Double reed harmonicas in blues

Do tremolo or octave harps have a place in blues?

Often I see someone post of a Facebook forum asking if they can play blues on a tremolo or octave harp they happen to own, and several responders say emphatically "NO!" and then tell them to get a diatonic (usually the responder's favorite model).

But, in fact, both types have been used in notable – though rare – recordings by two of the great blues harmonica stylists, Jerry McCain and Little Walter.

This leads me to reflect on the observation that true creators - original thinkers - remain open to unusual possibilites, a trait worth cultivating.

Here's Jerry McCain playing Texas 728, an instrumental. He's using a tremolo in C to play in D, third position. 

He seldom goes below the equivalent of Draw 3, concentrating largely on the middle of the harmonica's range.

Tremolo harmonicas come in two main tunings.

• German tuning emulates the note layout of a standard diatonic. So the notes below Draw 3 would give the notes of a G chord, the home chord in second position but the IV chord in third position.

• Asian tuning gives a D minor6 chord all the way down to the bottom, a little like a chromatic. And you can hear him occasionally dipping into the low register and playng the notes of that D minor chord, showing that he's playing an Asian-tuned tremolo. The Hohner Weekender used to be a widely available, cheap Asian-tuned tremolo, and it's possible that's what he was playing.

Here's Little Walter backing Muddy Waters on "Crawlin' Kingsnake."  He's using a Hohner AutoValve in D to play in second position (song is in A). He takes a pretty vigorouos solo, and manages to play something good without having to bend notes.

There are a couple of interesting takeaways from these two records.

• You don't need to bend notes to play credible blues harmonica. Both Walter and Jerry show that by playing instruments that don't encourage note bending (it's possible on both isntrument if you know how to make it work, though).

• Don't believe anyone who tells you "You MUST do this and you MUST NOT do that!" If the greatest players were willing to experiment and come up with something good, why not try unusual possibilities and see what happens?