[Harp-L] Harmonic Minor Major Cross (!)

["Gary Lehmann" <hqr@xxxxxxx>]

Hey-

I had a student ask to learn a song that switched between minor and major-it
was harmonic minor on the verse and major on the chorus.

I recommended he get a Lee Oskar-haven't talked to him since he got it-but
in the mean time I created one from an old SP20 (rivets!) and retuned hole 7
so that blow and draw are both tonic-this make the chords better-there's now
a full triad on 5,6,7 draw for the IV chord, and of course, blow is tonic
(minor) and draw on the bottom is dominant.

However, it occurred to me that I could retune the major cross to harmonic
minor (of course!), so here it is on a C harmonica:

Hole 1-D, Eb. Hole 2-F#, G. Hole 3-A, Bb. Hole 4-C, D. Hole 5-Eb, F. Hole
6-G, A. Hole 7-C, Bb (retains the change in breath direction). Hole 8-Eb, D.
Hole 9-G, F. Hole 10-Bb, A.

So the tonic chord is minor with a major 7th-I am tuning by ear these days,
so it's even tempered-as a result the chords are a little abrasive-I could
make them more consonant, once I figure out how I am going to use this.
Actually, if I get to liking it, I'll probably make a real one out of a new
harp.

Way out there,

Gary