I know what you’re wondering … what has overstuffed boobs to do with cross-harp harmonica? Beats me, but it does get the hits. Cross-Harp is easy to understand, if you know what happens when you blow or draw on a harmonica. Drawing produces opportunities for note-bending and other expressive and dynamic tricks that just won’t happen or won’t happen as well on the outbreath. Yes, we’re talking inbreath and outbreath here, and it’s all very esoteric, but that’s not enough to get us over the Sinister Barrier of incompetence…make that “rank incompetence”. Okay, so what IS cross-harping, anyway? Simply put, it’s playing the opposite side of the main guys. For instance, if the song is in the Key of A, let’s say, a 12-bar blues in A, then the harp player would want to play in D, to take the most advantage of the outbreath. Of course, one could hold onto an A and a D, one over the other, and take both sides, the straight key, and the cross-key; this can be very effective, but tends to create havoc in the new player. Look for my Cross-Harp Breakdown for more exact info on what harp to play across what, but here’s the gist of it:

G/C, A/D, Bb/Eb, B/E, C/F, D/G, Eb/Ab, E/A, F/Bb, F#/B, Db or C#/F#  — and don’t hoc me in chaynekh that I included the F# — it’s a guitarist favorite, and you will eventually have to deal with it. I have a whole package in process for very, very advanced blues harp practice at home with my special “Lookin’ Good” Backing Tracks so stay tuned for most recent announcements…it’s happening hourly! I invented the backing track concept, and it makes you sound 1000 times better than you actually are!!! You will not believe how good you will sound on blues harp, the very first minute you play it, against my special backing tracks. Lookin’ Good ain’t the half of it. Pwn the Holidays with Gorby’s Lookin’ Good Backing Tracks for flute, harmonica, guitar, zen flute, recorder, horns and more!!!

See You At The Top!!!

gorby