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From: "John W. Sawyer"
Date: Tue, 5 Nov 1996 17:00:21 -0500
Subject: Re: harp positions revisited

>I suppose for posterity's sake it is a good idea to get a definition here.

My sentiments exactly. :-)

> In classical music theory the relationship between G and C is referred
to as G either being a fifth ABOVE or fourth
> BELOW C (assuming they are in the same octave.) It is only necessary to
truly define this relationship when you have two
> notes going at once.
> For a harp player it doesn't really matter if he considers himself
moving DOWN A FOURTH to cross harp or UP A FIFTH

Michael, based on your own definition, this is incorrect in terms of cross
harp. If the tune is in the key of C, to use your example, the cross harp
key would be F, not G. In my own personal definition of a "fifth", F is
the fifth note above C. In this case, one would go up 5 notes (a "fifth")
to get the cross harp key. One would have to go down 7 notes (a "seventh")
to get to the cross harp key going the other direction.


> The classical terms can get, as you see, a little unwieldy for our
needs. As long as you can find the right key you
> are doing the right thing and it doesn't matter what language you do it
in. After all, when someone plays in 5th position
> (off of the E on a C harp) is he moving up a third or down a sixth?
Either gets you to the same place.

Agreed on all points. My concern is that we standardize our terms so that
we don't go through this discussion every few months, thoroughly confusing
the new players in the process. :-)

Chon
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