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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
B FLAT HARP
B FLAT HARP
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tombo
5 posts
Aug 08, 2008
10:32 AM
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I Like my B bflat Lee oskar and low F& E harps when playing solo. Can any of u horn blowers out there tell me when playin with a band what key the band needs to be in when playing crossharp? I know the major keys A harp band plays in E etc, but not sure on sharps flats & low keys any feedback welcome.TOMBO.
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MD1032
5 posts
Aug 08, 2008
11:23 AM
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The easiest way to remember is that what you need is a fifth down from their key (or a fourth up). For example, if the band is playing in G, you need a C harp, or if they're playing in E, you need an A.
The opposite scenario would also be true. If you only have an Ab harp on you, the band needs to play a fourth down in Eb (which is a fifth up).
As a horn player myself (I typically do bari sax in a blues band, my primary instrument is clarinet), I tend to think that the horns, being true chromatic instruments, should be the ones to adapt to the band. Thus, if I was playing harp, I would expect that the band play in the Eb/Gb range where harps are most comfortable for me. If I was in the opposite scenario, well, playing in E on bari sax isn't fun (I believe it's the key of Db for bari sax), but it's extremely doable, and it's worth it to know that the other instrumentalists will be more comfortable playing in a good key for them. Pianists especially tend to like certain keys for obvious reasons. I'd rather have the inconvenience of hitting a couple extra keys on the bari than hear the pianist hit some clunkers. Besides, if you're a horn, you should know all of your scales and intervals forwards, sideways, and backwards.
And don't concern yourself with sharps and flats and such. When I play harp, I often have no idea where I'm going or what notes I'm actually playing. I definitely think that's the key with harp. Just select the right key for the job and go at it as normal. I play a great variety of styles of music and I hate to say it, but blues is the one genre where theory is out the window. It's about listening and feeling.
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Patrick Barker
112 posts
Aug 08, 2008
11:26 AM
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B flat plays in F, which is one of the most common horn player keys. F plays in C, and E plays in B. If you want to play with horns, definitly get an E flat harp to play in B flat, a key that in my high school jazz band experience is nearly as common as F. F (cross C) may come in handy with horns though probably not that much, and E (cross B) is going to torture horn players who are used to the key signature of B flat and will not like a half step up since they'll have to remember a lot of sharps.
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"Without music, life would be a mistake" -Nietzsche
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