Balkan tunes and tuning

[Brendan]

BALKAN and MIDDLE EASTERN SCALES on DIATONIC HARMONICA

This is an interesting area that's been explored by only a few players (Roland von Straaten and Howard Levy come to mind), but they used standard Richter harps. There's a lot of scope for optimising the expressive feel of this wonderful music using alternate tunings.

Personally I think regular repeating-scale tunings (where the scale is the same in every octave) are better for Hijaz than the likes of Richter, PowerBender etc, which have a different blow-draw pattern in each octave. They can certainly be used of course, but it's less confusing if you can use the same moves/breath patterns in each octave.

HIJAZ SCALES in POWER-CHROMATIC TUNING
As noted, PowerChromatic gives some good options for Hijaz, without requiring overblows. Using an L13 PC in G for explanation, the harmonica tuning is:

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BLOW	G	A	C	E	G	A	C	E	G	A	C	E	G
HOLE	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
DRAW	A	B	D	F#	A	B	D	F#	A	B	D	F#	A

Five positions will work nicely for Hijaz, each with their own flavour. Here are one octave breath patterns in each position (-> represents a hole shift):

3rd POSITION (A root, starting holes 1/5/9):
draw -> drawbend -> blow/drawbend -> blow/drawbend -> blow/draw.

4TH POSITION (E root, starting blow 4/8):
blow/drawbend -> drawbend/draw -> draw -> blow/draw -> blow.

(You can substitute the blow A in the adjacent hole (holes 2/6/10 blow) in these positions, which can be handy).

6th POSITION (F# root, starting 4/8 draw):
draw -> blow -> drawbend/draw -> drawbend/draw -> blow/draw.

7th POSITION (C# root, starting holes 3/7 drawbend:
drawbend/draw -> drawbend/draw -> drawbend/draw -> draw -> drawbend.

12th POSITION (C Root, starting blow 3/7):
blow/drawbend -> blow/drawbend -> blow/drawbend -> drawbend -> blow.

Edvin showed earlier the variation of PowerChromatic tuning I've used on half-valved chroms for some Balkan tunes in Hijaz. In this case I retuned a PowerChromatic chrom in G, playing with a D root, where the E blow note is lowered to D#. It's good for fast play and slide decorations because only one bend is needed in the slide-out position, for the flat 6th note (Bb).

However, with the slider in, you get a cool alternate version of the scale using all draw notes and bends. I use both versions in my tune "Sweet Bulgarity", which is mostly in Hijaz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dieELP-5AIg

The intro and the middle section are played with slide-in style. You can hear the switch-over from slide-out style in the 4th part of the tune, playing the same notes but with different feeling, at 2:04. After some rhythm playing the slide-in style resumes at 2:30 and lasts till 3:08.

The reason it works is because the slide-in notes are actually the same as they would be for a standard PowerChromatic half-valved chromatic in G with the slide pushed in. Thus in the video, when playing slide-in position, essentially I'm playing a G# diatonic harp in PowerChromatic tuning, with the root in D. (On a Lucky 13 G PowerChromatic it will come out in C#, as shown above).

This is exactly the expressive 7th Position sound that Edvin mentioned earlier...

All of the positions above have their good points, but probably 7th Position is the most 'Middle Eastern' sounding.

[Gerhard62]

How about a tuning like that:

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C	Eb	G	Bb	C	Eb	G	Bb	C	Eb
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
D	F#	A	C	D	F#	A	C	D	G

Full chromatic only with draw bends and the scale without bends?
Or use a G Harmonic Minor harmonica e.g. from Lee Oskar. There are the whole scale inside and it is much cheaper as a customized tuning.
Or you wait for the new Diminished Lucky 13 from Brendan. But then you must use draw bends to play this scale.
Greetings, Gerhard

Nobody seems to see my little tuning variation - isn't this useful for that kind of music? I use it for harmonic minor with 3 blow as root note in hole 1 e.g. in a harmonic minor.

