Re: [Harp-L] country tuning songs -- Melody Maker

[John Kerkhoven <solo_danswer@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I guess it depends on the songs. I retuned a harp to melody maker some years back, but never used it much and just blue-tacked the 3-blow back to its original tuning. It's nice to have the juicy bends on the 3-hole draw. I play a few Hank Williams tunes with a friend and it's nice for that.  

That same friend is a celtic musician who has taught me some of that repertoire. (Yes, Celtic and Hank go together. He also occasionally performs with belly dancers -- bodhran and baladi !) On some celtic songs I use a Paddy-Richter harp in D. And there, as is well-known, the raised three-draw makes a difference.

So there are genre-specific reasons for one tuning over another (and Sr. Leone can say much more about CT/smokey-joe tuned harps than I can, like for jazz standards), but there's also a matter (seems to me) of what floats your boat. 

John


> It's a great tuning. Probably? better. I tried it. But I was used to the A. :) 
> 
> On Oct 16, 2011, at 1:18 PM, philharpn@xxxxxxx wrote:
> 
>> With all the talk about country tuning (Draw 5 tuned up half step) or the double-country tuning with the F# added in two octaves:
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>> 
>> What about using the Lee Oskar Melody Maker tuning that not only adds two F#s to the C harp in cross position(G) but changes the Blow 3 to an A, eliminating the need to bend to get that A note?
>> 
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>> 
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