Re: [Harp-L] tuning permanent blue thirds(on the 1V)

["hazcon" <hazcon@xxxxxxxxxx>]

            Thanks Winslow you are very helpful as usual.
You are right i am only talking about a true microtonal blue third not the flat third(s) available by playing in another position.

I think maybe i didn't explain myself too well.(C harp playing G)
            I am really just trying to get that blue third for the 1V chord,where it is only available on a blow bend and looking at the pure E note it doesn't seem to be an important note in the 1 chord( ie a6th) or the V (ie a 2nd).So for straight ahead blues on the pentonic scale you could really dispense with those notes.?
and have an easily reachable permanent Blue third on the 1V.
            I am using the logic here that playing in second on a C harp means you are effectively playing in second position for the 1chord G: first position for the 1V chord C and 3rd for the V chord D, so  would that tie in with your comment re first position below?
           When the guitarist strums a C chord i will often play a blues third on hole blow 8 and it seems to fit.
           I have a spare Harp here so i'll do some tuning on the blow 8 first and see how it goes.
  Cheers
Rick
in NZ
           
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Winslow Yerxa 
  To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx ; hazcon 
  Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 6:04 AM
  Subject: Re: [Harp-L] tuning permanent blue thirds


        Listers - 

        Remember, Rick is NOT talking about lowering notes by a full semitone. He's talking about a microtonal adjustment down to a note that's somewhere between major and minor. You don't get that by switching to a position or tuning that has a minor third degree in the scale.

        In second position, the real, important blue third - slightly flattened from major but NOT minor - corresponds to Draw 3 and Draw 7. if you're going to flatten any notes, those would be the ones. Of course you can bend Draw 3 down and shade the tuning exactly the way you want, but you don't have that option in Draw 7 unless you valve the blow reed, so it *might* make sense to lower that one. Why not try it? It's not that hard to do, and you can always change it back if you don't like it.

        For second position,I wouldn't advise lowering any of the blow notes (Blow 2, 5, 8) to "blue" thirds, for two reasons:

        1) They are not part of the second position blues scale.

        2) They're likely to sound out of tune with chords played by accompanying instruments (guitar, piano)

        For first position playing, it might be worth trying. Again, it's not hard to try out, so you could experiment and see whether you agree with me. 

        Winslow

        Winslow Yerxa
        Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5

        --- On Mon, 9/15/08, hazcon <hazcon@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

          From: hazcon <hazcon@xxxxxxxxxx>
          Subject: [Harp-L] tuning permanent blue thirds
          To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
          Cc: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
          Date: Monday, September 15, 2008, 7:26 PM


I am sure that im not the first one to think about this but i'd like some opinions on the pros and cons. To set up (say) a C harp for purely pentonic blues in 2nd position only, why not drop the blow E notes down to give a permanent blue third.(not a whole semitone)                 Or maybe just on blow 8?I mean the pure E seems to be basically unused right through the 1 1V V progressions.Thoughts?RickinNZ _______________________________________________Harp-L is sponsored
 by SPAH, http://www.spah.orgHarp-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l 


Richard Marsh
Test Certifier No: 00050