Re: [Harp-L] Re: Paddy Richter vs. Melody Maker

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

The problem with bending down a raised Draw 5 is that if you're playing a reel at a fast tempo and need that note, the bend may not come out at correct pitch and is likely to stick out because of the different tone color; it may also take a lot of care to articulate it consistently with the rest of the phrase - Scottish music ain't blues and does not make the same stylistic allowances, like bending into a note or sliding around. 

Also, if you're playing chords double stops, slaps, etc., which can work very well in Scottish music, you pretty much have to stick with the unbent notes. Depending on what you're playing that raised Draw 5 could either be a big help or a big discord.

One advantage of country tuning is that it gives you all three major chords in the second position key: I (Draw 1 through 4), IV (the blow chord) and V (Draw 4 through 6).

For an example of a traditional tune played on country tuning usinng all three chords along with chords and double stops, check out my recording of "La Femme du Soldat" at http://www.angelfire.com/planet/winslowyerxa/

A Scottish tune that can benefit from country tuning is The St. Kilda Wedding. (You could also use Melody Maker, and the raised Blow 3 could help with melody notes but hinder the use of chords - nearly always, there's a tradeoff of some kind)

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa

Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5

--- On Wed, 9/9/09, MilwHarmonica@xxxxxxx <MilwHarmonica@xxxxxxx> wrote:

From: MilwHarmonica@xxxxxxx <MilwHarmonica@xxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Re: Paddy Richter vs. Melody Maker
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wednesday, September 9, 2009, 7:32 AM

Hello, Richard.
 
I'm not a Melody Maker or Paddy Richter player, but, looking at your  
descriptions of the tunings, the only difference I could see on paper would be  
the Melody Maker raises the hole 5 draw pitch to allow the performer a choice 
of  2 major scales (C major and G major on a C harp), and the Paddy Richter 
 doesn't.
 
Another point to consider is, on the Melody Maker, the 5 draw sharped may  
be bent down to a regular 5 draw, so you wouldn't lose the regular 5 draw  
note.
 
John Broecker
 
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