McManus
1 post
Jan 18, 2012
10:54 AM
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OK, I bought it; now tell me why. What's special about a country tuned harmonica?
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tookatooka
2646 posts
Jan 18, 2012
11:08 AM
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"What's special about a country tuned harmonica?" That's the sort of research you do before the purchase :)
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Jim Rumbaugh
649 posts
Jan 18, 2012
11:16 AM
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If you try to play common melodies in 2nd position, you frequently find a note missing. It's the 7th note of the major scale. There is no TI in DO,RE,ME FA,SO,LA,TI,DO. The 5 DRAW, The TI pitch, the 7th note of the scale, is flat. This is great for blues, but not for playing a melody. In a country tuned harmonica, the 5 DRAW is tuned up a half step you can play that melody in 2nd position. That makes it usefull in "country" music, thus the name country
tuned.
There are some other advantages, but that's for another longer post.
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HarmoniCollege March 24, 2012
theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
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MP
1955 posts
Jan 18, 2012
11:27 AM
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if you happen to dig country music, you can play a lot of country melody lines w/ this harp in second position because they raised the pitch of the 5 draw up 1/2 a step in pitch.
this gives you a major 7th note.
the major 7th is ubiquitous in country music. it's like the flat 5 in blues.
so, second position country melodies is what it is designed for.
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MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
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MP
1956 posts
Jan 18, 2012
11:29 AM
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well, Jim beat me to the punch and said it better too.
what Jim said...
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MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
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KC69
199 posts
Jan 18, 2012
11:30 AM
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Try playing: Crazy "Patzy Cline" Cheaten Heart "Hank Williams" Over the rainbow with the Hawiian riff
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And I Thank You !!
KCz
Backwoodz
Bluz
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Frosty
46 posts
Jan 18, 2012
11:42 AM
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You can also play many pop, rock and jazz tunes more easily in 2nd position with country tuned harp (with Richter tuning you get the major 7th in the middle octave only by using overblow in hole 5). In lower octave you get the major 7th with a half step draw bend in hole 2. In most of these melodies you must also use a whole step bend in hole 3 instead of half step bend.
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Frosty
Homepage
Frosty in Youtube
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GMaj7
5 posts
Jan 18, 2012
11:44 AM
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America The Beautiful, Just a Closer Walk With The, Wabash Cannonball, Jambalaya, How Great Though Art, Just the Way You Are (Billy Joel), God Bless America, to name a few... When in cross/2nd position Richter, you have to go 2 hole draw bend (I think) to pick up the major 7. It is a pretty important note in a lot of songs so if you don't hit it right on it sounds out of tune. The cool thing about CT is you don't lose the standard Richter draw 5 note (F), you just have to hit it as a bend. Neat!
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Adam Hamil
23 posts
Jan 18, 2012
11:58 AM
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Country tuned harps aren't just for 2nd position. I love using them for major 3rd position playing. I also find that 5th position is great on a counry tuned harp. It gives you the the second note of that scale in the middle octave allowing you to play 5th position w/o any missing notes.
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C. Adam Hamil
Free Reed Instrument Technician
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MP
1957 posts
Jan 18, 2012
12:28 PM
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good points Adam!
since none of my harps are tuned this way it didn't occur to me that 3rd pos maj would be advantageous....or 5th because i almost never use that position.
i do have one harp i tuned like a melody maker w/ the 3 blow raised a whole step along w/ the 1/2 step 5 draw. i only use it in second on a couple of tunes.
this would be interesting info for hvjy being as he is big on positions and doesn't OB last i looked.
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MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
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McManus
2 posts
Jan 18, 2012
3:38 PM
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tookatooka; to answer your question, I was given a book on Irish music and it suggested a country tuned harmonica; key of C.
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McManus
3 posts
Jan 19, 2012
9:01 AM
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Finally, a day off! Thank you for your help and responses.
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