groundhogpeggy - Posted - 11/20/2024:  04:58:29

I haven't been online much...and no fiddle here because I don't have the concentration for it at the moment...anyhow...walking the doggies along the riverside...decided to film the beauty and almost caught a blue heron in flight over the river...but...ugh...missed that...but turned out the college athletes were practicing for the rowing team, so I got something moving in that river after all, I mean besides water and leaves and fish. Anyway, daughter suggested this might be a good song to play with the river, so I did. I realized I have never played or sang this one, ever...not even pokin' around on the back porch...why, I don't know...but here it is. Double C claw hammer, plain ol' guitar...and straight-harp on my C harmonica...which I still just cannot play to sound like anything. Then them noisy groundhogs just jumpin' in there with their singin. Hope everyone has a great day. If you listened, I hope you have a great day. And I won't be responsible for any ear damage...lol. And if you didn't listen, I hope you have a great day anyway...lol. This is a re=take of the first video, which I discovered had some bad background noises in it...got 'em out...yaya1

youtu.be/QCyU9V6-u9Q?si=wlPuXzjWDJizMcMh

Erockin - Posted - 11/20/2024:  05:26:27

Caught this on YT, Peg.
Very cool post. I missed a flock of Geese flying through a sunrise the other week but glad I can remember it, just didn't have the camera ready in time. Thanks for sharing , not only your talents, but your recording/mixing talents along with the video edits.

groundhogpeggy - Posted - 11/20/2024:  08:53:39

Thanks, Erockin. It's hard to capture some of the coolest stuff on the cameras, ain't it? But at least we all DO have a cell phone on hand these days to get what we can.

loy - Posted - 11/20/2024:  13:20:29

That was really good all the way around my friend! Been rainy and cool here lately big change from the hot and windy and dry, but enough rain ,time to dry up a bit! Tippin the old coffee cup to ya once again! Have a great weekend!

groundhogpeggy - Posted - 11/20/2024:  16:57:41

Thanks, Loy! Glad you're getting some rain...we've got it too...much needed this year. Coffee cup back at ya! Have a great day, my friend.

ghalencarr - Posted - 11/20/2024:  23:28:15

Your storytelling brings the scene to life, from almost catching that blue heron to the geometry dash lively college rowing crew and those cheeky groundhogs.

groundhogpeggy - Posted - 11/21/2024:  04:35:18

Thanks. And thanks for mentioning Geometry Dash....that sounds interesting! Have a wonderful day.

DougD - Posted - 11/21/2024:  05:02:01

Peggy, you don't have to respond to spam from an AI bot you know! It responded to my tea ceremony thread (but with a different spam link) but I reported it and its been removed and the account has been locked. This is one case where the "it" pronoun is appropriate!

Edited by - DougD on 11/21/2024 05:06:27

groundhogpeggy - Posted - 11/21/2024:  07:11:18

Hey...if a robot talks to me, I'll give it the time of day too...lol. I never know a robot, seriously...I mean, I don't click on links unless it's to me personally from somebody I know, but I did look up geometry dash and it sounds like a cool game for kids or whoever plays games. But, yeah anybody who knows it's a robot can certainly report the robot...unless that robot plays some awesome fiddle, of course...then, well maybe it'd be one of us???? Lol. I have no idea...I'm not with it...I live about 50 years behind on techie stuff...hope y'all 'll forgive me for not knowing.

Edited by - groundhogpeggy on 11/21/2024 07:12:03

Quincy - Posted - 11/21/2024:  07:55:16

Great, greater... greatest!! I LOVE the lyrics :-))

groundhogpeggy - Posted - 11/21/2024:  13:12:15

Thanks, Anja. Have you ever played this one?

Quincy - Posted - 11/21/2024:  20:39:50

Hey Peggy no, first time listening even!

DougD - Posted - 11/21/2024:  20:59:06

Peggy, that's a very nice video and music. You're getting good with the video transitions, and I think the harmonica sounds fine. You might need to recruit a bass groundhog though! My only real suggestion is that the zooms are pretty quick, although not as bad as some of my efforts. Thankcs for posting - it even woke up the bots.

groundhogpeggy - Posted - 11/22/2024:  05:15:57

I agree, Doug...I didn't realize I was zooming so fast and jerky until I put the video together...I should warn people to take a Dramamine before viewing...lol. That was my joke when I used to work the microforms dept of the library...those automatic film machines go fast...I always told people I hoped they took a dramamine before doing their research...lol...hahahaha...I was sooooo funny. Then came the internet and almost sunk my job...fortunately they sent me to the torture department...lol...cataloging. Ouch...that's when the brain rot started. If not for lots of chocolate and vanilla cappichinos at hand and would have self-disintegrated. Oh yeah well I'm off topic again.

NCnotes - Posted - 11/22/2024:  06:25:45

Lovely music, and a timely message! What say we lay down all the missiles and drones…

(And Peggy you are sounding awfully good on that harmonica these days! :-)

groundhogpeggy - Posted - 11/22/2024:  06:39:06

I fully agree, NC...wasting money and time killing one another and hating one another and destroying the earth and everything that lives in it. Time to focus on our existential real life issues together...but that message never gets across because of the greed of the rich and powerful. I say enough fighting...let's start working to improve lives, not destroy them. But nobody listens to me...lol.

