--- In harptalk@yahoogroups.com, "sirbassalot55" <amfooch@...> wrote:
>
> First I want to say hey to all as I'm new here.
> I'm a bass player that plays some harp. My band is primarily a country band
most of the songs are in G as I use my special twenty C. For other keys I have a
soft case that holds seven harps I have six C/D/F/G/A/Bb I want to fill the
empty slot, I can't decide whether to get Eb or E.
> Keep in mind I cover the minor key songs (not that many)with major key harps
in the third or fourth position as I'm not found of minor key diatonic harps.
> thanks in advance.
> tony
>
Hey there, Tony, Skyak in.

You've got it covered for the vast majority of everything commonly played by
typical cover bands.

I would find the next most useful harp an E, for all those straight country
tunes in E that aren't the bluesy variety you'd use an A harp to crossharp for.
The Eb in itself isn't used much in country (that I've played)as a key for
straight tunes, nor a lot of tunes you'd crossharp into Bb with it either.******

*****(Special note here, George Strait, and others, plays LOTS of tunes in Eb,
Ab, Db, B and all those "tweener" keys as you'd see if you're playing along with
the recordings/CD's. But the majority of bands doing covers are going to
"normalize" and transpose the tunes into the common keys of G, A, C, D, etc.)

If you "play outside the Country box" the next most useful harp is actually an
Ab, what I call a "Hendrix" harp. This is because it crossharps to blues in Eb.
Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and U2 (and some other groups) often tune down
their guitars a fret (semi-tone), so their open E strums are actually Eb. And
all three write a lot of songs that are either in the chordkey shape forms of
"E" (Eb actual) or in "A" (Ab actual key). So all those U2 tunes you tried to
nail but couldn't? Ab my friend.

So, E for straight country, or Ab for more usefullness for playing along with
records, guitarists that slack the strings down a bit,or bands that play tunes
exactly as recorded.

Or get a bigger case, and get a full set of 12, and never run out of easy
options for best play of ANY tune. Once you go beyond G-A-Bb-C-D-F, its time to
leave the sandbox and play in the big fields all the way. Right tools for the
right job. Invest in yourself.

Take it easy, Skyak.