ive been listening to just 3 things in last 6months 1 sonny boy 2 cd,1 muddy waters cd,and a lee oskar cd,but mainly the sonny boy cd.But the Lee oskar is gaining,hes so tight clean but tight and melodies wow he uses 2 harps on most his songs.I really starting to dig that concept.Most people are saying learn over blows to be able to play jazz,or other style's with more than 1 key,Lee uses different harps maybe with a special tuning to do it.I think thats cool and will give more options of variety maybe maybe not but ,I think i might try to learn how he does that enstead of learning to do over blows.any thought or opions on using that concept to play multi keyed songs,and tips on how to do that?
Last Edited by on Jun 26, 2010 1:30 AM
@Hobostubs This technique I think is called 'harp switching'
I use 2 harps sometimes, holding one between thumb and forefinger and the other between forefinger and middle finger. Then using the vocal mic on a stand you can turn your hand to present the other. This is great for contrast of sound if you use minor tuned or harmonic minor tunings. Alternatively I use 3 harps in 2nd position say the tune is in C then you line up F, low F and low,low F and grab them quickly when opportunity presnts within the structure of the number. The possibilities are endless and it gives the listener another dimension. Here is Brendan with a presentation about it on Irish tunes with chromatics, clearly you have to have changing the harps as slick as possible!
thanks harmonicanick looks allmost like juggleing:-)I was thinking it could open up a variety of options playing that way,Its something i would like to learn.
couldnt a person use different harps to play diffferent positions on the same key in a song.for example Key of E songs play a A harp 2nd pos,than halfway got to a E harp in 1st Pos,then at the end go to D harp for 3rd? And if you can would the 3rd pos which i think is Em would it fit.being a minor?
Yeap. I've recorded beat tracks on my low low F and then played melody over the top on a Bb. I didn't do it in real time, but it's the same idea. I have an Irish sounding piece I wrote that after each verse I speed up and switch harps. Make sure your harps are clearly labeled! There are a couple other options for multi-harping too. There are some harps that are two sided. It's basically just two harps stuck together back to back. The little Puck comes in a Double Puck model. It seems to be more common on tremolo models. And then of course, if you are playing in a rack, there is this beast:
(Here is a double sided harp.)
---------- Nate Facebook
Last Edited by on Jun 26, 2010 11:31 AM
To play "Riders on the Storm" I use 2 harps. The tune is in E dorian minor, but the IV change is also played dorian which means i must play A dorian minor on the IV chord. So, i use a D harp in third position for most of the tune and use a G harp in third position to play over the IV change. Works great.
I cup the mic and hold both harps at the same time which is acually not difficult to do.
thanks guys this multi harping sounds interesting,Now if i could just learn to play 1 i might try 2 :-)the circle harp is weird looking.but i guess you only need 1
Another tune where 2 diatonic harps are needed is "So What." 16 measures of D dorian then 8 measures of Eb dorian, then back to D dorian. So, C harp and Db harp, both in third position.
The jazz guys I sometimes play with tell me that if I won't learn chromatic, I've got to use more than one diatonic (I don't OB). Well, I don't like playing chrom and I'm not any good at it. And, like I said earlier, using 2 harps is not logistically difficult.
cool yea i love Lee oskar's music i think he changes keys some and doessnt OB,Im not sure of that but thats what ive heard.Its very complicated sounding music he does.I have nothing against OB except i cant do em right now,but i can see where another path can be taken.and sound great.I guess ideally a person who was good at multi harps and OB could do alot of different stuff also,but i like the mult harp idea right now anyone try the LO minors?
Last Edited by on Jun 26, 2010 12:29 PM
