WOW - what an erudite reply from BSeed! There is a separate thread about the virtues of music training. I suspect that very few harp players play from music alone, but it sure helps when someone has the backup theory to contribute so substantially to a detailed discussion.

And it's only now I find out that I needn't have spent a king's ransom on chromatic harps over the years, just to get that relative Minor note in the lower octave.

BTW what does a Hohner 12 hole chromatic cost in other countries? The last time I checked I think the list price was about $120 AUD. That's about $US 65 today, and the way the Aussie dollar is tumbling, that'll be $US 50 next week.

PS For any reader living in a country with a reasonably stable currency, now's a great time to visit Australia in terms of bang for your buck, plus all the other great reasons. I can recommend the Woodford Folk Festival, running for 6 days between Christmas and New Year (that's just outside Brisbane in SE Queensland). And I'm sure that Alan, Alison, Bob et al can mention many others.

TGIF John