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From: Jon Gindick
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 08:52:42 -0700
Subject: Re: Harp Keys

My method for figuring out song keys is even cruder
that Mr. Brunelli's. I start out with two harps, one
in a natural key and the other flatted. I put the
music on, pick up the natural key harp, say a C
major harp (what else?), and start looking for a
note that seems to harmonize (sound ok) through the
whole song, or the whole chord progression, anyway.
Once I have a note that seems to be harmonizing
though everything, I take note of what it is.
If it's 2 blow on my C harp, I know my harmonizer is
an E note. Could the music possibly be in the key of
E? I get out my A harp, try to play cross harp with
the song. Does it work? Yes? Song must be in the
key of E. Then through listening and experiemnting,
I decide what position I want to use to accompany
the music and what harp.

What if I can't find a note on the C harp? I figure
the song must be in a flatted key, so I pick up the
flatted harp, say a A flat, and try to find a note
on that, from which I can discover what key the
music is actually in. Using this method, which
relies a lot on ear, and guesswork, I can usually
figure out a key in about 20 to 30 seconds. I
developed this crude but effective method while
figuring out what key harp was needed to play cross
harp with hundreds of albums. I have to admit
however, that there are times when I've had to try
all 12 keys in order to find a key of harp that
would work. In that case, I take a cross harp Note
of Resolution say 3 blow, and a wailing note, say 4
draw, and try each of them on each harp. Something's
gotta work! And something usually does.