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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Keys on diatonic
Keys on diatonic
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bluesharper
60 posts
Aug 04, 2010
12:13 PM
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What keys would you buy a diatonic(s) in if you wanted to play jazz? Just looking for peoples opinion here
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nacoran
2417 posts
Aug 04, 2010
12:32 PM
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I think a lot of types of horns natural keys are Bb or F, so depending what position you want to play in...
But I'm sure the resident Jazz harpist will come along with a more complete answer, which will probably include telling you to learn a bunch of different positions.
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Nate
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bluesharper
61 posts
Aug 04, 2010
12:45 PM
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im hoping he will
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harmonicanick
828 posts
Aug 04, 2010
2:49 PM
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I play a lot of jazz and I play mostly 2nd, so all the usual keys. 3rd position for minor tunes or I do have all minor tuned keys harps as well.
Its quite an expense to start, but worth it because you won't get caught out.
Jazz, remember, is not 12 bar blues but a much more fluid medium. Often a melody is repeated to start and that leads in extensive soloing by whoever or whatever is around playing.
Be prepared to wait your turn for the solo and when you get in go for it! Show those sax players how its done.
Jazz improv. is not for the faint hearted or average blues harpist.
However if you like to jam and know your stuff it can be rewarding.
In general jazz musicians are much less tolerant of mistakes or mediocrity, so beware before you enter that lion pit bluesharper. I wish you well.
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hvyj
502 posts
Aug 04, 2010
4:16 PM
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You really need all 12 keys. I play a limited amount of jazz material that the jazz guys select for me when i sit in. They spoon feed me by calling tunes i can handle on a diatonic. I don't OB but i do play in multiple positions and wind up using 4th and 5th quite a bit for minors. I don't play minor key harps at all.
But, I agree w/harmonicamick. You can get quite a bit of mileage out of 2d position. Using 3d position for dorian minors also works well, but sometimes requires using 2 harps since you may need to play dorian in different keys over different chords in the same tune and may need to change harps on certain chord changes. But 3d won't work for natural minors or harmonic minors.
I regularly wind up playing in 5th position quite a bit, which puts you in otherwise rarely used harp keys (Ab harp=C minor, Db harp=F minor, F#=Bb minor, B=Eb minor, E=Ab minor, etc.), And jazz tunes do get called in keys like Bb minor and Eb minor, so one needs to be prepared.
If jazz musicians are going to invite you to sit in on diatonic harmonica you really should be prepared with whatever harps you need for whatever material gets called. The limitations of a diatonic harp for playing jazz are significant as it is, and if they are willing to put up with that, it's disrespectful to the jazz musicians who are letting you play if you compound the problem by not carrying all keys. IMHO, it would be a mistake to show up for a jazz session with only the 7 or 8 harps you could get by with on a blues or rock gig.
Last Edited by on Aug 04, 2010 4:20 PM
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