Can the Jew’s harp be melodic?
Someone at the Whitby Festival once described the title of my workshop `The Melodic Jew’s harp’ as an oxymoron – mind you they had never heard me play and didn’t come to any of the sessions! This is, however, not untypical of the attitude towards the instrument, mainly because it is usually heard rhythmically in recordings. Nevertheless, Albrechtsberger wrote concertos for the Jew’s harp, mandola and orchestra; there are recordings of Angus Lawrie playing march, strathspeys and reels in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library; John Wright plays Irish melodies, such as on `The Lark in the Clear Air’ (1974) and other recordings; and you can hear some fantastic European players using the instrument in the folk style of their areas – Sven Wested in Norway and various players from Romania, Sicily and Austria. There is no doubt that it is difficult, but concentrating on achieving a musical scale based upon the following, will move you towards the ultimate goal of melodic playing. If you only w
