Re: [Harp-L] Folk Harp

["Tim Moyer" <wmharps@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Carter castor wrote:
> (I think this is also going to mean learning overblows, 
> grrr, as I like the sound of straight harp with his work, 
> and he likes to use minor keys).

I don't think this is a good approach.  Playing in minor keys in 1st 
position will involve a lot of overblows, since the 3rds and 5ths of 
the scale lie on blow notes which can't be flatted by bending them 
down.  But in my humble opinion, playing the flat 3rds and flat 5ths 
with overblows defeats the "sound of straight harp" you're striving 
for.  

Instead, I would suggest 4th position for the minor work.  You'll 
have minor 3rds, 5ths and 7ths all on blow notes, which are 
still "straight" and you won't have to overblow.  It's a great key 
for improvising, and the only drawback on standard tuning is having 
to bend the 3 draw down a wholetone for the lower octave tonic.  

Of course, on a Paddy Richter -- ahem -- that note is a 3 blow 
without a bend, AND you get a nice minor blow chord.  

-tim