Re: [Harp-L] Re: Chromatic player

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

SONNYTONE@xxxxxxx wrote:
<The felllow I met last night who could play the snot out of the chromatic  is 
<Charles  Spranklin, does anyone know him, heard him. He gets together with 
<all the  diatonic/chromatic heavies from NYC once a week. Gallison, you name 
<them, he's  there with them. He is well into his 70's, as I do not overblow,
<it was a very  humbling experience to trade off with him. It has made me <seriously 
<considering  having my harps built with the 5 draw up a half step, like Lee 
<does on his  harps, but he always takes the 3 blow up so it does not allow the 
<blues 3/6  chord. That is if you want to stay somewhat traditional style, to 
<each their  own. I believe if you have that 5 draw raised a half step, you 
<would then be  able to bend it back down, anyone shed any light on that, I know 
<it 
<has to do  with the relation to the 5 blow note.  

Sonny,

The tuning you describe above -- 5 draw raised 1/2 step -- is the "country" tuning, and you can buy it out of the box on Hohner Special 20s.

Charlie McCoy uses this tuning a lot, and so do I.  It's a very flexible tuning with lots of uses in every position, and yes, you can bend the draw 5 reed down to the pitch you'd find on a standard-tuned instrument.  

My recordings of "The Star Spangled Banner" (1st position) and "Billy the Kid" (2nd position), both solo (so you can really hear what's going on in the harp), were made with country-tuned harps.  You can hear them at http://broadjam.com/rhunter.

And you're right--this tuning allows the blues 3-6 chord, so it's better for lots of blues rhythm work than the Melody Maker tuning.

Thanks and regards,
Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com