[Harp-L] FourKey and BarryHarris tunings

[Roger Myerson]

Here is a layout of BarryHarris tuning for chromatic harmonicas:
BLOW_SLIDE_OUT  A  C  E  G  A  C  E  G  A C  E  G
BLOW_SLIDE_IN   Bb C# F  Ab Bb C# F  Ab Bb C# F  Ab
DRAW_SLIDE_OUT  B  D  F  Ab B  D  F  Ab B  D  F  Ab
DRAW_SLIDE_IN   C  Eb F# A  C  Eb F# A  C  Eb F# A

Barry Harris taught that a major bebop scale  (C D E F G Ab A B) can be 
understood as a major 6th chord (C E G A) together with diminished 7th 
chord, and that is how we divide the scale across the blow notes and the 
draw notes in this tuning.
I called it "SemiDiminished tuning" when I wrote about it on 
Slidemeister in 2019, and it is listed as "Bebop II tuning (12.3g)" in 
Pat Missin's catalogue of tunings.  These names together tell you that 
this tuning offers a very promising combination of properties from two 
great classes of harmonica tunings.  It gives you a bebop scale when you 
leave the slide out, but on the draws it gives you two of the three 
diminished-7th chords.
(I am not sure, but David might be playing a version of this that 
switches the blows and draws.)
-Roger

On 5/1/2023 5:04 PM, Tin Lizzie wrote:
> Whoa, serendipity!  I just stumbled on a series of videos by a guitar player named Chris Parks, titled "Things I Learned from Barry Harris".  Mr. Parks is a guitar player, but most of his material (so far) is about melodic lines rather than chords per se, though the underlying harmony is always there.  Some of the material goes over my head, but mostly he hits the sweet spot between "stuff I already know" and "stuff I can't get traction on".
>
> Here is a link to the first in the series:https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=TILF+Barry+Harris+Episode+1
>
> I found this rabbit hole when I wanted to learn more about the diminished scale.  If anyone else is particularly interested in that, Eposide 10 is the best explanation of it I've ever found:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihfZgTV8yNY
>
> I never stopped being a clod when it comes to jazz, but the ideas still intrigue me.
>
> And now that I have exhumed my bebop-tuned chromatic harp and started practicing scales, looking toward thirds and triads and arpeggios and maybe (gasp!) a few tunes, WHAT IS BarryHarris TUNING?  Inquiring minds want to know!  (A shallow internet search came up blank.)
>
> Tin Lizzie (wondering if she missed a boat with bebop tuning instead of BarryHarris tuning)
>
>
>
>> On May 1, 2023, at 5:30 PM,harp-l-request at xxxxx  wrote:
>>
>> Date: Mon, 1 May 2023 16:20:22 -0500
>> From: Gary Lehmann<gnarlyheman at xxxxx>
>> To: Roger Myerson<rmyerson at xxxxx>
>> Cc:harp-l at xxxxx
>> Subject: [Harp-L] Fourkey (was:New tuning #1)
>> Message-ID:<EA1DA434-F45D-4F78-A39F-46ECADCB7A76 at xxxxx>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
>>
>> Hi Roger!
>> I sold Roger what I believe to be his first FourKey, a Seydel Solist.
>> He is a great guy and also was awarded a Nobel Prize (but not for his harp playing, sadly).
>> JazMaan has moved on to what he calls the BarryHarris tuning, I did some repairs for him recently.
>> Interesting tuning?I also did a Suzuki Sirius in that tuning not too long ago.
>>

-- 
Roger B. Myerson, David L. Pearson Distinguished Service Professor
Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago
1307 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
http://home.uchicago.edu/~rmyerson/