From: Danny Wilson Date: Sun, 29 Sep 1996 09:43:31 -0700 Subject: Re: Digest V2-097
Douglas Tate writes: =======================
Forgot to tell you of an interesting instrument.
Inveterate inventor Jack Lewis was playing with his harmonica tri with an akkorda. This is the three foot two layer chord instrument that Bob plays in the NEW WORLD HARMONICA TRIO, ... you know, the trio that has a new tape and a new CD out .... I'm not going to say it all again... go to the archives, or ring Danny Wilson or somebody.
ANYWAY, Jack was going one better with a three layer version This was laid out as follows
Top layer: Major sevenths blow, Major 9ths draw Middle layer Major sixths Blow Dominant sevenths draw Lower layer Minor sevenths Blow Augmented and diminished draw.
It was a very interesting sound AND he still has all his teeth
Jack has several other ideas on the stocks... watch this space.
Douglas t =======================
First of all - let me thank Douglas for yet another free plug for our new album. BUT our akkorda player is MICHAEL BURTON, not "Bob"!
Re: the three tier chord - I don't know Jack, or how long he has been playing this type of chord, or whether he actually "invented" same, but there have been a number of players globally who have constructed similar chords of this type. One of whom you know very well - Al Smith, of the popular "Al & Judy Show", who played one many years ago with the Sharp Harp and the Harmonica Express, both of San Jose, CA. Al even went a step further and constructed a 4-tier version - the equivalent of playing (holding) two full size chords at once! I am not familiar with the exact tuning configuration of the unit, but it did of course include the major 7ths that Jack incorporated on his model (as did also Al's 3-tier version). Al didn't stay with the 4-tier model very long, due to the sheer weight of such a monster, and eventually gave up on the 3-tier as well. The idea of having these additional chords is that the conventional tongue rhythms can be used with the additional chords, which cannot be used on the standard chord. Major 7th, and many other chord structures are available on the standard 2-tier 267 chord, but are accomplished by using "split chords" (playing partial chords of two adjacent chords, while using the tongue to block unwanted single notes) to arrive at the desired chord. Talk about music theory, knowledge, and educated tongues! There are a few "masters of split chords" - and Michael Burton is one of them. - -- =================================================================== BassHarp - Danny Wilson - Santa Clarita, CA 91355-3061 Email: bassha~arthlink.net Fax: 805-254-1020 BassHarp Home Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~bassharp/bassharp.htm Harmonica Gigs Web Site: http://www.island.net/~blues/dgigs.htm ===================================================================