[Brendan]

Sorry Gerhard! I assume this is a tuning that repeats every 5th hole (like Diminished-tuned, Solo, PowerChromatic etc)? That is indeed a nice tuning variation which I don't think we've seen before. Edvin has the sharpest eye for that kind of thing.

It's the same as the one I used for Sweet Bulgarity, except for hole 4. I have A-B there, you have Bb-C. Both will work well for Hijaz starting on the D draw note, but yours requires no bends. For the player who can't bend, or prefers not to, it is better

[Brendan]

Piro39: I'd love to hear some music you're playing on your Hijaz harps. Do you have any you'd like to share?

[EdvinW]

Thank you Brendan for your generous and detailed exposition of Hijaz scales on PowerBender!

For 7th position play, the patterns for a Hijaz scale co inside for two octaves if you count a one step bend in holes 2 and 3 in a PowerBender the same as the bends in a PowerChromatic. At least I think the octaves feel rather similar, but maybe that's only me.

Gerhard: Like Brendan says, your tuning is very similar to his, and it's hard to say one is objectively better than the other. It looks nice I've never seen it before, but it makes sense as a variation of another tuning which I talked about in another post, which I call PowerBender's Sharp Sister. It looks like this

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C  E  G  Bb C  E  G  Bb
D  F# A  C  D  F# A  C

Like the PowerBender, every hole has a two note difference between blow and draw and all notes but one are available with bends. If we would call Brendan's tuning a Balkan PowerChromatic yours could be a Balkan Sharp Sister, as both variations fill the missing note by lowering the above. Do you have some name for it?

Just like the standard PowerChromatic, the unaltered Sharp Sister can be used to play the Hijaz scale in the 7th position way. This is also true for a tuning called Inverted Bebop which I think Partick (IaNerd here on the forum) uses (or used?).

Gerhard and Prio39: I second Brendan in that it would be nice to hear your Hijaz harps if have something you would like to share

[Gerhard62]

Sorry Gerhard! I assume this is a tuning that repeats every 5th hole (like Diminished-tuned, Solo, PowerChromatic etc)? That is indeed a nice tuning variation which I don't think we've seen before. Edvin has the sharpest eye for that kind of thing.

It's the same as the one I used for Sweet Bulgarity, except for hole 4. I have A-B there, you have Bb-C. Both will work well for Hijaz starting on the D draw note, but yours requires no bends. For the player who can't bend, or prefers not to, it is better

Thanks, Brendan, and yes your tuning is nice, too. I use Bb-C not because I don't want to bend but because I can so reach the Cb and the tuning is so completely chromatic.

[Gerhard62]

Gerhard: Like Brendan says, your tuning is very similar to his, and it's hard to say one is objectively better than the other. It looks nice I've never seen it before, but it makes sense as a variation of another tuning which I talked about in another post, which I call PowerBender's Sharp Sister. It looks like this
C E G Bb C E G Bb
D F# A C D F# A C
Like the PowerBender, every hole has a two note difference between blow and draw and all notes but one are available with bends. If we would call Brendan's tuning a Balkan PowerChromatic yours could be a Balkan Sharp Sister, as both variations fill the missing note by lowering the above. Do you have some name for it?

Just like the standard PowerChromatic, the unaltered Sharp Sister can be used to play the Hijaz scale in the 7th position way. This is also true for a tuning called Inverted Bebop which I think Partick (IaNerd here on the forum) uses (or used?).

My tuning in this thread is just a variation because it has the root note for the hijaz scale. I found the basic tuning in one of your interesting threads viewtopic.php?f=9&t=249&start=10#p1702
So it is not my invention and I'm not the right guy to give him a name. I use it with the root note for the harmonic minor scale and play some greek and klezmer tunes on an a minor and d minor harp with this tuning. It is completely chromatic so I hope to be able to play somedays more complicated klezmer tunes with many and various ## and bb

[Brendan]

EDVIN: I thought Gerhard's tuning looked a little familiar: just one note different from your 'Sharp Sister'! But it's those tiny variations that can make a big difference, especially for giving fluency in certain styles. In this case, it's a critical one for playing the Hijaz scale starting on D.

