boris_plotnikov
120 posts
May 25, 2010
9:05 PM
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How do you prepare sheet music for harmonica?
I'm musically literate from my childhood and when I bought my first harmonica (in D) in my 16 I start to learn note kayout to play notes I play on guitar or piano and play some scales and riffs. Then I bought harmonica in F and learn note layout too, then the same for every key. Some years later or so I've found that sax players, trumpet players and clarinet players have their instruments tuned to different keys than C (Eb for alto and bari sax and french horn, Bb for trumpet, clarinet, tenor and soprano saxes). If alto sax player see middle C in his sheet papers he press all buttons on his horn and play the root tone of the horn and mind it as C, while it sounds like Bb concert (Bb3 on piano). And I started to think why I have to learn all 12 keys note layout. It's not as hard to learn (I think I remember most concert pitch notes of most keys of harp). But when I mostly play Bb, C, and G harps I remember all pitches and can read music. But I very rare use B, F# and Db, it's impossible to remember note layout for that harps as good as for C, Bb and G. And I think it's a great idea to transpose sheet music to key comfortable for C harmonica. E.g. if you play 2nd position blues in E with your A harp and you need sheet music (haha, anybody need sheet music for blues playing???) you have to transpose notes to the key of G and write under title "Diatonic harmonica in A", like you can often find notes "Trumpet in Bb" or "Alto in Eb".
What do you think?
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http://myspace.com/harmonicaboris
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Greg Heumann
475 posts
May 25, 2010
9:55 PM
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I write everything as though I was playing it on a C harp. So when I see a C on the page, it means a C on a C harp, A D on a D harp, etc. The hole numbers and note positions are then always consistent = this is the only way I could ever hope to learn to read harp music.
Note that this is consistent with woodwind instruments in different keys. The music is transposed so that a written "G" is fingered with the first 3 fingers of the left hand, whether it is an oboe, a flute, a tenor sax (Bb instrument) or a Bari sax (Eb instrument). It might not SOUND a "concert" G when played, but it sounds the right note. That way the musician always plays the same fingering for a "G" no matter what instrument they're playing.
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/Greg
BlowsMeAway Productions
BlueState - my band
Bluestate on iTunes
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nacoran
1945 posts
May 25, 2010
10:02 PM
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I think using a movable clef sign might be easier than standard treble and bass clefs. Then you only need accidentals on the sheet music for any key.
I was reading the other day that movable clefs signs were pretty common until fairly recently. I suppose if you are sharing it with someone on another instrument that might complicate things. You can put a key signature on it and they can figure it out by how many flats or sharps it has instead of what lines it's on, but they may have a problem with it being on different lines than they are used to.
I'm sure there are digital transposition options too. iPads and Kindles are still expensive, but I imagine in a couple more years it may be easier to just have it stored digitally and each musician can press a button and have it display however they want.
I really think the movable clef sign might be the easiest way for someone who doesn't read sheet music to learn sheet music for the harp. You wouldn't even really need a key signature. Just pick up whatever key the other players want to play in.
I used to read the bass clef and have struggled through the treble when I needed to, although I've never tried to apply it to the harp. I sang old-time music using the movable clef, and as long as someone sang 'do' before we started it was pretty easy. With an instrument that is already in tune it's even quicker.
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Nate
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MrSokolov
1 post
May 26, 2010
1:09 AM
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I use this method if I can't quickly navigate to this key.
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hvyj
383 posts
May 26, 2010
4:23 AM
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FWIW, When I use sheet music, I convert the written notes to degrees of the scale (e.g., 1, 3b, 5, etc.). I know which hole on the diatonic harmonica is what degree of the scale in each of the 6 positions I can play. These relationships are the same on any key of harmonica. So, once I select the position I'm going to play in, I can "transpose" by simply changing which key of harmonica I use.
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Diggsblues
321 posts
May 26, 2010
10:30 AM
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Robert Bonfiglio made the suggestion of changing clefs
years ago. I think for diatonic this is a great idea.
The other alternative is transposing in all keys.
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
437 posts
May 26, 2010
4:07 PM
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I use sheet music for chromatic only, and to help me figure out chords for chord harmonica. If I were reading for diatonic, I would probably transpose all music to C or Am and then select an appropriate key harmonica for the key I wanted to play the music in.
