Re: [Harp-L] Slide Solo Melody tuning

[Slim Heilpern <slim@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Robert - 

Perhaps I've misunderstood your post, but do you actually think there's a better tuning to play "in the R&B Stevie Wonder style" than the standard solo tuning Stevie has stuck with all these years? 

There's no harmonica player I can think of who has taken better advantage of solo tuning than Stevie. He leverages the oddities of the tuning to constant advantage across all keys. But if you move from a half step slide to a whole step slide, all the ornaments and fingerings change. I'm not saying this is a bad idea, but I think even the best players would be hard pressed to wrangle Stevie's style out of that tuning as he tends to favor half step ornaments. 

On the other hand, if you were to order one of Brendan's new DoubleChrom models, you could have both the half and whole step slides on the same axe ;-).

- Slim.

www.SlideManSlim.com

On Jan 23, 2015, at 1:42 PM, Robert Hale wrote:

> MELODY
> "Slide" because it's built on 260 Chromonica 10-hole solo-tuned hardware,
> but "melody" because I tuned all the slide tones UP to the next higher
> scale pitch, rather than strictly half-step. Inspired by Brendan Power's
> SLIDE DIATONIC, this one is still in SOLO tuned array.
> 
> PADDLE
> I like to retune DOWN with solder, rather than UP by thinning the reed tip.
> This harp has C scale upper plate, and C# scale lower plate. It was
> successful to TURN THE SLIDE PADDLE OVER, and solder ALL the reeds of the
> lower (C#) plate -3 semitones, leaving the upper plate as original C. It
> becomes a Bb Slide Solo Melody. (Yes there are 5 exceptions in the C plate
> to accommodate half steps in the Bb major scale. Chart available on
> request.)
> 
> NEXT
> While Brendan shines with Irish traditional, I hear its potential in the
> R&B Stevie Wonder style.
> May try one as slide diatonic, but not Paddy Richter, cuz I likes my chords.
>