Brendan Power & Alternative Harmonicas Forum

Nothing new here. Just some bend-less scale diagrams for Solo and PowerChromatic Lucky 13 harps in the keys of C, D and G and for the ionian, dorian, aeolian and mixolydian modes.

I invite suggestions as to how to make these diagrams better. Please PM me.

download/file.php?mode=view&id=776

Readers may wish to compare the "stock" Lucky 13 scales above with those of some re-tunings shown here:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=792&p=3475#p3464

and here:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=791#p3463

and here:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=794#p3487

I admire your steadfast dedication to mapping tunings, Patrick! They are useful ways to visualise scale layouts.

Personally, if I'm wanting to show in graphic form the shape of a phrase or scale, and the harp tuning has a regular pattern of blow notes being always lower than draws in each hole, I prefer to break away from the convention where the physical construction of the harmonica (blow reedplate on top of the comb, draw on bottom) dictates how the tuning is represented.

I find it more useful for visualizing a phrase in my mind's eye to put the blow notes on the bottom of the grid, so the arrows or scale lines from hole to hole rise and fall according to pitch. It helps me 'feel' the phrase. Appropriate tunings include Diminished, Wholetone, Augmented, PowerBender, PowerDraw, PowerChromatic, and some of your tunings. But such regular-breath tunings are a minority preference...

As far as your drawings go, the only thing I could suggest is making the various colour lines a bit thicker and separated from each other.

On another level, an electronic version would be great. So the basic tuning in the grid is there, and a scale/phrase map only appears after you input the notes in a selection box. Or simply choose the name of the scale (Mixolydian, Dorian etc).

I think Edvin has done this for Diminished Tuning.

Brendan –-

Thank you for those kind words and considered ideas.

When you say you prefer to “put the blow notes on the bottom of the grid, so the arrows or scale lines from hole to hole rise and fall according to pitch” –- I totally understand that “aural” rationale. However, the first harmonica books that I bought in 1972 used the prevailing system and it’s now in my bones. On top of that, I have started to develop a “body of work” (boy, doesn’t that sound pretentious ) here on your website, and I wish to keep that work consistent from post to post.

Here is another interesting mnemonic -– likely shared consciously or unconsciously by many people -- of regarding “blow top row, draw bottom row”. That pattern mirrors the movement of air during exhalation and inhalation. It also mirrors the up/down motion of the diaphragm.

Fair enough - the standard tuning diagram based on harp construction is definitely the one used by most. And by me too, most of the time! It's the correct one for showing exactly where each note is being sounded inside the harmonica, for sure.

It's only as a memory aid on appropriate regular-breath tunings that I prefer to visualise harp notes and phrases in terms of their pitch - how they sound in the air, if you like.

Just a side-note really, but it got me idly musing about whether this pitch-based diagrammatic approach could be applied to Richter, Circular and other tunings which flip the breathing pattern over the course of the harmonica range.

I decided it was worth a thread on its own, which is now in the other section of the Forum. Interested to hear your thoughts