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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > Tony Eyers article on Country Tuning
Tony Eyers article on Country Tuning
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Harmonicatunes
102 posts
Sep 19, 2015
3:19 AM
A while back I wrote a article on country tuning for "Harmonica World" magazine. You can see it here

Country tuning underpins Charlie McCoy's style, and is the easiest path into alternate harmonica tunings. At the very least, it's worth knowing what a country tuned harmonica does, and how it avoids traps which standard Richter tuned instruments can lead the unwary into.
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Tony Eyers
Australia
www.HarmonicaAcademy.com
everyone plays...
1847
2763 posts
Sep 19, 2015
5:57 AM
Notice how the 2D’ is the same note as the 5D, just an octave lower. If you’re fumbling these scales, stick at them until they are smooth.
1847
2795 posts
Oct 06, 2015
9:15 AM
thought you may want to correct this
A440
445 posts
Oct 06, 2015
12:00 PM
I have a set of 5 SP20s in Country Tuning, and I use them a lot. As Tony says, you don't lose the flat 7th, since you gain a bend on the 5 draw.

In addition to the Seydels and SP20, Suzuki now sells the Manji in Country Tuning.

Last Edited by A440 on Oct 06, 2015 12:01 PM
Komuso
642 posts
Oct 06, 2015
7:17 PM
Lee Oskar Melody Maker does the same, with the addition of raising 3B a full tone.
LO Melody Maker
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Paul Cohen aka Komuso Tokugawa
HarpNinja - Learn Harmonica Faster
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Harmonicatunes
113 posts
Oct 06, 2015
8:24 PM
The Melody Maker raises the 5 draw, same as country tuning, however the 9 drae is raise also, along with the 3 blow (up a tone). The result: a two octave major scale in 2nd position without any bends.

I use a similar notion with Major Cross tuning
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Tony Eyers
Australia
www.HarmonicaAcademy.com
everyone plays...
Todd Parrott
1355 posts
Oct 06, 2015
9:27 PM
Country tuning is a great and often underestimated tuning. I love country tuned harps for certain tunes, and you'll find that the raised 5 draw note proves to be useful in several positions and over certain chord changes. I used a country tuned harp on this tune, which allowed me to smoothly play the phrases over the chord changes at the 1:12 mark:

Last Edited by Todd Parrott on Oct 06, 2015 9:29 PM
Littoral
1286 posts
Oct 07, 2015
4:08 AM
Given the giant shift in styles I'm dealing with these days I'd love to work up some of these. But how do I think about a harp in my hands with new notes in the old places? I'm all for it but the prospect is daunting. Does it make sense to just approach them as a new position?

Last Edited by Littoral on Oct 07, 2015 4:09 AM
Harmonicatunes
114 posts
Oct 07, 2015
4:44 AM
To 1847. I'm happy correct errors, if I can see what they are...

As far as I can see, the sentence is OK. In my tab notation, explained in the article, 2D' is the two draw half bend, an octave lower than the country tuned 5D

That's right, isn't it?
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Tony Eyers
Australia
www.HarmonicaAcademy.com
everyone plays...
1847
2798 posts
Oct 07, 2015
7:26 AM
looks like 2 draw and 5 draw are the same to me
then again my eyesight is not what it once was
Diggsblues
1913 posts
Oct 07, 2015
10:24 AM
Great playing Todd. Charlie McCoy covers this tuning in some of his books.
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Harmonicatunes
115 posts
Oct 07, 2015
11:07 PM
May I heartily second that. What a great track track by Todd Parrott, and a great outing for a country tuned harmonica.

Nonetheless, retuned instrument by itself won't get you to sound like that...
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Tony Eyers
Australia
www.HarmonicaAcademy.com
everyone plays...
SuperBee
2864 posts
Oct 09, 2015
5:52 AM
Hi Littoral, re your post above...I worried about the same thing but when I played with CT for a while and used it systematically to explore positions...following chord changes in one six two five progressions for instance...I found that far from confusing me, it led me to focus and develop a much better mental model of the harmonica than I previously had.
A440
448 posts
Oct 10, 2015
12:12 AM
I had the same experience as Superbee. Using CT harps improved my mental model of the harp.

The band I play in is not strictly blues. About 1/3 blues, 1/3 rock, 1/3 folk/country. Mostly original songs. At one point, I fell into a habit of playing the same riffs (blues), and leaning on the blue notes too much... on non-blues songs where bluesy harp sounded out of place. CT helped me break those habits and learn to work with the major 7th when songs require it. Yes, overblowing can also get you there, but my overblows are poor and inconsistent.

Last Edited by A440 on Oct 10, 2015 10:37 AM
A440
449 posts
Oct 10, 2015
5:29 AM
I stopped by my local harp shop this morning, where the manager told me that Hohner has stopped making the SP20 in CT. If this is true, Hohner will have no OOTB Country Tuned harps in its catalogue.

Hello Manji.

Last Edited by A440 on Oct 19, 2015 1:57 PM
Brendan Power
490 posts
Oct 13, 2015
6:49 PM
Great playing, Todd! I guess that's a Spiers harp? Sounds fab. Loved that late night jam we had at the SPAH bar :)
Todd Parrott
1356 posts
Oct 14, 2015
7:36 AM
Thanks everyone! Glad you liked it.

A country tuned harp's retuned note, the 5 draw, proves to be useful not only over the 5 chord, but the major 2, 3 and 6 as well. Everyone should own at least one, and as far as I know Hohner hasn't discontinued them, but I'd suggest double checking that with Hohner.

Brendan - Likewise! I enjoyed jamming with you at SPAH as always! And the harp on this tune wasn't a Spiers harp, but rather a harp I personally tweaked for overblows - just an extra old Golden Melody I had lying around.
A440
459 posts
Oct 19, 2015
12:18 PM
The Manji now also comes in "7th Tuning" or "Double Country", which raises both the 5 draw and 9 draw by a semi-tone. This makes a lot of sense, with the tuning consistent at the top end of the harp.

Last Edited by A440 on Oct 19, 2015 12:21 PM


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