Jazz Autoharp??

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 3 Jul 2004 6:00 am

A listing over in Buy & Sell for an autoharp reminded me of a little pet-project I hope to get around to someday:

I've long wondered about making a "jazz authoharp". I think you'd just need to cut new felts to block various strings and let the good ones ring to make dom7, 9s, 11s, 13s, min7, dim7, etc. I think it would be kinda cool to play "Freddie Green"-style autoharp on a few tunes with my band. I'd have to work out the tuning though, but it seems it should be do-able. Whaddaythink?

frank rogers · Post by **frank rogers** » 3 Jul 2004 6:36 am

Very do-able. My Dad and I experimented with this a lot in the 70's. As you mentiond Jimbeaux, it's just a matter of cutting the felt mutes. Although it is not extremely practical, it did offer a unique "platform" for Autoharp. Extended or stacked chords are not something you expect to hear on that particular instrument.

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 3 Jul 2004 6:40 am

How's about a John Cage style "prepared" autoharp? The world clamors for it.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 3 Jul 2004 6:57 am

I suppose you could make the strings fully chromatic but you wouldn't have enough room to put bars for every chord you'd want, so maybe I'd need to limit it to the major jazz keys of Bb, F, and Eb. I think you could build it with the extensions on the high end, so you could avoid strumming that end if you don't want to go as high as a 13th, 11th, or 9th... other ideas? Frank, since you fooled around with this once, any advice along the way? Also what kind of felt to get and where?

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 3 Jul 2004 5:16 pm

Perhaps a better approach would be to retain the major and minor chords, and work out arrangements with other musicans so that you get the jazz chord by combining chords played on different instruments.

For example, If the guitar or piano plays a C chord and the Autoharp playes an E minor, the combinaton is a C Major 7.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 3 Jul 2004 5:24 pm

Interesting suggestion, Mike. Thanks. Others?

Rick McDuffie · Post by **Rick McDuffie** » 4 Jul 2004 11:07 am

Yeah, Jim. Stick with the steel

You're a great player!

But... if you insist... I'd pick one key (probably a "horn" key) and fill the autoharp up with nice big chords.

And maybe have a different autoharp for each key that you're gonna play in. They're going cheap these days, so that shouldn't be expensive.

Tuning the beasts is another story! But you're used to tuning steel guitars, so there aren't THAT many more notes to be tuned!

Rick

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 4 Jul 2004 7:01 pm

Jazz autoharp? Just becuase you can doesn't mean you should.

John Kavanagh · Post by **John Kavanagh** » 7 Jul 2004 8:56 am

I've never seen one, but apparently there is a kind of autoharp that allows you to make your own chords - I imagine something like a one-octave piano keyboard where the chord buttons normally are. It starts with all the strings damped, and if you press down the C#, for instance, it would UNdamp all the C# strings. It would be a little more mechanically complicated - the dampers might have to run under the strings, or something.

You can also get this effect by strumming the strings of a clavichord, if you happen to have one lying around, while you hold down Bill Evans chords with your other two hands.

Alternately, you used to be able to get a kit from Elderly Instruments for making custom autoharp bars. You could either set it up with the money chords in one or two keys, or use partial chords that could be combined somehow. On a standard autoharp, for instance, you can get D-A fifths by holding down both D and D minor, say. <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by John Kavanagh on 07 July 2004 at 10:14 AM.]</p></FONT>

John Kavanagh · Post by **John Kavanagh** » 7 Jul 2004 9:12 am

That reminds me, I know a really good musician who plays the accordion (stop laughing and listen for a sec, guys. Jeeze!).

I heard her play something with lots of great jazzy left-hand voicings once and I asked how she managed it. (The usual piano accordion has chord and bass buttons on the left side. You can only get M, m, º, + and dom7 chords, though you can add notes with the right hand).

Anyway, she was combining chords - a C and Gm for a C9, for instance, or C7 and Dm for a C13. She said it was pretty common (among hip accordionists!) to use the "wrong" bass button to get some chords (Em over a C bass for CM7, for instance), and that she'd also spent some time figuring out chord combinations to get the big funky-organ chords she wanted to hear. She sure had it covered.

It's always interesting to have your mind changed about what an instrument can do, and what it can sound like - new things are still out there.