Fwd: [Harp-L] Country Tuning Variations

["Winslow Yerxa" <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Don Whitener <whitener@xxxx> 
wrote:

It is my understanding that Hohner creates their country tuning by 
raising 5D 
by one semitone.  I read that others raise both 5D and 9D by a 
semitone which 
intuitively makes more sense by keeping both octaves the same.  I am 
curious as 
to why Hohner chooses to leave 9D unchanged.  Is there a good reason?

========Winslow:

Possible reasons:

- That's what Charlie McCoy did and they just imitated it

- They (or Charlie, or the guy Charlie got it from) were thinking 
melodically and not harmonically. That is, they needed the raised 7th 
in melodies. In hole 9 you can get it by bending so you don't "need" 
to retune. In Hole 5, on the other hand, absent valving or 
overblowing, you need to retune to get that note - a sort of 
minimalist approach.

- Looking at it chordally, raising both notes is more consistent. One 
the other hand, having both the major and minor 7th in a chord in 
different registers, either together or in alternation, can make for 
some interesting "dark" harmonies.

Winslow