[Harp-L] Re Ode to Joy revisited

Wed Apr 18 07:41:55 EDT 2018

 "harping.onandon" wrote:

<I like the expressiveness of some of the bends ?on a diatonic in relation
to melodies but <sometimes they sound odd. It's like say hearing a piece
played on a flute and every now and <then hearing clarinet sounds where the
bent notes would be on harp. Well a bit of an <exaggeration but you get my
point. As harmonica players we understand the issue with bends <on melodies
and tend to accept them up to a point.

Uh huh.  We all know that most of the audience is not made up of harmonica
players, right?

<My wife always picks me up on the 'odd' sounding notes, which is
frustrating when you manage <to get the pitch thereabouts, but
understandable.

Your wife is like the rest of the audience, which--unlike harmonica
players--has not trained itself to ignore the odd sounding stuff. I will
never forget the look on the face of a colleague decades ago when I played
Ode to Joy in second position--I hit that draw 3 bend and he scowled. It
was an immediate, unforced reaction, and I learned a lot in that moment.

<I suppose part of what I like about the bent notes is the challenge and
maybe I wouldn't feel as <motivated to just play it on Chrome or altered
tuning. BTW I have just realised I could just start <Ode on 4 blow and no
bends required!

On a standard tuned Richter, the melody in 1st position begins on blow 5
(the third note of the major scale).  And yes, all the notes are there in
1st position.  As they would be in second position IF the blow 3 reed was
tuned up a full step.

Regards, Richard Hunter
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