Andy Ley
12 posts
Nov 25, 2010
4:39 AM
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Harp: do you ever use that word to describe your instrument in everyday conversation?
For me personally, I feel completely disengenuous using the word 'harp' to describe what I play. I am perfectly happy to use the word 'harmonica' despite the fact that some people percieve potentialy negative or childish connotations about the word.
I'm not knocking anyone who does use 'harp', but I'm wondering if there's a reason why I have a problem with using it myself. Even in this forum I have thought about using the word and decided against it, so it's not that I feel people would be confused between a small metal reed instrument and a massive wodden stringed one.
Any thoughts? Does anyone else feel the same? Or am I a little bit mental and should be banished from this forum, and human society, ASAP?
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Hondo
67 posts
Nov 25, 2010
4:54 AM
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I do and I think it is in a way of education. Maybe I think that harmonica gives people the vision of "Oh Suzanna" and I want a segway to open their thoughts to the Blues. I want them to learn of SBW, Little Walter, on and on as opposed to just thinking campfire songs.
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tookatooka
1877 posts
Nov 25, 2010
4:56 AM
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Depends what company I'm in. If I'm with friends of the same generation it's bluesharp. If I'm with people of an older generation or who I don't think have been exposed to much Blues, I'll use harmonica. If I want to impress, I use 10 Hole Diatonic Harmonica.
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5F6H
398 posts
Nov 25, 2010
5:53 AM
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@ Andy Ley, "Or am I a little bit mental and should be banished from this forum, and human society, ASAP?" If you're a little bit mental, then you should fit here pretty good! ;-)
I always call it a harp when talking to other harp players & other musicians, unless that other musician is a harp player, then I would avoid confusion by not calling my harp a harp, in case they thought I was talking about their harp...the universally recognised hand gesture for a harp player is, of course, pretending to scrub your mouth with a boot brush (practice this regularly, for heaven's sake don't do it at arm's length, or you might look like you are accusing someone of being overly fond of self-gratification!), & is useful in determining whether you mean a harp or a harp (for which the universally accepted gesture is the "come hither" gesture, with both hands, rotated through 90 degrees, inwards).
It doesn't matter what you call it, as long as the person you are talking to understands what you mean, as Rice Miller said, "You can name it your mammy if you wanna!"
In Glasgow it's a "moothie", in Sarf London it might be a "gob iron", tin buttie, tin sandwich, mississipi sax...never call it a mouth organ unless you are prepared to receive the universally recognised gesture for being overly fond of self-gratification (which is like the universally recognised gesture for being a harp player - "boot brush", not "come hither", but performed at arm's length...actually either can be made to work...
You could call it a "blues harp", or "mouth harp" (not to be confused with the jaw harp - universally recognised gesture being like flicking a small fly off your lip, whilst eating a hot potato) even if you don't play blues, it differentiates it from a chromatic, or a big stringy, clothes airer-like thing.
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saregapadanisa
279 posts
Nov 25, 2010
5:58 AM
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"Harp" is an indigenous word in Bluesland. Not much in use anywhere else, as far as I know.
But the main reason why I use it over "harmonica" in this forum is just because it's easier to type.
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eharp
953 posts
Nov 25, 2010
6:41 AM
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i'm with sarge. i use harp because it easier/quicker to spell and say.
in fact, i am thinking of just going with "ha".
anybody with me??
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Andy Ley
13 posts
Nov 25, 2010
6:56 AM
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@5F6H: Thanks; that second paragraph cleared EVERYTHING up for me :)
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saregapadanisa
280 posts
Nov 25, 2010
6:58 AM
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I'm with you, Eha. ;-)
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Xpun3414
136 posts
Nov 25, 2010
11:10 AM
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I tend to use the word harp over harmonica..Even when Im speaking to thoes that dont understand what Im speakin of, then I correct my self before I even say it & say harmonica(when I do catch myself). But like on here or harp chat rooms or with those in the field, I call it a harp. I learned very fast to call it a harmonica around those that dont play. I made the mistake of calling it a harp on facebook once & they all thought of the big stringed instrument not my little buddy that I love so much.
BTW..How in the world did it EVER come to be called a harp. Considering that there is an instrument called a harp or harpsichord.? (maybe this question should be a thread all its own)
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ZackPomerleau
1312 posts
Nov 25, 2010
11:25 AM
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Harmonica, it's the name of the instrument after all.
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garry
13 posts
Nov 25, 2010
11:42 AM
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harmonica is cowboys around a campfire. if it kicks your ass, it's harp.
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MP
1031 posts
Nov 25, 2010
12:51 PM
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when i turn 55 i'll call it AARP.
