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Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 02:13:18 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mike Curtis
Subject: Re: Fingertips, chromatic concepts

< Chromatic should be considered as "one" instrument, and not as "two halves">

> For instance, calling the scale used by Stevie Wonder on Fingertips a locrian scale or 6th position on the Db harp might be tempting, but misses the point. The actual scale he plays draws from both sides of the harp:
>
> Db side: Eb Gb Bb
> C side: C D F G A

You previously mentioned he was playing the C on the Dd side (keyboard player asking "Which key" and Stevie hitting the C using the slide.) I hear it with the C and F on the Db side - C always, F sometimes:

Db side: C Eb F Gb Ab Bb
C side: D F G A

The only note missing from C locrian is Db. Also, I don't recall the Ab getting much action, if any.

The main notes I hear are on the Db side. In fact, you can get a fairly close approximation of the solo on a Db harp in 6th position. If you add the #5 draw bend for the natural second, you're almost there. Now all you need is a windsaver on hole 6 (on the draw reed) to let you get the natural G on the 6 blow and you have the whole enchilada - except for chords, of course.

When I play it on the chromatic, I find it helpful to think of it as 6th position, because that's how it "plays" to a diatonic player - even though it's technically in "first position". "Thinking" of it as first position has no useful purpose to me, and could actually have me trying to play on the "wrong" notes.

While it does have a somewhat dorian sound, the prominent flatted fifth and the absense of a definitive 6th makes it definitely locrian to my ear. And the fact that it plays so nicely in 6th position locrian mode on a diatonic doesn't hurt, either :-)

> As for the Paul deLay example, when he plays in Eb, he's playing in 10th position. With the slide locked in place, the two positions play almost identically (the last hole in the harp is different - 10th position gives you a minor-major seventh chord instead of a minor 6th). But as soon as you kick the slide loose, all sorts of differences open up, starting with the fact that the pitch goes up when the slide is engaged in third, and goes down when engaged in 10th. If we view it as all one harp, these differences can be clearly appreciated. Calling them both third position, one on a C and the other on a Db tends to ignore both their differences and their interconnectedness.

Agreed.

When you tell me "10th position", I as a valved diatonic player assume something far different than playing a C chromatic with the slide depressed most of the time for a 10th position that plays like a third position. On the valved diatonic, I play 10th position: 5Bb, 5D, 6B, 6Db, 7Db, 7B, 8D, 8Bb. So it makes more sense to me as a diatonic player if it's described as "third position with the slide depressed".

I've always thought of the chromatic harp in the same light as the saxophone, flute, violin, and other instruments where no serious player would even think of defining "positions". How many sax players change horns when keys change :-) They just call a key a key. If we all played a C harp, there would be no need for "position" nomenclature. We'd just play in F, Eb, Bb, etc. In fact, until recently, I was unaware of
"positions", and instead referred to keys, i.e. B minor on a C harp. To me, position naming is a shortcut in describing what I'm doing to other harmonicists.

DeLay describes himself as playing in third position. I'll see if I can dig up the source of that quote.

> For instance, by engaging the slide and playing split chords, you can get a full D7th draw chord in third position, and play all sorts of harmonized lines with it. You can't do that in 10th.

Not to pick nits, but it'd be D minor 7th unless you've managed to lodge a bit of lunch in your F reed :-) But yes, this is quite true.

> You'll get a lot more out of it thinking of it as one chromatic than as two diatonics. And yes, you could call it a Db chromatic with a pitch dip. You could also say that the day begins at noon instead of midnight - what's to be gained by it? You're just talking about shifting everything around to a different starting point.

Actually, my day _does_ begin at noon :-)

> This can be refreshing, and may yield some insights. But in the long run you still need to have one consistent starting point to hang everything else from.

I agree. My point was merely that it's good to think of it as more than a C harp with a subservient set of C sharp reeds to be used only when you can't find it on the C reeds. But we agree on this. Or to put it another way, it's good to explore _A_L_L_ viewpoints. This is not a limiting philosophy - in fact, quite the opposite.

>
>
> I don't mean subservient in the sense of lesser or secondary to another scale (poor word choice). I mean integrated. Both the C and the Db reedplate are subservient to (i.e. integrated into) the total chromaticity of the harp. Neither one is "primary" - that's my whole point.

Poor word choice forgiven (remember that when I muff one :-)

> On the other hand, concentrating on the Db side as an independent
> entity can be used as a temporary "awareness" exercise, to make
> it more of a comfortable, "at-home" place. But after that, it
> needs to be integrated into the total harp.

Precisely. Let 'em know that the "other place" isn't so hostile that you only visit when you can't find it "at home" :-)_

The bottom line is, the chromatic is "one instrument". There are benefits to being able to view it as "all three" (C, Db, and both, depending on the circumstances.) But it's also important to include all three, and not limit oneself to "half an instrument".

It has been pointed out that many diatonic players "only use 20% of the harp" (only lower 5, and mostly draw notes.) (Yes, this is 25% in my book, too, but I didn't originate the quote :-) I've found it most advantageous to use the entire harp, and this philosophy has been good to me. Because I use the whole instrument, and use it in different positions, it makes me sound like a much better player than I am.

> In this situation, position remains important. The things you can do in F# position are quite different from the things you can do in E position, because of the physical differences in the locations of the notes, how they are accessed, and how you can
get from one note to the next. I break a lot of slide springs.

One thing I don't have to worry about with windsavers :-)))

-- mike