Re: [Harp-L] The Coupled Diatonic Harmonica

[philharpn@xxxxxxx]

The first time I saw stacked diatonics was when SPAH met in Detroit. SPAH last met in Detroit in 2000. Cham Ber Huang, the noted classical chromatic virtuoso demonstrated using harmonicas in the keys of C, F and G held stacked in his hands. 


He performed several songs using the tongue blocking technique. When he played a melody notes that needed an F chord backing, he played on the F harp and used the blow F chord.  He used the G harp when he needed a G chord and the C harp when he needed the C chord.


ChamBer said this style of playing using three harmonica was common in his native China. FYI: ChamBer worked by Hohner and invented the CBH 2016, a chromatic that has been out of production for many years but it still the preferred chromatic for many players. Hohner still makes the reed plates for the harmonica. ChamBer also produced chromatic and diatonic harmonicas under his own name after he left Hohner, which are may be in production/available.


Peter Madcat Ruth has also demonstrated this stacking of the diatonic harmonias at SPAH over the years.


Paul Davies taught a workshop this year -- 2014-- on the chordal possibilities of using two diatonics one step apart: C/D, G/A, Bb/C et cetera.


And I seem to recall Joe Fiisco's workshop on two harps at SPAH..


Some put two 1-inch dot stickers on their harp to indicate the Key C and draw chord G7  which makes it easy to play a blues comping with two harps in dim light and rush of performance. This assists playing the I, iV and V chords at blow chords or and draw 7th chords without thinking too much about it.


For the ambitious, the minor chords and others can be listed next to the C, G7 etc.


For those interested in more chord possibilities, spring for a few bucks for the ($5.39 plus shipping from Amazon) Mel Bay Harmonica Chord Chart by Phil Duncan. I just searched my files and can't find my copy. 


The 1-inch dot stickers (all colors) are available at office supply stores.


Hope this helps
Phil Lloyd




















 



-----Original Message-----
From: Tin Lizzie <TrackHarpL@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tue, Aug 12, 2014 9:39 pm
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] The Coupled Diatonic Harmonica


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 bluess 
(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 youâre playing in the key of E, using your A harp 
as primary and an E harp for the V-chord, thereâs 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 musiciansâ solos.  (Not that we have to have Joeâs 
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. Priceâs 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 âreal musicians play in all 12 keys (or are prepared to do so), a 
âcomplete diatonic harmonicaâ 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. Priceâs 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 âsuiteâ 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 
âcompleteâ 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.