[Harp-L] Chords, Thirds, Arpeggios: EASY on Circular (Spiral) Tuned Harmonicas!‏

[Robert Coble <robertpcoble@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

(If this ends up as a double post, forgive me. I keep forgetting that the "new"Outlook defaults to Rich Text Format, and Harp-L apparently doesn't like that.Heck, I don't like Outlook, but it's "free".)
Thank YOU, Tony Eyers, for the explanations and ideas for practicing thirdsand arpeggios on the diatonic. (And also for all the many things you haveprovided for instructional purposes; greatly appreciated!)
One of the attractions (for ME) of the Circular (Spiral) Tuning on diatonic harmonicas is that full three-note and four-note chords are availableWITHOUT bending or overblows AND with the same breath direction (whichmakes playing legato much easier), AND those advantages are availablefor at least two octaves. That's quite an achievement for a 10-holeharmonica without a button!
I switched to Circular (Spiral) Tuning when I realized that the kind ofmusic and the style of playing that I wanted to develop was best supportedby it. I am not (and never was) a true blues player (even though I was"accused" of being one by chromatic players simply because I playeddiatonic). I love that genre of music and have the utmost admiration forall of the many wonderful blues harp players. I learned how to playharmonica initially by listening to and trying to copy licks of PaulButterfield, Kim Wilson, Rod Piazza, and a host of other modern bluesplayers. (I love that sound so much that I have over 100 CDs with thatkind of music; more than all other genres combined.) But the music Iwanted to PLAY was an eclectic mixture of country, gospel, and bluegrass/OTM,with easy listening jazz and big band standards thrown in to keep itinteresting.
Maybe it's a subconscious influence from 2-3 years of piano instruction (55years ago) or that I play guitar a little and bass guitar a little.Maybe it's just EASIER to play diatonic when ALL of the notes in theunderlying scale are available (no bending or overblowing required) forover two octaves, and the most often used "blue" notes (flat third, flat fifth, flat seventh) are available as half-step bends.
If you prefer to play more melodically rather than using riffs, then Istrongly suggest checking out Circular (Spiral) Tuning. It is a much better(easier) "fit" than the standard Richter Tuning.
Crazy (like a fox, and lazy as a hound dog) Bob