Re: [Harp-L] E-blues Harp Tuning

["Brandon Zarzoza" <bzarzoza@xxxxxxxxx>]

This is an E-Blues tuning. Recall the pentatonic blues scale which is 1, b3,
4, b5, 5, b7. In E, that is E G A Bb B D. This tuning is so cool because all
your notes are available in some really cool places.

E(the root) is still at the convenient blows, but now it's also on the 4
draw bend.
G(flatted third) is a 'blue note' and is really important in the blues
scale, but on a regular old E harp, that note is only available on the low
end if you use overblows. Now, it's right there, twice.
A(the forth) stays put, but its locations become a lot more convenient.
Bb(flatted fifth) is another 'blue note', in this tuning we give it up at
the blow bend on hole 9 and get it on a draw bend at hole 6.
B(the fifth) is now on the draw instead of the blow of hole 6, giving you
some cool stuff to do with the B-Bb bend. Plus, we now get it on the one and
half step bend on hole 3. So you can do some really cool jumps and slides
from D to B.
D(flatted seventh) has some increased availability as well, it moves draw
bend to draw on hole three and is also available on hole 7 draw.

I don't know how to give this to you in terms of position so I apologize if
I seem long winded. This tuning is really cool for an E blues, that's
actually how I came to use it. I was jamming with a guitarist and we just
couldn't seem to find each other, but he said he played an awesome E-blues,
so before I played with him again I made a point to tune a harp into this
setup. This is such a great tuning and I recommend it to anyone who wants to
try something unique in E. Some really cool aspects are the 2 3 and 6; there
is SO much available on just those three holes.

About my flavor of this tuning:
I tune them a little sharp, and that really helps it cut through those 4 to
guitar jams.
Hot Metal harps, for those of you who haven't played them are worth about
nothing out of the box, but they tune rather nicely. One interesting point
to note is the that the 'pop bend'(what I call the 3 draw to 3 draw one and
a half step bend) sounds really cool on this harp.
If you have a set, I recommend slapping a pair of TurboLids on these harps.
A Hot Metal with TurboLids sounds better to me than my ProHarps out of the
box.

On 2/19/06, Jp <jpl_pagan@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> --- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Brandon Zarzoza" <bzarzoza@...>
> wrote:
> >
> > I have been retuning harmonicas for about a year now, just practicing on
> > cheap harps and fine tuning my playing harps. Anyway, I have a pretty
> large
> > reserve of cheap harps in cool tunings right now and I'd like to recoup
> some
> > of the money before I invest in any more tools or harps. So if anyone
> would
> > like to try a new tuning I can get you an inexpensive harp to try it
> out. My
> > personal favorite is the Blues Soloist tuning from Pat Missin's Altered
> > States. I have a bunch of Hohner Hot Metals in this very cool tuning:
> > BLOW  E  G  C  E  G  C  E  G  C  E
> > HOLE  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10
> > DRAW  G  B  D  F  A  B  D  F  A  B
>
> out of curiosity (sorry, i don't plan to buy any new tunings soon. i'm
> already trying to learn
> two of them) what are the benefits, as you see them, of this tuning? what
> key/position would
> you say it's best for? looks like a C harp with the notes re-ordered, but
> it doesn't look like it
> would work so well for blues in G.
>
>    --Jp
>
>
>
>