same note on the 4 & 5?
Tue, 11/22/2011 - 11:29
A friend just asked me why the 4 & the 5 blow notes are the same on the chro - I saw an explanation at one time, but cannot remember what it was. I am assuming it has to do with a logical progession when the "black" notes are considered. If you can give me an answer perhaps I can impress him with it - sure can't impress this guy with licks (he is so good).
Look at Holes 4 thru 7 on a C diatonic.
There are seven notes in the scale- A B C D E F G
Three of them are blow notes - C E G
Four of them are draw notes - D F A B
So you have an odd number coupled to an even number.
Now look at Holes 7 thru 10 on a C diatonic.
All the draw notes are shifted one hole to the right. Because there are 4 draw notes and only 3 blow notes in each octave. On 12-hole and 14-hole diatonics things get more and more out of whack the higher you go.
But on the chromatic, every octave is tuned exactly like Holes 4 thru 7 on a diatonic. So Draw D is always in the same hole as Blow C, and Draw F is always in the same hole as Blow E, and so on.
However, the price you pay for this consistency in all octaves is a duplicated C that pairs up with the B so that you have an even number of blow notes and draw notes in each octave.
Some players change the C on the left (The one that's paired with B) to another note, such as Bb (called bebop tuning) or A (that one doesn't have a catchy name, but I use it and I'm told that William Galison does as well).
Does that help?