High G and Low F harps...what does this mean?
Hi everybody. Bob from New Jersey here. Can any of you amazing harp players clarify something for me? What exactly are harps in the key of "high" G and "low" F? The guy at the local music store told me that "high" G is the same as Ab, and I'm pretty sure that's not true. He doesnt know anything about harpin.
Do I need these harps for my playing? Listen to Broke and Hungry from the Crucial Blues Harmonica CD. When I play that song, I can never make the solo sound like Billy Branch. Ronnie Shellist told me it's because he's using a high G harp, which I dont have.
What are high G and Low F used for? How are they different from the regular tunings of these keys?
Can any of you great harp players clarify for me? thanks fellas...Bob G from NJ (aka, RevolutionMan)
G'day Bob, I am not a great player but I think I can answer your question. :-) the high and low designations are just to distinguish those harps from the standard G and F harps. The G harp is the lowest pitch of the standard harps, and the F is the highest, I guess actually F sharp is probably the highest, i just dont see too many of those. Anyway you can get a G harp which is a higher pitch than the standard G harp, with it's lowest note an octave above the standard G harp, so to distinguish it from the other one its called High G. Same deal with a low F, except in reverse.
If you wanna sound like the record it's gonna be pretty hard to do with a standard G.
Cheers, dave
Just been listening to Broke and Hungry and a high G harp is certainly on there. According to the sleeve notes on the album Harp Attack, Junior Wells takes the first solo (this is the high G harp, in 2nd position- thus playing in the song's key of D) and Billy Branch takes the 2nd solo (standard G harp, 2nd position).
It's a great example of the difference between the standard and high tuned G's and Dave is right- you won't get the sound without the high G!
Hey thanks fellas. I understand waht you are saying.
The one blow hole on a high G harp would be the exact same note as 4 blow on a regular G. It's still a G harmonica, only it starts one octave up.
Hey Bob
A harp in the key of high G is tuned one octave above a regular G ie a whole step above a regular F. Similarly, a harp in the key of low F is tuned one octave below a regular F ie a whole step below a regular G.
So, a high G is a pretty high keyed harp and low F is a fairly low key.
Listen to tongue blocking study 5 "Blues For Paul Delay" to hear the low F in action. There's not many examples of high G playing out there- none that spring to my mind anyway. Hope this helps!