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From: Stephanie Denise Stevenson
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 1996 17:01:38 -0500
Subject: How many harps

Howdy folks!
In response to the "how many harps" discussion, I can relate my
experience years ago as a beginning harp player. I practiced by playing or
attempting to play along with music on the stereo. I had pitch control on
the turntable, and bought every harp key necessary for the songs I was
interested in. Many times the key is determined by the singer's range on a
particular song. For a while I was able to get along fine with the keys of
G, A, C, D, and F but eventually bought more keys when I started sitting in
with people. When I joined my first band, I had been playing for 3 years and
by then had 12 different keys, plus a chromatic. I used to play solo at high
school beer drinking parties and I could get everyone dancing. I usually
brought a C harp in my pocket. My most frequently used harps today are G, A,
C, D, and F and I use the D to play most of the fiddle tunes I know. I carry
all of the harps around in a pistol case, along with tools, guitar strings,
a few CDs, etc.
I guess I'd recommend buying as many harps as you need, depending on
what you want to do. You obviously can get by with one key for a while, but
if you want to start jamming with people then you'll need several keys. G,
A, C, D, and F were all I used during my first two years of learning to play
harmonica. Good luck!
Art Stevenson
909 E. Dayton St. Apt. 2
Madison, WI 53703

"If you have musicians who won't play in B or minor keys, get rid if 'em."
- ---Bill Monroe