[Harp-L] Diminshed tuning (was: Diminishift tuning Body and Soul)

["Tim Moyer" <wmharps@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ludo wrote:
> There's a comparison recording of Body and Soul on diminishift 
> tuning and regular Ab harp at http://www.overblow.com/ludo on 
> the diminishift-page.

Ludo's post got me curious about the diminished tuning for the un-
button harp again, so I've been checking it out, and it's very 
interesting.  I call it "unbutton" because I think a harmonica tuned 
to a diminshed pattern can't really rightly be called "diatonic" 
because it's not really tuned to a common scale.  I'm sure someone 
will correct me if I'm wrong here ;-)

At any rate, the diminished tuning is only a small variation on solo 
tuning, and 12 holes can cover three octaves with complete 
chromaticity with only semitone draw bends, no buttons, no valves, 
no overbends.  Of course, there are very few useful chords, but this 
tuning is intended for single-note play.  

I had an old Hohner Educator I lying around, and it was perfect for 
this tuning.  The 12-hole harmonica is in C, but starts on the G 
below the tonic, and is solo tuned.  The blow plate had 9 of the 12 
notes retuned, but three of them by three semitones and the other 
six by only one semitone each.  The draw plate had only three one-
semitone retunes.  

Interestingly, one pattern plays all four major scales that start on 
blow notes.  In other words, the blow/draw/bend pattern that plays a 
C major scale is the same as the pattern that plays an A major scale 
(and F# major, etc.).  The same is true for the fours scales that 
start on draws, and the four scales that start on draw bends.  

This is, for me, not a very intuitive tuning to play.  I'm wondering 
if anyone out there has any experience with these kinds of non-
standard tunings and can suggest a practice regimen for me?  Do I 
just hammer on the scales until I have the patterns down, then move 
to, say, Dorian mode scales, then Aeolian mode scales, etc.?  At 
what point do I start introducing actual music into the regimen?  

Curious...

-tim