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MP
hibachi cook for the yakuza
doctor of semiotics
superhero emeritus
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Littoral
199 posts
Nov 25, 2010
1:14 PM
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But we all know the question that follows, whatever you call it:
"What else do you play"?
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Andy Ley
14 posts
Nov 25, 2010
3:39 PM
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So is it me misunderstanding Harp's definition? Garry's reply above would suggest 'Harp' describes how, rather than what, you are playing.
Last Edited by on Nov 25, 2010 3:41 PM
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Mojokane
164 posts
Nov 25, 2010
3:41 PM
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you're giving me harp burn...
all good takes,
I like keeping the mystique,...our own little secret. When we mistakenly forget, or intentionally withhold, to clarify the difference, there is a new understanding. Our collective enlightenment will further educate the novice.
It will also weed out the idiots who don't really care.
But what do I know?
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DeakHarp
253 posts
Nov 25, 2010
3:54 PM
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I say my Blues Whistles .....
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Have Harp Will Travel
www.deakharp.com
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MrVerylongusername
1378 posts
Nov 25, 2010
3:56 PM
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Coming from the UK I called it a mouth organ when I was growing up. When I started playing, 'harp' seemed somewhat pretentious for a white, British, middle class kid from the East MIdlands'. Since I had to explain to everyone that it wasn't the big thing with a gazillion strings, I just settled for harmonica.
Last Edited by on Nov 25, 2010 3:57 PM
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wolfkristiansen
71 posts
Nov 25, 2010
4:03 PM
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A long time ago, shortly before I was in my first band, I posted an ad in the biggest newspaper in town:
"Harp player seeks musicians to form band". I got lots of responses-- from harp players, the kind that sit at one end of that big stringed thing and pluck away.
I called it harp because the book I learned from called it that-- Tony Glover's "Blues Harp" (Oak Publications 1965). I learned quickly enough that not all understood what I meant.
Moral-- consider your listener's background before deciding how to refer to our beloved four inch piece of metal!
Cheers,
wolf kristiansen
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Andy Ley
15 posts
Nov 25, 2010
4:12 PM
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@MrVerylongusername: "'harp' seemed somewhat pretentious for a white, British, middle class kid from the East MIdlands'."
This is kind of where I'm coming from (speaking subjectively not geographically). Harp just always seemed a little bit fraudulent for a Devon farmer's son.
Last Edited by on Nov 25, 2010 4:13 PM
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ZackPomerleau
1315 posts
Nov 25, 2010
4:18 PM
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I have never gotten asked "what else do you play" by any sort of person of any socioeconomic status or musician.
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eharp
959 posts
Nov 25, 2010
5:27 PM
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does anybody besides peter wolf call it a "lickin' stick"?
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clyde
75 posts
Nov 25, 2010
5:52 PM
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by the way zack...what else do you play?
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Littoral
200 posts
Nov 25, 2010
7:34 PM
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@clyde
Beat me to it.
Zach, this is at least time #10 when I told myself to move on after one of your posts. Adam already called you out, today.
You can play, I've seen it and you deserve some respect for it, but your posts consistently show a need to prove something and a lack of respect. You just don't know who could take your mic, cut your head, and sit you on your ass. Point made. Don’t expect me to follow this.
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RyanMortos
907 posts
Nov 25, 2010
7:43 PM
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I don't play a harp. I play a harmonica. Harp's a totally different instrument.
I ain't afraid of no syllables!
(Oh, and piano too but that's a separate thread on another forum.)
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~Ryan
"I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window." - Stephen Wright
Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
Contact:
My youtube account
Last Edited by on Nov 25, 2010 7:43 PM
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Kyzer Sosa
888 posts
Nov 25, 2010
9:30 PM
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ive heard it called lickin stick once, i giggled till i almost peed on myself. dude thought i was crazy, i later learned he was serious.
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Kyzer's Travels
Kyzer's Artwork
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rharley5652
284 posts
Nov 25, 2010
9:48 PM
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http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/9X/04703372/047033729X.pdf
What Is This Thing Called Harp?
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Simply Unique Kustom Mic's By Rharley
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gene
595 posts
Nov 26, 2010
12:35 AM
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"harmonica is cowboys around a campfire. if it kicks your ass, it's harp."
I'm with Garry, too. It's kinda like: If you play in an orchestra, you might play violin. But if you're Doug Kershaw, you play the fiddle.
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Barry C.
57 posts
Nov 26, 2010
12:44 PM
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Tin Sandwhich!
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~Banned in Boston!
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nacoran
3301 posts
Nov 26, 2010
1:41 PM
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Here is a link, if you want A BUNCH of different words for harmonica:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5193776/Posted%20to%20the%20internet%20do%20not%20move/Words%20for%20Harmonica.doc
You can cut and paste them into Youtube searches and you get whole different sets of videos.
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Nate
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