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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Easy 3rd Tuning
Easy 3rd Tuning
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GMaj7
690 posts
May 18, 2015
4:58 PM
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I had the chance to do a little experimenting with Easy 3rd Tuning.
It is actually pretty cool and makes logical sense for 3rd position play because it gives you the notes of the minor chord on holes 1-3 draw and then repeating on 4-6 and 8-10 draw.
There is more info on it on my web site at:
1623customharmonicas.com.
If you have a Seydel diatonic I can convert it to Easy 3rd..
Or sell one, of course...
Here are some sound samples of me noodling.. (Just noodling..)
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Greg Jones
16:23 Custom Harmonicas
greg@1623customharmonicas.com
1623customharmonicas.com
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isaacullah
3009 posts
May 18, 2015
5:07 PM
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Nice jams, Greg! Sounding real funky in that second one!
I use Easy 3rd all the time. I've made them in C, Bb, A, and G. IMO, it's a super fluid and easy tuning to play a lot of melodies in. Great for improvising. Works well for 3rd position licks up and down the harp (hence the name!), but works equally well for 12th, 1st, and 5th position playing too. I REALLY love it for 12th. Easy 3rd is fast becoming my "main" tuning for a lot of the music I like to play. I highly recommend it!
BTW, it's easy to try out with the "BluTak" method (little bits of poster putty on the end of the reeds). Just tune 2 draw down a half step (EDIT: I MEANT A whole step. Sorry!), and 3 draw down a whole step. That'll get you the gist of it (but the upper octave will still be richter layout). My compromise when converting a stock richter is to tune the first octave (like above), and then just tune the 7 draw up to match the 8 draw. Downside is that 7 and 8 draw are the same tone, upside is that it gives two full octaves with same breath pattern, and a pretty seamless transition to the third octave (still richter). Oh, and you don't have to swap any reeds! Lol!
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YouTube! Soundcloud!
Last Edited by isaacullah on May 18, 2015 8:13 PM
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SuperBee
2610 posts
May 18, 2015
7:22 PM
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Hi Isaac, to me this doesn't seem to work very well for 5th because the 5th degree is only available in one place and nowhere at all if you tune 7 draw to match 8draw. if you tune as you describe hole 2 draw down a half step instead of the whole step which seems to be the normal approach, you do at least have the 2nd/9th degree for 5th pos in the first octave but for 12th you'd need to bend for the root, but i can see how 12th works pretty well if you tune the second draw reed down a whole step and don't mind missing out on the 4th degree too much. i'm also wondering how this tuning would work on a standard minor progression i iv ii V, as it seems to be a bit deficient for the iv, lacking the minor 3rd
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indigo
112 posts
May 18, 2015
7:54 PM
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I just tune up the 3 blow a step on some harps to make 3rd position easier(no tricky bend needed)
Gives you the 5th on the 1 and the root on the 5 chord.
And it still works for 2nd position.
I guess it comes down to how many harps you want to buy (and carry around)
It is fun though to experiment and new tunings can help to get you out of a rut.
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isaacullah
3010 posts
May 18, 2015
8:19 PM
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@superbee. Whoops! I meant two I draw a whole step! I corrected my post... Yeah, that was a bad slip up...
I also admit that I dont do anything all that complicated in 5th... In fact I mainly just play pentatonic music these days, with a bunch of different pentatonic scales (or modes). 12th is my preferred position for major pentatonic playing. 3rd is where I go for the blues scale or some minor pentatonic scales. 5 th is where I go to on this tuning for some of the odder pentatonic modes (neither minor nor major). Some west African music styles are suited to being played in fifth on this tuning...
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YouTube! Soundcloud!
Last Edited by isaacullah on May 18, 2015 8:19 PM
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