DATE: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 20:31:41 CDT From: Winslow Yerxa <76450.32~ompuserve.com> Subject: chord harp layout
====CHORD TUNING LAYOUT
<:) < <>Here is the current (I think) layout for the chord: < <> BLOW Gbm Dbm Abm Ebm Bbm Fm Cm Gm Dm Am Em Bm <>BOTTOM <> DRAW Db+ ~ Eb+ ~ F+ ~ G+ ~ A+ ~ B+ ~ < **** **** < CORRECTED----------------> Bb+ ---------------------> E+ < < <-- George -
You're right about my errors on chord harp tuning layout. I got going on the cycle of fifths, and this incipient flu had me flying out with erroneous information. Sorry about that.
The question, then, is why was this break in the regular cycle made? What's the advantage to be derived from doing it?
===== 260 Vs 270
Richard martin is right to note that there used to be two kinds of 260, neither of which is today's 260. Today's, as Jack Ely rightly notes, starts on middle C (for a C instrument) and goes up two and 1/2 octaves.
I remember an old Hohner book I had as a kid (possibly the one Richard mentions) that showed the 10-hole 260 starting on E and going up to high C, as Richard notes. I've also heard old timers talk about the Richter-tuned 260, called "Regular" in his book (i.e. like a diatonic with a slide - like today's Koch 980 or the Slide harp).
What Michael Carley has is a rare instrument, and I think it's older than 30 years. That elaborate box is from the old days. Does it have a star of David in the center medallion on the bottom cover plate? If so, it's pre-WWII.
My 270 in Bb also has the keys marked on the reedplates, so I assume this is common practive for harmonicas in keys other than C.
Why it's labeled as a 260 is a mystery to me. Dick Smith, a SPAH member who collects old instruments, is an authority on this stuff. Anyone in close contact with him?
===== The 270 in Eb
Why? For one thing, it allows you to sit in with a horn band and read the alto or baritone sax parts, which are transposed for an Eb instrument. On the other end of the scale, it lets you play Eb Major in first position. A surprising number of chromatic players only play in first position, or maybe in a few related keys. The F position would give you Ab, while the G position would give you Bb.
Horn bands in general play in flat keys, and a harp well inside flat key territory makes it easier to play along.
Also, each key position has unique possibilities. By having harps in various keys, even if you play well in all twelve, you can access some of those possibilities in other keys.
If you play with guitarists a lot, you could hold the slide in and play in E major, then dip the slide out and back in for effect. You could also let the slide out for blue notes. You can get the same effects playing in Db on a C harp, but E is much more popular with guitarists.
===== Chromatic Exercises
Just playing the scale up and down in the same place isn't much good. Try, for instance, going up C to C, then down D to D, then up E to E, etc., then reverse the process. I have an exercise (I call it Exercise No. 1), written out in all keys, that does this.
Another thing is to play along with modal vamps. I have a jazz workout tape that gives you 2 minutes each of ionian, dorian, etc. However, it outs them all on the same tonal center, so the scale keeps changing. It would be good to have a tape that uses the same scale, for instance C major, and does 2 minutes each of D Dorian, E Phrygian, etc. This way you get to work out with the same scale and get to know it well from the point of view of each of its notes. After some basic scale practice, you can play around with it a bit and have fun while gaining confidence and fluency.
