chord harp layout

[Winslow Yerxa <76450.3230@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

TO: internet:harp-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

====CHORD TUNING LAYOUT

<Is this information from Tommy Morgan's book?
<There are two wrong chords here.  Those of you who have one of these
<instruments at home may check out my corrections.
<:)
<George
<
<>Here is the current (I think) layout for the chord:
<
<>    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
<			       ****			     ****
<    CORRECTED----------------> Bb+   --------------------->   E+
<
<
<--
<George W. Miklas, bass harmonicist, Jerry Murad's Harmonicats

George -

You're right about my errors on chord harp tuning layout. I got
going on the cycle of fifths, and this incipient flu had me
flying out with erroneous information. Sorry about that.

The question, then, is why was this break in the regular cycle
made?  What's the advantage to be derived from doing it?

===== 260 Vs 270

Richard martin is right to note that there used to be two kinds
of 260, neither of which is today's 260. Today's, as Jack Ely
rightly notes, starts on middle C (for a C instrument) and goes
up two and 1/2 octaves.

I remember an old Hohner book I had as a kid (possibly the one
Richard mentions) that showed the 10-hole 260 starting on E and
going up to high C, as Richard notes. I've also heard old timers
talk about the Richter-tuned 260, called "Regular" in his book
(i.e. like a diatonic with a slide - like today's Koch 980 or the
Slide harp).

What Michael Carley has is a rare instrument, and I think it's
older than 30 years. That elaborate box is from the old days.
Does it have a star of David in the center medallion on the
bottom cover plate? If so, it's pre-WWII.

My 270 in Bb also has the keys marked on the reedplates, so I
assume this is common practive for harmonicas in keys other than
C.

Why it's labeled as a 260 is a mystery to me. Dick Smith, a SPAH
member who collects old instruments, is an authority on this
stuff. Anyone in close contact with him?

===== The 270 in Eb

Why? For one thing, it allows you to sit in with a horn band and
read the alto or baritone sax parts, which are transposed for an
Eb instrument. On the other end of the scale, it lets you play Eb
Major in first position. A surprising number of chromatic players
only play in first position, or maybe in a few related keys. The
F position would give you Ab, while the G position would give you
Bb.

Horn bands in general play in flat keys, and a harp well inside
flat key territory makes it easier to play along.

Also, each key position has unique possibilities. By having harps
in various keys, even if you play well in all twelve, you can
access some of those possibilities in other keys.

If you play with guitarists a lot, you could hold the slide in
and play in E major, then dip the slide out and back in for
effect. You could also let the slide out for blue notes. You can
get the same effects playing in Db on a C harp, but E is much
more popular with guitarists.

===== Chromatic Exercises

Just playing the scale up and down in the same place isn't much
good. Try, for instance, going up C to C, then down D to D, then
up E to E, etc., then reverse the process. I have an exercise (I
call it Exercise No. 1), written out in all keys, that does this.

Another thing is to play along with modal vamps. I have a jazz
workout tape that gives you 2 minutes each of ionian, dorian,
etc. However, it outs them all on the same tonal center, so the
scale keeps changing. It would be good to have a tape that uses
the same scale, for instance C major, and does 2 minutes each of
D Dorian, E Phrygian, etc. This way you get to work out with the
same scale and get to know it well from the point of view of each
of its notes. After some basic scale practice, you can play
around with it a bit and have fun while gaining confidence and
fluency.