Harp Tips

Harp Tips 

Tuning Up The Band

The Good Doctor 0 Comments , , ,

Thanks to Jim Faulkner for raising this point at today’s workshop. As it is such a handy point, I thought it would be better posted under Hints and Tips than Lesson Feedback…

‘Did you know The Who used a harp to tune up with before their gigs? And as a classically trained musician, this never sat comfortably with John Entwhistle… what is the advantage of using a harp for tuning up?’

We’re talking about tuning up guitars here. ln lieu of an electronic tuner, keyboard, piano in concert pitch, or tuning fork, a bog standard diatonic harp is an excellent alternative. Of course you can also find pitch pipes, but what are they if not a redesigned harmonica by any other name, with some or all of the notes in the chromatic scale. A standard 10 hole diatonic in A will do the trick just as well (or any key if used wisely).

The 6 strings on a standard guitar are tuned E B G D A E, moving from the lowest to the highest string respectively.

Traditionally an A major diatonic is the best bet as it relates readily with three of the six open strings on a standard guitar and every harp player carries one! For the bottom and top strings you need to find an E. Draw 2 is the obvious option, but much better to use blow 3 as this is less likely to be off pitch from frequent bending. (You can also check that your blow 3 is in tune itself by octaving with blow 6. If they are in unison – there’s no tremelo effect – you’re safe). You can then move to the A string by blowing holes 1 or 4….or octaving both. (more…)

Harp Tips 

1st Position Blues – Crossing The Canyon

The Good Doctor 0 Comments , , , , , ,

‘…Who shall tempt with wandering feet, The dark unbottomed infinite abyss, And through the palpable obscure find out, His uncouth way.’ Paradise Lost (Milton)

As a journeyman blues harp player, there comes a point when we start to explore blues in different positions. We learn that in theory the number of positions available on any one harp is exponential. In reality however, most of the top guys we listen to use only 1st, 2nd or 3rd position – straight, cross and slant harp respectively. Put simply, they can get the most effective results from these positions. We will look at 3rd position playing another time, but for now I want to focus on 1st position or straight harp.

I would bet any money that you learnt to play Amazing Grace, Camptown Races, When The Saints or Oh Susanna when you first picked up the harp! These are folk tunes we all know. They can be readily navigated in the key of the harmonica – normally starting from, or ending on, blow 4. That’s traditional straight harp. It’s what the diatonic harmonica was built for.

I’ll put another wager on the fact that, having cracked these pedestrian folk melodies, you then hurried off to cross harp blues playing on a mission to find all the funky bends necessary to sound like Little Walter, Big Walter, James (more…)

Harp Tips 

Why Are My Harp Notes Set Out This Way?

The Good Doctor , , , , ,

‘I do desire we may be better strangers.’ As You Like It (William Shakespeare).

Background

One of the first exercises we learn at the Harp Surgery is playing the major scale from blow 4 up to blow 7 (the mid octave). We use this to develop single note playing and movement around the harp. Simple as it may seem, it’s a great way of learning to navigate the new instrument and to develop an aural awareness of the changes that take place (as we cannot actually see them under our nose). We also use it to warm up at the start of subsequent sessions.

Once the central doh-ray-me is mastered, we then learn to extend upwards from hole 7 to hole 10 (the upper octave) and consider the 10 hole blow bends necessary to complete the sequence. Lastly we apply the process to holes 1 to 4 (the lower octave) and consider the draw bends necessary to complete the pattern. Once we can play the major scale in each octave fluently, including bends, we have the ability to range the length of the harp in 1st position, using it as one homogeneous instrument.

So why is hole 7 back to front?

Coming back to the central scale in holes 4 to 7, there is one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb. Hole 7 is backwards and trips us up every time. For those who are totally new, the mid scale on any 10 hole diatonic runs (more…)

Harp Tips 

Overcoming Beginner’s Twitch

The Good Doctor 0 Comments , , , , ,

What is beginner’s twitch?

It happens when you first start learning the harmonica. You hit a bum note, so you extend your arms from the elbows to visually locate the right hole on the harmonica, while shaking your head and tutting. By the time you bring the harp back under your nose, the hole’s gone out of focus, you miss your note again, so you tut and extend your arms… That’s beginner’s twitch!

Why do I do it?

Because you’re not keen on playing ‘blind’. That’s perfectly understandable. On every other instrument, you can see what your fingers are doing. On the harmonica your mouth is providing the wind and locating the notes simultaneously. It’s doing what your fingers would otherwise do. That’s just not normal!

What’s the solution?

You haven’t yet developed the navigational systems to locate the right hole without actually seeing it. Think laterally. Ask yourself how you would play the harmonica in the dark? (more…)

Harp Tips 

Crossing The Bridge

The Good Doctor 0 Comments , , , , ,

In cross-harp (2nd position) it is easy to limit your playing to blues patterns between holes 1 and 6. Accepted, some songs require this, focusing on the wealth of ‘low end’ bends, moods and tones. But what do we do with the ‘top end’ of the harp? It’s banjo country and it’s scary – you just don’t want to go there! This is because the tuning sequence changes in holes 7 to 10 and cross-harp patterns have to change with it. Those favoured low end formulae are rendered useless as everything seems to reverse or shift. Remember how mysterious the low end was when you first picked up the harp? Time, determination, experiment and the sense of adventure all spurred you on to greater things. Breaking into the top end is no different. So it’s back to school…

Stick with it – there’s fun and satisfaction to be had. In due course, 3rd position will have you skipping across the divide like a spring lamb, oblivious to worldly perils. For now, the first steps in linking the bottom and top ends are what we call ‘crossing the bridge’ exercises. Try out these helpful 2nd position licks:

(more…)