Newbie questions

["Keith Freeman" <keith.freeman@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> There have been harps built that efficiently put the chromatic scale
> for an octave in 3 holes. I think that they called this "wholetone"
> tuning. 
I think that's generally referred to as "augmented", Vern.

> These have the advantage that only four hole-blow-draw-slide patterns are
> required to play the diatonic scales in all keys. 
Diminished: only three!

> No mass manufacturer builds such a harp.
Seydel would probably make one for you. They certainly do diminished.

>  It is difficult to retune a
> standard reedplate because the farther you go up in pitch, the more the
> reeds are too long to be optimum.
Not a problem with diminished!

> It might make sense for a beginner to learn on such a harp 
I certainly found it made sense for me to learn on a symmetrical tuning. I reckon my 
progress has been faster than if I had had to learn a different pattern for all 24 keys 
(major and minor). Of course, the fact that jazz and Brazilian music use the diminished 
chord so much is a major factor!

- -Keith