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Buddha
1868 posts
May 26, 2010
5:39 PM
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I read intervals.
Say it's a piece in Dm and I want to use a C harp. I look at the D above middle C as draw 4 and read everything else intervalistically.
Let's say I only have a Bb harp, then that same note is Blow 5 and after that reading the intervals is not big deal.
I don't know if that makes sense but it works for me.
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***
"Musicians are the architects of heaven"
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Greg Heumann
486 posts
May 26, 2010
9:54 PM
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Seems to me you're trying to reinvent a wheel here.
There is a standard in music composition - transpose the sheet music for people who play instruments in other keys so that they always use the same finger/mouth position for the same note on the staff. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transposing_instrument - this is simply the way it is done and that all musicians understand. You better have a damn good reason to break the rules. Why would you do it any other way?
There's a great reason to do it this way. If you already know how to read music, you already have built in muscle memory that connects your fingers/hands/mouth to your brain. When you see the note, say, between the middle lines of the staff, that note is called C (if treble clef.) For harp players, that note is always found on 1 blow. If you want me to play a concert C but on a Bb harp, you should write it as a D. When I see a D, I'm gonna play 1 draw, period. When I play a woodwind instrument, whether its a flute, oboe, tenor or bari sax, if you write a G, I put the 3 fingers of my left hand down. ALWAYS. That's muscle memory. The actual pitch that sounds depends on the instrument. That way I don't have to develop a DIFFERENT muscle memory for each instrument. I don't see why it should be different for harp.
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/Greg
BlowsMeAway Productions
BlueState - my band
Bluestate on iTunes
Last Edited by on May 26, 2010 10:20 PM
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ricanefan
63 posts
May 27, 2010
12:32 AM
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I have a pdf file I like to refer to that's very helpful in converting sheet music to harmonica tabs. Does anyone know how to attach a file?
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boris_plotnikov
121 posts
May 27, 2010
2:10 AM
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Tabs are not universal language and actually sucks.
Greg
Yes, you're completely right I'm thinking the same last 5 years or so!
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http://myspace.com/harmonicaboris
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GermanHarpist
1497 posts
May 27, 2010
3:35 AM
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The drawback, is that you have to find music sheets for harp specific, which is then written for a specific harp key and position.
However, if I'd make the effort of trying to learn how to play notes from sheet with my harmonica I'd try to approach it in a way, that I can play from any sheet of music (for every instrument, only treble and bass key though), any key harmonica and any position.
I think the easiest would be to match the scale degree of the written music with the scale degree of the position and scale I chose to play. Mixed with Buddhas approach of thinking intervals I think that this should be quite doable.
Matching a certain note with a very specific harmonica IMO doesn't really make sense with harmonica as it does with other instruments.... You have all harmonica keys to chose from - it's not like playing trumpet in Bb and that's it. If a trumpet player changes to C, he'd go and buy all new partitions with his new instrument.
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YT - Music isn't created, it evolves.
Last Edited by on May 27, 2010 3:40 AM
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boris_plotnikov
122 posts
May 27, 2010
3:55 AM
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BTW If I have sheet music in F and have to play it in 1st position with C harmonica I take C harmonica and think I play F harmonica as I remember F harmonica layout.
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http://myspace.com/harmonicaboris
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nacoran
1947 posts
May 27, 2010
9:46 AM
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A trumpet player can add flats and sharps, but it's a different finger pattern. Instead of just picking up a different harp to play in a different key the trumpet player has to essentially switch positions.
I think the movable clef combined with Buddha's approach would make a very workable system. Intervals, degrees of scale, tonic/dominant, they are all really just ways to describe where do re mi go.
I think your right Buddha, thinking about it in intervals. I'd ignore the key signature except to figure out the key (since our flats and sharps are built into the instrument) and then just find the starting line. Think of that as DO and away you go. If I was laying it out for a harmonica player who was just learning sheet music I think I'd just write the key name and highlight the DO line or space. I might give them a cheat sheet. The middle octave is easy since it's got all the notes without any bends.
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Nate
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