Re: [Harp-L] SSCH-56 by Suzuki--new chord harmonica

[David Naiditch <davidnaiditch@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

At SPAH, Gary Lehmann pulled out what appeared to be a standard chromatic harmonica and asked me to play a simple bluegrass/old-timey tune--Boil Them Cabbage Down—on my chromatic in all 12 keys, going through a circle of 4ths.  To my surprise, Gary was able to quickly find the I-IV-V chords in all the keys—C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, B, E, A, D, and G.  I can’t believe this tiny harmonica offers so many chords, and we didn’t even get to the minors, augmented, diminished, etc.  What I found most amazing, however, was that Gary was able to accomplish this feat after working with this instrument for less than a day!  It apparently has a very logical, intuitive layout.

--David Naiditch,   www.davidnaiditch.com

On Aug 19, 2013, at 12:50 PM, Gary Lehmann wrote:

>> 
>> This new chord harp is built on the Sirius56 frame, although the parts are
>> not identical, some are interchangeable. Silver mouth piece, phosphor
>> bronze reeds, sounds great and fits in your pocket.
>> Here is a link to the first spreadsheet I have created--it's not finished!
>> But all the majors and minors are properly indicated.
>> 
>> 
>> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvaoJwxmui4udEZYTVFBVlpta3VLUWFqUzY4bG5WbGc&usp=sharing
>> 
>> Holes 1-4, 5-8 and 9-12 are four note chords--the lowest note is Bb3.
>> Holes 13 and 14 continue the pattern, so they are a two note E chord.
>> Here is the spreadsheet of the layout.
>> 
>> Just the one key for now--but you can play in all 12 keys on this little
>> thing no problem. It is like no other harp--the model most people come up
>> with to compare it to is the Chordomonica--but that unit was not chromatic
>> in any way, this one totally is. Even the Chordomonica II, with two slides,
>> only had 6 chords. This one has over 48--I haven't counted yet, but there's
>> all 12 major and seventh chords, minor and minor seventh, augmented triads
>> and diminished sevenths, and a real nice 7#11 by virtue of the fact that
>> you can play two chords a major second apart at the same time.
>> 
>> Winslow Yerxa stopped by and played it a little, and he was doing some
>> tongue splits that got you very exotic voicings.
>> Reaction at the SPAH convention was very good. We should have them late
>> October here in the US.
>> 
>> Thanks for your interest!
>> Gary Lehmann
>> gnarlyheman@xxxxxxxxx
>>