Should I buy country tuning ?
I know some harmonicas like lee oskar melody maker makes so many changes to harmonica that might make me as beginner
confused . I am not buying that harmonica because it might have bad effect on me
But That one extra note country tuning gives me can be very helpful
Should I just buy country tuning harmonica and work on it?
Please let me know why I should not.
thanks
Thanks a lot . It seems I have to start learning overblow as soon as possible because I am very much frustrated with on or two notes missing in my favorite songs,
Any video or lesson on overblows you can recommend please?
Overblows and overdraws are one way of supplying missing notes that you cant create with regular bends.
Another way is to valve some of the reeds so that the non-bending notes become bendable. This is an approach pioneered by Brendan Power and used extensively by PT Gazell. However, valved bends don't sound like regular bends - which may not be a concern - and they're harder to control than regular bends. Here's PT explaining half-valved bending to David Barrett.
Both half-valving and overblowing require a harp set up for the techniques. Most good quality diatonics will overblow out of the box in Holes 4, 5, and 6, but not elsewhere. To get all the missing notes, you need OB (overblow) 1 and OD (overdraw) 7, 8, 9, and 10.
You can buy harps that are half-valved and have the reed setups dialed in for half-valved bending. Seydel makes the Gazell Method diatonics, while Suzuki has the valved Promaster, which is half valved but so finely dialed in. Of course, you could do the work yourself with the harmonica model of your choice if you're willing to do the work and acquire the skills.
I know this complicates the picture, but it's worth knowing that there is more than one way to get to the result you want, and one of those ways may suit you more than the others.
Thanks a lot, I think I am going to do some experiment with valved promaster but regarding your statement
You say :
" Most good quality diatonics will overblow out of the box in Holes 4, 5, and 6, but not elsewhere..... "
I have Marine band A, Crossover D , Special 20 C , Rocket E and G , Manji Bb , Golden Melody Db , Susuki Prmaster Eb but it is not valved
What harmonica from the above do you think is capable of overblow out of the box ?
My problem is that as I am not 100 Sure if it is my own lack of technique or harmonica I can't progress.
The Rockets are the only ones I'd say won't overblow well - they're set up for loud playing and that tends to make other qualities go away.
OB takes some time to develop. Can you play the high blow bends? If so, then you're ready towork on overblows, Try bending Blow 9, then 8, then 7. All will go down in pitch.Then try it on Blow 6. You'll hit a wall at first, but eventually you'll be able to make the pitch pop UP above the pitch of Draw 6.
Alternate tunings always give you something, but take something else away.
Blues harmonica is deeply invested in standard tuning, and most of the players you hear will be using it.
Country tuning gives you a major scale note (raised Draw 5), but also takes away a blue note.
Melody Maker gives you the same note up high in Draw 9, again taking away a blue note. It also gives you a missing note in Blow 3. But that changes your chording, giving you a minor chord on the blow. For blues playing that involves the blow chord, that could make things weird, and also will deprive you of the "choice" notes between Draw 2 and Blow 3, which blues players exploit.
If you're playing blues, these changes are kind of counter-productive. But for other kinds of music, they could be useful.
Another issue, which you hint at, is that playing different tunings can confuse you unless you're one of those people who can easily adapt to different note layouts.