Stickman
633 posts
Feb 21, 2011
2:51 PM
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That a G harp is the lowest? I don't know about musicians but we art teachers and most other people I know start with A. But my harmonicas go from G lowest to F highest. So why not start with A. I do realize that a scale can start anywhere and end on the same note that the scale starts with. Are Harmonicas based on a G scale? Is so, why?
I can already imagine a complex answers that involve the circle of fifths are something to do with the black keys on a piano. But go ahead and give it to me. I'm trying to understand music.
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TahoeMike00
159 posts
Feb 21, 2011
2:57 PM
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Uh, yeah I have been wondering the same thing. I figured it was my Dr. Spock'ish brain being too logical.
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The more I learn about harmonica, the more I learn how much more there is to learn.
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Joch230
420 posts
Feb 21, 2011
3:07 PM
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I don't think this (Low G-High F) is anything more than what are the more commonly used keys of harps. What the manufacturers have figured out. Most people have low F or Low D harps too. I don't think it's any more complicated than that.
=John
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toddlgreene
2626 posts
Feb 21, 2011
3:11 PM
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My guess is that at whatever time Hohner or Seydel or whomever made the first G harp, the scale an octave up sounded too high, long prior to anyone making a high G harp.
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Todd
my moderator username is Admin007
Eudora and Deep Soul
Last Edited by on Feb 21, 2011 3:11 PM
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hvyj
1258 posts
Feb 21, 2011
3:17 PM
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Well, have you ever played a HIGH G? It's not actually in dog whistle territory, but it's up there pretty high.
Some might consider it too shrill for regular use, which may be why what we have standard G as the lowest standard harp--many would consider G an octave higher to be just too shrill and too difficult to bend for regular use.
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
561 posts
Feb 21, 2011
3:18 PM
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It's not complex. Have you ever played a high G? This was one of the two main keys back in the 1800s when the standards were set. Thus the whole range would be set so the G would come out Ok. And you could actually read music on a treble clef with the. G where it is. Also, keep in mind that while you might play the low notes all the time it wasnt set up for thst, the pitch was chosen for the middle octave, where 99 percent of playing was done in those days. he german scale goes like this: C D E F G A H C. So, it would have made logical sense to start with C. Low C was really too low for what they were doing at the time. But make no mistake about it, there were quite a few High G harps available back in the day. You dont find them as often any more beacause people dont buy them like they did. I should also mention the traditional chromatic line starts at Db. It was literally somebody sitting around saying "this G is too high, we will make it an octave lower,"etc.
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"There are only two things money can't buy - true love and homegrown tomatoes." - Lewis Grizzard
Last Edited by on Feb 21, 2011 3:25 PM
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nacoran
3838 posts
Feb 21, 2011
3:24 PM
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And, in case you are wondering why C is the harp that most instructional material is written for, I think that is a combination of it being in the middle of the range so you can learn high or low techniques on it, but more importantly, C is the key with no flats or sharps in it and therefore the key with only white keys on a piano, which makes it much easier to learn basic theory with. :)
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Nate
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Stickman
635 posts
Feb 21, 2011
4:30 PM
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"this G is too high, we will make it an octave lower,"
That makes sense to me. Pure aesthetics. Thanks Dave. BTW I'm really digging those N.WVA Hot Dogs. Thanks Bro.
Thanks guys!
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Last Edited by on Feb 21, 2011 4:32 PM
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toddlgreene
2628 posts
Feb 22, 2011
6:17 AM
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I do play one and roll it out on occasion. I don't hang on the upper register much, as there definitely is a shrill factor. I might have never gotten one, but was in cover bands in the 90s, and Blues Traveler's Runaround employs the HiG. Sometimes when we play a song that puts me in 2nd/3rd on G harps, I'll use the normal and high to do sort of a buildup-starting on the low, then crescendo on the hiG.
I thought the HiG was high until I got a SBS in A, which starts in regular A, then goes an octave higher, even higher in pitch than that HiG.
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Todd
my moderator username is Admin007
Eudora and Deep Soul
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Honkin On Bobo
617 posts
Feb 22, 2011
7:03 AM
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Ha! I wondered about this myself from time to time, thanks stick for bringing it up...and Elk of course for the awesome answer.
The modern blues harp forum........I learn something new everyday.
Last Edited by on Feb 22, 2011 7:03 AM
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