Tootler
Well-known member
I play folk music on harmonica and use 10 hole blues harps with Paddy Richter tuning. The 3 blow reed is tuned up a tone to give the missing note in the upper fourth of the bottom octave enabling you to play virtually all the common session tunes you are likely to meet in the British Isles. Initially I found a specialist dealer who modified Hohner harmonicas but he stopped doing them. I then found that Seydel have the option of Paddy Richter tuning for the more common folk keys in their Session Harmonicas and they are available in the UK from Harmonicas Direct. I find that the Paddy Richter tuning is essential in a G harp, very useful in C and A and occasionally useful in D. D harps tend to be a bit high pitched so I find getting a low D is also useful.
I play harmonica in a Ceilidh Band and I need to be reliable so I carry spares of the main keys so if one fails I can carry on and harmonica reeds do "blow out" in time, especially with heavy use. I even had one break in half on one occasion! Several of the major makers now have replaceable reed plates in their harmonicas which is very useful as it halves the cost of "replacing" a failed instrument.
One alternative tuning worth exploring is the Lee Oskar Melody Maker. These give you two complete octaves starting with the tonic of the lower octave on the 2 draw reed. I find them useful for playing modal folk tunes and there are a number of such tunes, commonly in the Dorian mode which is a minor key scale starting on the second note of the relative major key. The Paddy Richter also makes playing in the relative minor of the scale of regular 10 hole harp the retuned blow 3 gives you the tonic of the relative minor of the key of the instrument. (Em for a G harp, for example)
I have tried tremolo harps a few times and never really got on with them but they are popular with folk musicians. To be properly useful you need at least a 20 hole/40 reed solo tuned harmonica which will give 2 1/2 complete octaves. That does give you plenty of flexibility and with that tuning you can play almost all fiddle tunes. The ones advertised by Harmonicas Direct which are 24 hole 48 reeds and have a range of 3 octaves look like good value and are cheap enough to carry a spare and to replace when the reeds blow out.
I did have a Hohner 10 Hole Chromatic at one time. I liked it for slower tunes but I didn't find it very agile for faster tunes and when the reeds gave out I never replaced it. It had it's advantages but I really like the 10 hole blues harps the best.
I play harmonica in a Ceilidh Band and I need to be reliable so I carry spares of the main keys so if one fails I can carry on and harmonica reeds do "blow out" in time, especially with heavy use. I even had one break in half on one occasion! Several of the major makers now have replaceable reed plates in their harmonicas which is very useful as it halves the cost of "replacing" a failed instrument.
One alternative tuning worth exploring is the Lee Oskar Melody Maker. These give you two complete octaves starting with the tonic of the lower octave on the 2 draw reed. I find them useful for playing modal folk tunes and there are a number of such tunes, commonly in the Dorian mode which is a minor key scale starting on the second note of the relative major key. The Paddy Richter also makes playing in the relative minor of the scale of regular 10 hole harp the retuned blow 3 gives you the tonic of the relative minor of the key of the instrument. (Em for a G harp, for example)
I have tried tremolo harps a few times and never really got on with them but they are popular with folk musicians. To be properly useful you need at least a 20 hole/40 reed solo tuned harmonica which will give 2 1/2 complete octaves. That does give you plenty of flexibility and with that tuning you can play almost all fiddle tunes. The ones advertised by Harmonicas Direct which are 24 hole 48 reeds and have a range of 3 octaves look like good value and are cheap enough to carry a spare and to replace when the reeds blow out.
I did have a Hohner 10 Hole Chromatic at one time. I liked it for slower tunes but I didn't find it very agile for faster tunes and when the reeds gave out I never replaced it. It had it's advantages but I really like the 10 hole blues harps the best.
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