Equal or Just? Melodies or Chords? Equal temperament is a better tuning if most of what you play is melodic, and if you like to play melodies in many positions on a diatonic harmonica. Just intonation is a better tuning if most of what you play is chordal music and in second position. The difference in these two tunings or temperaments is quite subtle and if you cannot hear the difference between the two you probably do not need to know much about this.
BEN TALKS HARMONICA Ben Hewlett Vice-President
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I discovered this concept after writing my first book on the harmonica called ‘Get Chugging’ and sending it to various well known players to give me some feedback.
One person who replied to me immediately was Larry Adler who basically said “it stinks”! Actually it was something like ‘whilst I applaud your educational aims, I cannot get excited about an instrument with missing notes. It’s true I once did a duet with Sonny Terry at the Albert Hall and enjoyed it, but it is not something I seek to repeat. So with regret I cannot give you a useful quote for your book’.
The magazine for HarmonicaUK