GERHARD: both of our tunings with the same pattern in the first 3 holes (CD - EbF# - GA) are fully chromatic with draw bends alone.

YOURS (bends shown in lower case):
C c# D -> Eb e f F# -> G g# A -> Bb b C -> (C)

MINE (a# substitutes for lower case Bb (bb), which looks awkward!):
C c# D -> Eb e f F# -> G g# A -> (A) a# B -> C

I did explore playing my version for a while as an alternative to PowerChromatic, to use as a fully chromatic diatonic harp with draw bends alone. However I found distinguishing between the semitone and wholetone bends in hole 2 with accurate pitch at higher speeds was problematic. Despite practice I found it too hit and miss, especially in the higher octaves. In the end I wasn't satisfied with the practicality of playing accurately in tune, in all styles and tempos, to retain it as a preferred general tuning for wide use.

As a result (aside from special cases like 'Sweet Bulgarity' or other Balkan/Middle Eastern tunes that especially suit the alteration), I stuck with standard PowerChromatic for most playing. Since I generally use it on half-valved slider chromatics, I could easily get the Eb note with a slide push.

If I'm playing PowerChromatic on the Lucky 13, I generally choose positions that avoid use of that note - easy enough to do! However when needed on a diatonic it can be got with a valved blow bend, or (unvalved) with an overblow. Other ways would be with a SlipSlider or X-Reed harmonica version.

However Gerhard, it sounds as if you have EMBRACED the double bend in hole 2 for playing fully chromatically on a diatonic with your tuning. That sounds interesting! I'd love to hear what stuff you're playing with this scale, if you feel like sharing a recording or two

[Brendan]

MALARZ: because I was curious, I laid out your tuning in a clear format. Edvin has sent you instructions on how to do it but, if you didn't see his message, they are below.

MALARZ HIJAZ TUNING

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BLOW	G	Bb	Eb	G	Bb	D	G	Bb	D	G
Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
DRAW	A	D	F#	A	C	Eb	F#	A	C	Eb

Interesting... For playing in D, It has the same pattern as Gerhard's tuning 2-5, but then goes to a reversed breathing pattern Richter-style version in the higher holes. Personally I don't like the reversed breathing pattern change at hole 7 in any tuning, but it does have the benefit of compressing the scale by avoiding repeating notes.

Another way to compress the scale and avoid repeating notes would be to use a Circular Tuning version:

CIRCULAR HIJAZ TUNING

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BLOW	A	C	Eb	G	Bb	D	F#	A	C	Eb
Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
DRAW	Bb	D	F#	A	C	Eb	G	Bb	D	F#

No bends required here either. I like this one better, because the blow note is always lower than the draw. I prefer that consistent relationship throughout the harmonica, whatever the tuning (Solo being the exception).

===============

Here's how to input Harmonica Tunings yourself:

1. Select the </> symbol in the button above the text box.
2. The words (code)(/code) will come up, except the brackets will be square.
3. Hit the Enter key to go to the next line, and start inputting your tuning between the two sets of brackets.
4. Make sure to use the Tab key to separate the text/numbers (hit Tab to go to the next element).
5. Hit Enter to go to the next line, while staying within the square brackets.
6. When done, start typing outside the right-hand square bracket.

[Gerhard62]

GERHARD: both of our tunings with the same pattern in the first 3 holes (CD - EbF# - GA) are fully chromatic with draw bends alone.
YOURS (bends shown in lower case):
C c# D -> Eb e f F# -> G g# A -> Bb b C -> (C)
MINE (a# substitutes for lower case Bb (bb), which looks awkward!):
C c# D -> Eb e f F# -> G g# A -> (A) a# B -> C

Your're absolutely right.
Shame on me for forgetting that Cb and B are the same
And no, I'm no pro on the harp. Just began this year with bending, so you're right again, that this tuning is not for normal use for someone like me.
For chromatical use I prefer the diminished tuning and I'm waiting for your Diminished Lucky 13