Fwd: [Harp-L] Born in Chicago (XB-Melody)

["Winslow Yerxa" <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

I gave David's recording another listen this morning.

Having a raised Draw 5 makes 6th position into a viable "chordal" 
position - instead of A-C-Eb (a diminished chord) you get A-C-E (a 
minor chord), which is far more stable. While Eb works as a blue 
note, you need an E-natural to create a stable A chord, whether major 
or minor. Here you have both (bend for the Eb).

Extending up from Hole 3 you have A-C-E-G-A-C-E-G - an A minor 7 
chord which is just fine for blues. If you're not playing in pure A 
minor you have to be careful about approaching Draw 2 and Blow 6 and 
9 (F-natural), as this note tends to sound sour in a blues context.

In fact, the entire blow chord needs to be treated gingerly. Bb-D-F 
as a chord is pretty far from anything that is common in blues in A, 
though there are ways to use it. If you're good at one-semitone bends 
on an XB (not one of the easier things on an instrument where every 
note bends two or more semitones) you can bend these notes down to A-
C#-E, for an A major chord. David seems to stick largely to the notes 
of the draw chord, except for Blow D (Holes 3, 5, 8) which is a note 
in the A scale.

For the IV chord in blues, again you have to be a bit careful. D 
major is the usual IV chord in A: D-F#-A. You get D-F (part of a D 
minor chord) in Blow 5-6 and 8-9, and of course A-C (part of a very 
bluesy D7) in Draw 2-3 and 5-6.

The V chord is E or E7: E-G#-B (-D). Only E is available as a non-
bent note on a Bb melody maker tuning. G natural against an E chord 
is nice and bluesy and you have the E-G combination. You have to bend 
C down only a semitone, which can be a bit dicey on an XB where every 
note bends two full semitones or more.

All this is by way of saying that 6th position, which has potential 
even in standard tuning, opens up a great deal more in Meldoy maker 
tuning, and XB gives it even more possibilities.

Davi'd recording sounds quite good to me. The opening harmonica 
chords sound a tad funny - I suspect the F-natural in Draw 2 is 
leaking into and clashing with the underlying A chord - this is on of 
the dangeres when playing chordally in positions that are distant 
from the key of the instrument. and sometimes the Draw7-6-5 run 
reminds me of 6th position in standard tuning and I start hearing 
discordant notes that aren't really discordant at all - but that's 
just my ear memory playing tricks on me.

While I don't have Butterfield's original at had for comparison, 
David's version sounds robust, musical, and valid as an approach to 
position playing. If I didn't know what it was, I don't think my 
reaction would be that it was some sort of position-based stunt. 
Rather it would sound like a solid solo well-played, with some odd 
sounds here and there that might get me to start trying to suss out 
what the player was doing.

I think that as an object experiment (is there such a thing?) David's 
example shows not so much the viability of the XB-40 as a chromatic 
instrument as the viability of re-exploring familiar (and even 
unfamiliar) positions on alternate-tuned instruments. Melody Maker 
tuning may be intended to deliver a major scale in second position, 
but clearly it delivers new possibilities in sixth and in other 
positions as well (mixolydian possibilities in third position being 
an obvious one). Using an alternate-tuned XB extends those 
possibilities with added bending possibilities.

Winslow