CHROMATIC HARMONICA TUNINGS
Common Alternate
Tunings for Chromatic Harmonicas
The standard
chromatic harmonica is the 12 hole 3 octave model in SOLO TUNING.
There has been less
experimentation with alternate tunings for chromatic but, as with the diatonic,
using a different tuning can give you certain advantages.
All tunings
shown are based on C, but can be made in all 12 keys.
Blow notes are on
the left, Draw notes on the right, Slide-out on top, Slide-in on bottom.
Numbers refer to breath holes.
|
TUNING |
FEATURES | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| SOLO | Over
95% chroms are sold in Solo Tuning. Used by most leading players to date. Home keys easy, remote ones more difficult. |
C D | E F | G A | C B | C D | E F | G A | C B | C D | E F | G A | C B |
| C#D# | F F# | G#A# | C# C | C#D# | F F# | G#A# | C# C | C#D# | F F# | G#A# | C# D | ||
| BEBOP | Simple
variation on Solo Tuning. Replaces doubled blow C-C# with A#-B. More enharmonic notes. Easier key changes. |
C D | E F | G A | A# B | C D | E F | G A | A# B | C D | E F | G A | A# B |
| C#D# | F F# | G#A# | B C | C#D# | F F# | G#A# | B C | C#D# | F F# | G#A# | B C | ||
| DIMINISHED | Very
logical, 3 patterns for all 12 keys. Suits half-valving to allow semitone bends. on all draw notes. Many enharmonic notes. |
C D | D# F | F#G# | A B | C D | D# F | F#G# | A B | C D | D# F | F#G# | A B |
| C#D# | E F# | G A | A# C | C#D# | E F# | G A | A# C | C#D# | E F# | G A | A# C | ||
| WHOLETONE | Logical,
only 4 patterns for all 12 keys. Compresses the scale for greater range. Suits half-valving for semitone bends. |
C D | E F# | G#A# | C D | E F# | G#A# | C D | E F# | G#A# | C D | E F# | G#A# |
| C#D# | F G | A B | C#D# | F G | A B | C#D# | F G | A B | C#D# | F G | A B | ||
| RICHTER Can be extended to 12 hole length |
Same
as on 10 hole Diatonic. Familiar tuning for Blues players. Allows same bends in half-valved mode. |
C D | E G | G B | C D | E F | G A | C B | E D | G F | C A | ||
| C#D# | F G# | G# C | C#D# | F F# | G#A# | C# C | F D# | G#F# | C#A# | ||||
These are only a few of the infinite possibilities for the 12 hole chromatic. You can see Irish chromatic tunings on the Celtic Chromatics page, and many others on Pat Missin's excellent site. I also make chromatic harps in other sizes (from 5 to 16 holes). These can be tuned as versions of the ones above, or in other scales chosen by you.