BASIC IDEA: Some folks want or need major and minor chords for harmonic play. In this 12-hole slide harmonica, ALL 12 major triads and ALL 12 minor triads are available in a pocket-sized instrument.
HOW/WHEN: This is a natural extension of what I was posting to this forum on August 11 and August 31. Worked out by me on September 2, 2017.
LAYOUT AND DETAILS:
VARIATION #1: Better indexing.
If this tuning were applied to a 14-hole harp, then channels 5 and 10 could be blank/plugged/skipped. This would make navigating the harp easier. The same could be done on a 16-hole harp, by plugging/skipping either channels 1, 6, 11 and 16, or by plugging/skipping channels 5, 6, 11 and 12.
VARIATION #2: Octave and tremolo versions.
If this tuning were applied to a 16-hole harp, then three new chambers could be added—one beside each of the three Root channels. That extra channel would provide a fourth tone for each major and each minor chord. The fourth note could be an octave note of the root, which would make every chord sound fuller. Alternately, the fourth note could be very nearly equal to the root tone, to give all chords a tremolo sound.
VARIATION #3: Add some 7th notes.
If this tuning were applied to a 16-hole harp, then three new chambers could be added—either to the right (major chord side) or left (minor chord side) of the blocks of chords. That extra channel would allow, for example, all of the major chords to be played “as is” OR as major 7 chords. If the harp had 18 holes, one could play any major or minor chord “as is” OR as a 7th version of the same chord.
