[Harp-L] Sax to Harp question



Rob,

I have no formal music training. But what i do when a musician writes a part out for me in notation is to convert the written music to degrees of the scale (4th, flat 5th, etc.). I am able to play a diatonic harp in 6 positions and I know which holes correspond to which degree of the scale in which position. So, if I know what key the tune is in, I decide which of the 6 harmonicas I can use to play in that key is easiest to use to get all the notes I have to play in order to play the tune (keeping in mind that for some tunes you may need to use 2 different harps for different passages of the same tune). Then I write out tab.

Now, if you are not sufficiently proficient in multiple positions to know off the top of your head which holes corresponds to which degrees of the scale in which positions, you may want to convert the notes to letter names (A, Bb, etc.). Then look at diagrams of which notes are available on the various harps you can to use to play in the required key to see how they lay out, taking into account the available bends (I don't OB). Diagrams of the notes available on diatonic harmonicas in all 12 keys are available on the Suzuki World Class Harmonicas website.

I've never played a half valved harp, and i don't OB, either. Sometimes the written music has a note or notes i just can't get on my instrument. If those notes are not essential to the melody I will make a decision as to whether I should just lay out on that passage or if I can play different notes to approximate the passage that I can't get note-for-note. Many times, there are approximations that work just fine or sometimes even sound better played on harp than the written part would.

I'm sure this isn't what they teach at Berklee or Juilliard, but it works for me.

FWIW,

JP



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