Re: [Harp-L] Hohner 14 hole Marine Band

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

The Standard #365 14-hole Marine Band and the SBS (Steve Baker Special) version are tuned differently.

Let's say we take the one in C - Low C, that is.

On both, the blow notes are the same. Starting on C below Middle C, the blow notes are

C E G   C E G   C E G   C E G  C E

It's the draw notes that are different.

On the standard 14-hole, the first 10 holes are the same as on a regular diatonic harmonica, just an octave lower:

D G B D  F A B D  F A   and the two extra holes: B D

The Steve Baker Tuning does something different, and for a very specific reason.

Let's say you had a regular C-harp. The coolest part of the harp is the first four holes. The draw notes give you a nice-big G chord where all the notes bend, and this is where players spend most of their time (hey, just look at the discoloration pattern on the coverplates).

What if you could have two full octaves of that same juicy bendable G chord - which is also the home chord when you play in second position, which is what most players of most of the time.

That's what the Steve Baker tuning does, using the 14-hole #365 as the frame. It gives you two full octaves of bendable home chord for second position.

So the first three draw notes are D G B - but an octave lower than on a regular C-harp.

Te the tuning continues like it does on a normal 10-hole harp. But that adds up to only 13 hole, so you get the equivalent of Hole 11 thrown into the bargain:

D G B  (the low octave) followed by D G B  again, then the rest of the standard harp: D F A B D F A and then that extra bonus hole: B.

Make sense?
 
Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
            Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
            Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Harmonica Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance


________________________________
 From: brian.irving <brian.irving@xxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Friday, November 15, 2013 6:37 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] Hohner 14 hole Marine Band
 

Can anyone explain the difference between the Hohner Marine Band 14 hole
diatonic and the Hohner Steve Baker Special 14 hole?



Apart from a substantial price difference, I can't seem to see any
differences.



Brian