A new instrument

I've been exploring the jazz medium as a means of musical expression.  It's harder than it looks.

I can read and play reasonably well on the flute, but improvisation in real time against a changing chord sequence in relation to a given melody is something else again.  The blues is probably the easiest and most popular standard chord sequence, and so that is what I am learning and playing.   It has to be said that the flute is not really a blues instrument.   It is especially good for latin jazz, and can be deployed in other categories to good effect.  But not blues.

So I thought I'd investigate the harmonica, a blues instrument if ever there was one.  They don't cost much either; the instruction books cost many times more than the instrument.  (Although more expensive ones do exist).   But a few weeks with it taught me that getting a decent technique will take more time than I can give it.

I was intrigued by an online ad for an electronic wind instrument by Akai; an EWI 5000.   I looked it up and it claims to be able to offer fingering options to include sax, clarinet, oboe, and flute.  Flute I can do.  It came with all the accessories and a carry case thrown in.  I have been playing it.

It does not however, offer exactly the same fingering as the flute.  There are some differences that seem minor but are giving me a challenge.  The fingerings for the notes are the same in all the octaves on the EWI, unlike the flute.   C has two options for fingering, like the flute, a low and high one.  The low one is the same as the flute, the high one is different.  All the other notes have one fingering, the C# fingering corresponding to the low fingering on the flute.   The EWI offers fingerings for an octave +1 (C to C inclusive), you change octaves by moving the thumb up and down a series of rollers.

Being an electronic instrument, the EWI has numerous voicings; they all sound a bit electronic, but imitate more or less successfully the different real instruments they represent.   You can add your own sounds and buy commercial ones too.   The EWI has seven octaves against the flute's three.  I have had it for a couple of days.  It shows promise, I am pleased with it.

Ain't YouTube wonderful?  I can watch free lessons on how to use it, get good tips, and see experts playing it in videos that are either motivational or depressing depending on my mood.