groyster1
890 posts
Mar 01, 2011
11:12 AM
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I would like somebody and/or everybody to explain country tuning to me-how does it relate to equal,just intonation or compromise tuning-Im quite sure charlie mccoy used this tuning after he decided his future was in country
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MrVerylongusername
1581 posts
Mar 01, 2011
11:19 AM
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I think there is a great deal of confusion on this board between tuning and intonation. Unfortunately the word 'tuned' is used interchangeably adding to the confusion.
Country tuning refers to a harp with a draw 5 raised a semitone.
That harp could still be equal, just or compromise tempered depending on the model/manufacture/player's preference.
Simplistically:
Temperament is about the spaces between notes, whether they are equal or varied.
Tuning is about the actual values of the notes
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MrVerylongusername
1582 posts
Mar 01, 2011
11:25 AM
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BTW the reason for raising the 5 draw is to give the major 7th in cross harp. Playing a minor 7th in country is generally not good, whereas in blues it is preferred
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jim
748 posts
Mar 01, 2011
11:39 AM
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Country tuning is waaaaaay better to intonate! Raised 5draw will give you a perfectly logical chordal progression, and you can intonate it to JI with no big harm to single notes.
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barbequebob
1583 posts
Mar 02, 2011
7:42 AM
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Country tuning is also great for doing ballads and jazz, both of which use tons of major 7ths, and also for doowop tunes. I did a gig as a sideman with a guy who did blues, early R&R and R&B/soul, and he did a medly of 2 doowop classics, Sincerely by The Moonglows and Oh What A Night by the Dells and used a country tuned harp for it. Now most harp players would do nothing except go into automatic mindless riffing mode, but doing that would lay a BIG TIME egg on it and what I played was tons of double stops where what I was actually doing were tha harmony vocal parts from those two tunes for the most part and occasionally some of the sublte guitar parts, inclduing the single note work, and it fit like a glove. Tuning 5 draw to 14 cents flat in CT works beautifully and the harmony with it just glows. You do, however, lose the so called "blues chord" or as Magic Dick used to call it the "screeech chord," meaning the 2-5 draw with the tongue blocking holes 3-4-5.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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JimInMO
95 posts
Mar 02, 2011
10:08 AM
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"BTW the reason for raising the 5 draw is to give the major 7th in cross harp. Playing a minor 7th in country is generally not good, whereas in blues it is preferred "
AHA!! At a lot the type of gigs/jams we play we get requests for (shudder) "He Stopped Loving Her Today". Our singer can cover it pretty well and I try to play the little harp riff at the beginning. Using my Stock SP20 or Delta Frost in cross just doesn't sound right. I thought that's where the problem was but just can't bend to the right pitch. Gonna order a country tuned in C today. Been wanting to try one anyway.
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