Re: [Harp-L] The Coupled Diatonic Harmonica

[Tin Lizzie <TrackHarpL@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is a very interesting idea.  Joe Filisko introduced me to the idea of using two harps in a single song -- especially for chording and comping, either last year or the year before.  The genre under discussion at the time was blues (surprise), and Joe suggested using harps that were a 5th apart, with the doubled chord being the root or home chord of the song.  So, if the song was in G, for example, one would play a C harp in second position, but switch to a G harp and draw to get a D chord for the V-chord part of the chorus.

This is fine, so far.  But if you’re playing in the key of E, using your A harp as primary and an E harp for the V-chord, there’s a hitch that I find esthetically displeasing, which is that the V-chord (the draw chord, which is B on an E-harp) is an octave higher than the IV-chord (A) on the A harp.  The work-around for this is to use a B harmonica as the second harp, and  *remember*  (aha, the potential snag) to blow for the V-chord on the B harp rather than draw for the V-chord on an E harp.  (Or add a low-E harp to your kit, but then when does it stop?)

Joe also gave his blessing to the idea of using one harp to solo in one position (1st or 3rd, for example) and a second harp to use (in 2nd, say) for tasteful chording/comping during other musicians’ solos.  (Not that we have to have Joe’s blessing to experiment, but for a middleweight player like me, it makes it feel less like cheating.  But I digress.)

The Schaman Medical Harmonica deploys a version of the strategy of having harps a whole step apart, offering chords in Low-F and C on the left end, and G and D on the right end.  So far as I know, it is only available in one key, however.

I recently stumbled across a song that used the chords, F7, Eb7, Bb7, and C (not in that order).  If I had thought to deploy an F  *and*  an Eb harp, I would have had a much better chance of making harmonic sense with my jamming.  Having had these dots connected for me will improve my odds for next time.

I watched Mr. Price’s video at http://harmonicareinvented.com/.  Now, I think of a single diatonic harp as approximately 1/12 of a full instrument.  Since I believe that “real musicians play in all 12 keys (or are prepared to do so), a “complete diatonic harmonica” is actually a suite of 12, one in each key, plus maybe a few extras on the low or high end.  Pairing harps a 5th or a whole step apart does much to make amends for the limitations of Richter tuning -- or any tuning, for that matter.

Mr. Price’s method is one of many ways to overcome the Richter-tuning-bugaboo.  The problem I see with it is that bolting harmonicas together in pairs means that a “suite” of harps would now be 24 harps (bolted together in pairs).

Some people are actually good at juggling, and even I have succeeded in playing two different harps in the course of one song without dropping one.  I hold the main one between my thumb and index finger, and the second one between my index and middle finger.  The video of Norton Buffalo playing four harps on one song is deservedly legendary.

For my money (aha, the money!), a wonderful addition to the world of harmonica gear would be some sort of rack or clip or frame what would enable one to quickly and easily pair any two harmonicas, and just as quickly and easily swap them out for a different pair for the next song.  It would hold them securely for playing, but not require you to bolt together 24 separate pairs to make a “complete” set for all twelve keys.

Tin Lizzie



On Aug 12, 2014, at 8:02 PM, Neil Ashby wrote:

> From: "Harmonicology [Neil Ashby]" <harmonicology@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: August 12, 2014 8:13:35 PM EDT
> To: "harp-l" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [Harp-L] The Coupled Diatonic Harmonica
> 
> 
> Would anybody care to post their opinion of the "coupled diatonic harmonica" as advocated at " http://harmonicareinvented.com/ ";
> 
> The short version of the "coupled diatonic harmonica" concept is that for any coupled set then the harps are one whole tone apart such as "Bb plus C" or "G plus A".
> 
> Seems interesting enough to try sometime if the harps can be set at some comfortable angle.