Chord and Bass Layouts

[Winslow Yerxa <76450.3230@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

TO: internet:harp-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I happen to have a copy of "Chromatic Harmonica" by LA studio
maven Tommy Morgan (originally on Warner Bors, now reissued by
Gywn Publishing in Monterey). In it he gives layouts for both
bass and chord.

===== BASS

Hohner Bass No. 265 is a two octave instrument, Low E (same as on a
bass guitar) and two octaves up. All the notes are blow, and have
second reeds tuned an octave higher to give the note more bite.

There is an Extended Bass (Hohner No. 268) that goes on up to C a
sicth above the high E on the regular bass. This is a HEAVY
instrument.

The Bass is actually two separate bodies, with one placed above
the other, with the two held together by hinges on both sides,
allowing you to angle the two mouthpieces in towards each other,
or out away from each other.

The bottom row has all the natural notes - it's just a C major
scale, running from E to E.

The top row is not in C# as you might expect. It's in Gb. Why?

Well, the primary activity in most simple bass lines is to play
th root and the fifth of the chord. it's easier to move between
these notes if they're on the same row. Most chords have perfect
fifths. The C scale does not give you a perfect 5th above B (F is
a diminished 5th). B doesn't even occur in the C# major scale, so
this would be a poor choice. The B major scale  would not give
you a perfect 5th on (or Bb), so that's out, too.

It just happens that the C scale and the Gb scale in combination
give you all the perfect 5ths on one row or the other.

here is the layout for the regular bass:

  F   Gb  Ab  Bb  B   Db  Eb  F   Gb  Ab  Bb  B   Db  Eb

E   F   G   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   A   B   C   D   E

Note how the hole placements are staggered, to put the flat/sharp
notes in between the natural notes.

Both F and B are duplicated. The Extended bass continues this
pattern up to concert Middle C (written an octave higher - bass
and guitar are both written an octave higher than they sound).

I'll be doing a bass feature in HIP No. 5.

===== Chord

The chord has a two-tiered layout with hinge, like the bass. It
is also an octave-tuned double reeded instrument, but it has both
blow and draw notes, which produce different chords. The chords
are arranged in the cycle of fifths (they used to be different,
but I don't know the details. While watching Al Smith and Alan
Pogson both playing chord onstage together at the SPAH
convention, they kept moving their instruments in opposite
directions. I thought maybe one guy played upside down, but it
turned out they had different vintage instruments with different
chord layouts).

Here is the current (I think) layout for the chord:

    BLOW Gb   Db   Ab   Eb   Bb   F    C    G    D    A    E    B
TOP
    DRAW Db7  Ab7  Eb7  Bb7  F7   C7   G7   D7   A7   E7   B7   F#7


    BLOW Gbm  Dbm  Abm  Ebm  Bbm  Fm   Cm   Gm   Dm   Am   Em   Bm
BOTTOM
    DRAW Db+  Ab@7 Eb+  Bb@7 F+   C@7  G+   D@7   A+   E@7   B+ F#@7


In the top row the draw and blow chord in each location form a V7
and I relationship, just like on the lower part of a diatonic.

In the the bottom row, we have minor chords instead of major,
with the same chord roots, so you could still play a V7 - I by
drawing and blowing in the same horizontal location, but you
would have to switch rows to get the minor chord.

The draw chords in the bottom row alternate between augmented (+)
chords and diminished 7ths (@7), with the same chord roots as the
draw chords on the upper row. Augmented chords often are used as
a different color of V chord, so they're fairly well placed as
draw chords. The diminished are a little more tricky, and very
versatile (I won't get into that now).

Now, we have twelve of every other kind of chord, but only six
each of augmented and diminished. But there are really only four
unique augmented triads, and only three diminished sevenths, if
you discount duplicate spellings (C-Eb-Gb-Bbb = A-C-Eb-Gb, for
instance, and G-B-D# = Eb-G-B). So actually having six of each
gives us some duplications to work with (A+ = Db+, Eb+ = G+)
(Ab@7 = D@7, Bb@7 = E@7, C@7 = F#@7).

Some chord players block out notes to alter chords, and some have
mastered the art of playing two chords, or parts of two chords,
together to create a more complex chord.

All kinds of tonguing effects are also possible.