Well sometimes I actually do enjoy playing that harmonica...I guess after 60 years of trying on and off...lol...maybe I'm slowly getting somewhere. I do have a big issue...whatever tune I attempt on the thing, and it's just a pocket diatonic thing, there's always ONE CRUCIAL NOTE that just isn't there...not on that, whatever you call it...keyboard...not keyboard but laid out there on the notes. I don't understand what people do about that. I met a guy...I mean I didn't actually really know him, but he was around for a while where we used to live, and he claimed he could play in any key and play anything on a simple little harmonica...well I didn't see him often enough to test that idea out in practical terms, but I heard him enough to be hugely impressed with his harmonica playing. So...maybe people can handle situations on the thing...but I sure can't...lol...there was one note on Down by the Riverside that isn't there...I fudged around it and tried to cover it with banjo...lol...just that ONE irritating note, or lack of note...on ANY and EVERY tune I've tried to play...lol...anybody here know the big secret I'm missing out on???? LOl...but I am starting to enjoy what kindergarten advancements I might be making.

NCnotes - Posted - 11/22/2024:  07:03:05

Hmm … is it like tin whistle, like you need a different harmonica to play in that key, to get that note?
I dunno! But people seem to have various harmonicas and not just one?

Sounded great to me though!!

groundhogpeggy - Posted - 11/22/2024:  12:41:24

I'm not familiar with tin whistles, but I did used to play recorders back in the old days where we used to live...I had a janitorial job that also employed my instrument-playing for special occasions...like banjo or guitar in musicals...or in the case of Christmas time, they had Madrigal Dinners for a few nights for the town and I would not only clean the building, but also play different recorders, depending on the need...way back in the early 70s...lol. But the notes were all there, seemed to me, on whatever recorder I was using...I imagine maybe tin whistle would be similar to recorders. But on harmonica, whatever key you are in, and however the harmonica is pitched...even if it's pitched for that key, seems to me there's always one crucial note missing...sometimes you can hop up an octave to catch that note up there...but the tune sounds crazy if you jump up to grab one note...lol...not sure how people handle that. I never had to do anything like that on the recorders...lol.  I need somebody who knows harmonica to sit down and answer a buncha questions I've got...lol...youtube can't do that...I need a harmonica person...lol.  A harmonica person who enjoys explaining things and talking as much as a groundhog...lol.  Maybe some day I'll just figure it out by fumbling around...lol.

Edited by - groundhogpeggy on 11/22/2024 12:45:01

DougD - Posted - 11/22/2024:  15:17:04

I know the harmonica well enough to answer questions, but first, backing up a bit - the recorder is chromatic, and the fingering is similar to other woodwinds, so its often a "starter" instrument. They do come in the different voices SATB, but not in different keys, AFAIK.
The tin whistle may be capable of some chromatic notes, but players usually use different whistles for different keys, which is like the harmonica. If you want to play "straight harp" in a major key, you need a harmonica in that key. I have C, G, A, and D, which covers the common "old time" keys. However, you can play in all the keys based on the notes of the diatonic scale of a given harmonica, but the scales will all be in different modes, like the way the modes are taught using the white keys of a piano keyboard. For a C harp this is:
C major (Ionian mode)
D Dorian mode
E Phrygian mode
F Lydian mode
G Mixolydian mode
A minor (Aeolian mode)
B Locrian mode, although I was taught this is really a "theoretical" mode.
A really skilled player who's good at bending might be able to do more, but that's way beyond me.
As far as "missing" notes, most 10 hole harmonicas use the Richter tuning system, which is a really clever way to get a lot of music out of a small instrument with only 20 notes (19 really, one is repeated).
Its divided into three sections, which can be thought of as the low octave, middle octave, and high octave. Only the middle octave contains a complete diatonic scale, starting on hole 4 blow. The blow note is lower, and the draw is the next higher scale tone. The only odd thing is hole 8, where the draw is the lower note (B on a C harp) and the blow is C. This puts the "key note" back on the blow, and means that all the blow notes on the harp are the major triad - CEG,CEG,CEG, etc.
The upper octave continues the scale for melody playing, but its not quite complete. Also, on a C harp, and especially D it gets pretty shrill up there. I think you'd find a G harmonica easier on your ears.
The low octave is probably where you're frustrated by a "missing" note. Its not really meant for melody playing, its meant for chordal accompaniment. On the blow its C-E-G, the tonic, and on the draw D-G-B, the V chord. By blocking and unblocking these holes with their tongue, a skilled played can make amazing music, and really turn this little instrument into a real "mouth organ."
This is achieved by omitting the F and A notes in this octave, and repeating the G on 2 draw and 3 blow, because its needed in both the I and V chords. Its probably the A that you're missing - the minor third below the tonic, which is used in a lot of tunes.
The solutions I know are to work around it by altering the melody a bit, and its possible to get it by bending the G up or the B down, but its tricky. You can also just play the melody up higher, but as I said it can be a bit shrill up there.
In recognition of this problem, someone retuned the G on 3 blow to A, the "missing" note, and whimsically called it "Paddy Richter tuning" because they play Irish music. This is good for melody playing but loses the chordal accompaniment (or at least changes the major triad to A minor).
You can buy harmonicas like this: brendan-power.com/harmonicas-1...y-richter
Hope this helps.

groundhogpeggy - Posted - 11/22/2024:  20:00:12

Oh gosh that's a lot of the kind of info I've been struggling with. Thanks, Doug!

NCnotes - Posted - 11/22/2024:  21:02:51

Doug that's interesting!
So I just came across a "5-pack" of harmonicas where they sell you a case with C, G, A, D and B-flat harmonicas - so apparently people do like to use/switch different harmonicas depending on the key!

Well, Christmas is a-coming, Peggy...:-D
( Like, we always need more musical instruments, right? ...)