 1:55), I switch to a C chromatic because the melody goes too high for the three-octave D chrom (remember, a D chromatic is a Low D, pitched nearly an octave below a C).

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2901194/03-Hillsdale.mp3


In another instance, I made a medley of folk tunes "A la claire fontaine" and "She's like the Swallow," that goes from Bb major to C# minor to E major. I used a Bb chromatic because it delivered the two-note harmonies I wanted in all three keys. Now I could have used a C harmonica and put the tunes in C, Eb minor, and F#. But I didn't want those keys, so I used a Bb. Here's a recording, with Tuula Cotter on violin and Colin Cotter on guitar:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2901194/A%20la%20Claire%20Fontaine%2C%20She%27s%20Like%20The%20Swallow.mp3


Even Toots Thielemans used to record using different keys of chromatic. He did this for awhile in the 1950s, and usually so that he was playing in D-flat position. East of the Sun was in Ab on a G chromatic and Soul Station was in Bb on an A chromatic, among others.

Winslow
 
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.com
Instructor, Jazzschool Community Music School
President emeritus, SPAH, the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica



________________________________
From: "dfwhoot at xxxxx" <dfwhoot at xxxxx>
To: "harp-l at xxxxx" <harp-l at xxxxx> 
Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2017 5:20 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] Chromatic KEY choices



Just a curious question. Playing in different keys and modes on the Chromatic , is it easier to change to a different key chromatic , or just stay on a C harp. 

Jerl Welch