jonsparrow
1050 posts
Sep 20, 2009
8:04 PM
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just a quick question.
say im reading something that says this is a C major scale. if i play that on an A harp does that make it an A major scale?
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jonsparrow
1051 posts
Sep 20, 2009
8:15 PM
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ok im a bit confused. if i take a C harp an play a C major scale A major scale E major scale etc... thats right. but if i take an A harp an play the C major scale its still a C major scale an the A major scale is still an A major scale etc. is this correct? but the A harp is a lower pitch then the C harp so it will sound differnt. plus its a differnt key. so if i play a tab for a C major scale on an A harp what does that make it? C major in the key of A? does that even make sense?
Last Edited by on Sep 20, 2009 8:16 PM
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MrVerylongusername
516 posts
Sep 21, 2009
1:58 AM
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OK in theory, assuming your overblow/overdrawing ability you can play any scale on any harp.
If a scale is tabbed out for a particular harp (say C) and you are told it is for the C major scale (for instance) then if you change harps to A, the tab would become the A major scale.
So if you had a E minor scale tabbed out for a C harp, then it would become C# minor on an A harp.
The consistent pattern of intervals built into the layout of the harp means that the tabs will always give you the same character of scale (i.e. major, minor, blues, pentatonic etc...) but of course changing harps will change the actual note names.
Learning the circle of fifths is a great help here.
Now the other possibility, playing the notes as opposed to the tab.
If you play the notes of a C major scale on a C harp it is a C major scale.
If you play the notes of a C major scale on any other key harp it remains a C major scale. What changes is how you play it (i.e. how it would be tabbed out; which holes, bends, OBs are needed).
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Andrew
622 posts
Sep 21, 2009
4:55 AM
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Jon, it depends on whether you are playing from a tab or whether you are playing from a score.
If you have a C harp and you play 1,-1,2,2--,-2 etc, you are playing the C major scale. If you do it on an A harp, you are playing the A major scale. That's because it's a tab. You are playing in 1st position, the key of the harp.
But if you pick up an A harp and play 4OB,-5,6,6-,6OB,7,-8,8-, then that's C-major, because you are playing the notes of the C-major scale, which are fixed - compare them with first position on your C harp. (It's 10th position on an A harp.)
Last Edited by on Sep 21, 2009 5:00 AM
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DaDoom
126 posts
Sep 21, 2009
6:51 AM
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@jonsparrow
Hehe I know how you feel mate. This stuff still confuses me sometimes. Here's what I can tell you as a beginner:
A scale is defined by the note it starts on and the intervals you have in between the notes. So: a C major scale starts on C and ends on a C an octave higher. Thus if you want to play a C major scale on a C harp you'd play it in 1st position. If you play it on any other key you'd have to look for the C you want to start with. So to play a C major scale on an F harp you'd start off in 2nd position (or 2 draw). On an A harp you'd have to start on a 1OB or a 4OB (good luck on the 1OB ;)).
If you play a certain scale lets say a C major scale on an F harp in 2nd position, starting from the 2 draw and you then pick another harp but play the same holes, you'd get a major scale in whatever the starting note on that harp is in 2nd position. Why? Because the intervals remain the same. So if you pick a C harp and play the same holes you'd play on an F harp to get the C majors scale you'd be playing a G major scale.
I hope this makes sense to you :)
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mr_so&so
204 posts
Sep 21, 2009
8:06 AM
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Jon, don't confuse a key and a scale. The key is the starting point and the scale is the spacing of the notes over an octave. That's it. The other guys are correct that you can play any scale in any key on any harp with enough bends and overbends.
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ChrisA
75 posts
Sep 21, 2009
8:09 AM
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Jon, check this page, you can also download the applet on your computer and use it offline
http://www.overblow.com/?menuid=26
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Jim Rumbaugh
83 posts
Sep 21, 2009
8:41 AM
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I want to answer the qustion another way.
the most common C major scale on a C harp is:
4 -4 5 -5 6 -6 -7 7
If you play the SAME HOLES on an A HARP you will be playing an A major scale.
Last Edited by on Sep 21, 2009 9:47 AM
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jonsparrow
1053 posts
Sep 21, 2009
8:57 AM
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ooooohhhhh ok. thanks alot guys. that makes sense now. now i just gotta memorize every note on every harp. lol
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GermanHarpist
618 posts
Sep 21, 2009
9:00 AM
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" now i just gotta memorize every note on every harp. lol "
An easier way is to learn the intervals of the scales.
Otherwise you always have to think around three corners...
But, I feel you jon, this shit is complicated as hell.
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germanharpist on YT.
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Preston
506 posts
Sep 21, 2009
9:15 AM
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Memorizing every note on everyharp is probably something good for all of us, but not entirely necessary unless you are playing jazz.
Instead of memorizing every note on every harp, try this short cut that works for me: memorize a chromatic run on the harp, AND memorize what holes correspond to each other.
F# harp example:
+4 -4' -4 ^4(overblow) +5 -5 ^5 +6 -6' -6 ^6 -7 +7
F# G Ab A Bb B C Db D Eb E F F#
If I need to play a C note on that F# harp, I count in my head up from F# and I know it exists on the 5ob. Now I also know that I have a C note at the 2 draw half-step bend, and another one at the 9 blowbend.
Although I personaly have only committed a "C" harp to memory, using this process I can navigate through any other harp fairly quickly.
Does that make sense?
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DaDoom
127 posts
Sep 22, 2009
8:24 AM
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@Preston
Interesting approach. What I do is always expand scales down to the bottom and up to the top of the harp. You get so used to play everything between holes 2 and 6 that you often forget about the rest of the harp. Searching for the right notes to expand the scales on both ends of the harp has been a good learning process for me.
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jonsparrow
1063 posts
Sep 22, 2009
9:15 AM
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@dadoom iv been starting to do that too.
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