[Harp-L] Armless Chair Review of the Kniri 221 Spiral Tuning

[Dan Hazen <bluesmandan76@xxxxxxxxx>]

Armless Chair Review of the Kniri 221 Tuning. I would call this a Flat
7th Spiral
Tuning (rather than Kniri 221). I've thought about this tuning before. But
I've never ordered one. I love the idea of the circular, but I can never
decide what would be the optimum note to place in the 2 draw position, and
I'm never sure I want to give up my real octaves.

So here it is:


       G

B

D

F

A

C

Eb

G

Bb

Db

A

C

E

G

Bb

D

F

Ab

C

Eb


 Triads and Chords you can make with 3 or 4 adjacent holes:

Blow Chords: G G7 Bdim Dm Dm7 F F7 Adim Cm Cm7 Eb Gdim

Draw Chords: Am Am7 C C7 Edim Gm Gm7 Bb Bb7 Ddim Fm Fm7 Ab


 “Octaves” you can make (with a tongue blocked 4 hole split... not
technically octaves but what is substituted for octaves on a Richter... you
know what I mean, I hope):

Blow “Octaves”: G7 B7 D7 F7 A7 C7 Eb7

Draw “Octaves:: A7 C7 E7 G7 Bb7 D7 F7


 It's a neat tuning because of all the 7th chords and all the diminished
chords.


 Rabbit Trail Digression: Theory for Dummies: 'Diminished' means 2 or more
consecutive flat 3rds in a row... basically like stacking minor
doublestops... only 4 notes are possible in a diminished sequence because
they cycle over again and start repeating. On a typical “C” harp, the
diminished chord is a Bdim: that's the BDF in draw 2, 3, 4 (an Ab would be
the 4th note in that diminished sequence... which is 6 draw bent). The
cycle is BDFAbBDFAbBDFAb, et cetera ad infinitum.... ANYWAY...


 Diminished runs and warbles are a key to good blues (we are all very
familiar with 3 draw, 4 draw, 5 draw run and the 2 note warbles in those
holes), and this harp would lend itself nicely to LOTS of those bluesy
sounds, with A, B, D, E, and G diminished chords/runs available. There are
11 minor doublestops available in this tuning implying 8 different minor
chords: C, D, Eb, E, F, G, A, B (the G, A, and C being repeated), and 9
different 7th “octaves”. That's pretty bluesy.


Now compare all that to the Richter:


       C

E

G

C

E

G

C

E

G

C

D

G

B

D

F

A

B

D

F

A



 By comparison the Richter tuned has...


 Blow Chords: C Em#5 Gsus6

Draw Chords: Dsus6, G, G7, Bdim, Dmin,

(Of those the Em#5 isn't a “real” chord but is useful as a rootless
inversion of an Am7 chord.)


 For “octaves” you have

Blow octaves: C E G (3 for the C, 2 each for the E and G)

Draw octaves : D, G7, B7 (4 hole), B, D, F, A (5 hole)


 Major Doublestops: C, G, F (3 for the C, 2 for the F)

Minor Doublestops: Em, Bm, Dm. (3 for the Em, 2 each for Bm and Dm)


 Wow. By comparison, the Richter appears rather bland, lacking variety and
options across the board. But I suppose the Richter's bland simplicity is
what makes it rather easy to play, too. For folk and gospel music, I'd
think it's pretty hard to beat the Richter with its tongue-blocked octave
slaps and drones and such. But for blues this Flat 7th Spiral/Kniri 221
looks really good.