Re: [Harp-L] positions and tunings from the beginning

[Steve Baker <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

John Potts makes some excellent points regarding learning positions  
1-5 + 12 from the beginning, this is very sound advice. However I  
would beg to differ on the subject of alternate tunings.

There are specific tunes which work far better for me on major 7th  
(country), natural minor, SBS or even harmonic minor. Personally I  
much prefer the sound of 2nd position to 12th on something like  
"Nobody Knows You When You're Down & Out" and this type of tune lays  
out extremely well in major 7th as you have not only the notes you  
need, but also more of the chords or chord fragments. You can also  
play very easily in the parallel minor key in 5th position and the  
2nd scale degree is available without overblowing in the middle  
octave (5-draw), sort of opposite to how natural minor works (see  
below).

I've just recorded a version of "The Letter" with Dave Goodman in the  
key of Am. I used a D harp tuned minor (Lee Oskar would call this A  
Natural Minor), which suits the piece perfectly as you can switch  
from A minor to the parallel major key C for the bridge. You don't  
need to change harps and you have the chords in both modes. It would  
of course be theoretically possible to play this song on a G harp in  
3rd and then switch to 12th for the bridge, but the sound isn't as  
pleasant and you don't have many chords in 12th. You also can't get  
the entire major scale there without overblowing. Why make life more  
difficult when you can make it easier?

I don't play Celtic music but there are definitely good reasons why  
many players use Paddy Richter (3-blow raised a whole tone) for this,  
as it makes it much easier to play the 2nd scale degree in 2nd  
position with accurate intonation. It also makes 4th position much  
easier. There are many other similar examples of how alternate  
tunings make things easier for the player and allow you to  
concentrate on the music instead of on executing difficult techniques  
correctly.

In the end I see harmonica tunings the same way as I see guitar  
tunings  -  there are some pieces that just work better in open G or  
in DADGAD (or whatever) than they do in standard tuning. Despite  
this, a majority of guitarists only play standard tuning. The main  
reason for that is because you need to learn a new map in order to  
make any real sense out of a different tuning, as the old patterns  
don't work in the same way because they produce a different  
configuration of notes. Some people seem to find this easier than  
others.

In the end it's a matter of personal taste, choice and of course  
repertoire. For me, the tune dictates how I approach it, like I said  
in my post on the theory thread, and this will often entail using a  
diiferent tuning if (and only if) that will fit better to the  
harmonic and modal character of the piece.

Steve Baker
www.stevebaker.de
www.bluesculture.com