Std | A | A# Bb | B | C | C# Db | D | D# Eb | E | F | F# Gb | G | G# Ab |
C Maj Modal | A | B | B | C | C | D | E | E | F | F | G | G | F#,C#,G# flattened, Bb, Eb sharpened |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C Min Modal | Ab | Bb | B | C | C | D | Eb | Eb | F | F | G | Ab | A,C#,E,F# flattened | D Min Modal | A | Bb | Bb | C | C# | D | D | E | F | F | G | G | B, Eb, F#,G# flattened |
6's and 7's | A | H:B M:B L:A | B | C | C# Db | D | H:E L:D | E | F | F# Gb | G | G# Ab |
only Bb and Eb affected; Highest notes sharpened, lower ones flattened. |
Eb | Bb | F | C | G | D | A | ||||||||||||||||
F7 | C7 | G7 | D7 | A7 | E7 | B7 | ||||||||||||||||
Ab | Bb7 | Cm | Gm | Dm | Am | Em | ||||||||||||||||
becomes: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Em | Dm | F | C | G | Dm | Am | ||||||||||||||||
F6 | C6 | G7 | Dm7 | Am7 | Em7 | BEFA | ||||||||||||||||
Am | BFDA | C | G | Dm | Am | Em |
String | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Note name | F | F | C | F | G | A | A | B! | C | D! | Eb | E | F | F | G | A | B! | C | D! |
Harmonic | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 26 |
Ratio | 1/1 | 1/1 | 3/2 | 1/1 | 9/8 | 5/4 | 5/4 | 11/8 | 3/2 | 13/8 | 7/4 | 15/8 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 9/8 | 5/4 | 11/8 | 3/2 | 13/8 |
Since these are true harmonics, 12 tone equal temperament doesn't
fit this scale, so some of the names are approximate (! indicates a 1/4 tone) |
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The Chords that "go" with this scale are like this:
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Chord Name | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
1-3-5-7* Like F Maj and F7 |
F | F | C | F | X | A | A | X | C | X | Eb* | X | F | F | X | A | X | C | X |
3-9-15 Like C Maj |
X | X | C | X | G | X | X | X | C | X | X | E | X | X | G | X | X | C | X |
1-3-9 Like C sus |
F | F | C | F | G | X | X | X | C | X | X | X | F | F | G | X | X | C | X |
9-11-13-15* Not like anything; The opposite of F7 |
X | X | X | X | G | X | X | B! | X | D! | X | E* | X | X | G | X | B! | X | D! |
3-5-7-9* Rootless F9 |
X | X | C | X | G* | A | A | X | C | X | Eb | X | X | X | G* | A | X | C | X |
1-3-5-7-9- 11-13-15 F15 | (open strum; lets you play close groups of harmonics) |
G - D - A - E 10/9 - 5/3 - 5/4 - 15/8 \ / \ / \ / \ \ / \ / \ / \ Bb - F - C - G' 4/3 --- 1/1 -- 3/2 -- 9/8 \ / \ / \ / \ \ / \ / \ / \ Db Ab Eb Bb' 8/5 --- 6/5 - 9/5 - 27/20Or in other words, a 5-limit just scale built on 3/2 (perfect fifth) and 5/4 (major third) and their inversions 4/3 (perfect fourth) and 8/5 (minor third). There are twelve tones in this scale, although they are not equally tempered. The first trick is to retune the strings to this new scale. The second trick is to pick chords that make use of this scale.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
F | A | C | Db | E | F* | G | Ab | A | Bb' | Bb | C* | D | Db | E | Eb | F | G' | G | Ab | A | Bb' | Bb | C | D | Db | E | Eb | F | G' | G | Ab | A | Bb' | Bb | C |
F chords: made of pieces of F A C E G Bb D | |
---|---|
F maj9 | F A C E G |
G min9 | G Bb D F A |
A min9 | A C E G Bb |
Bb Maj9 | Bb D F A C |
C9 | C E G Bb D |
D mi9 | D F A C E |
E 0 9 | E G Bb D F |
Ab chords: made of pieces of Ab C Eb G' Bb' Db F | |
Ab maj9 | Ab C Eb G' Bb' |
Bb mi9 | Bb' Db F Ab C |
C mi9 | C Eb G' Bb' Db |
Db maj9 | Db F Ab C Eb |
Eb 9 | Eb G' Bb' Db F |
F mi9 | F Ab C Eb G' |
G' 0 9 | G' Bb' Db F Ab |
Eb sus4 | Eb Ab Bb |
suspended pythagorean chords | |
C sus4 7 | C F G Bb |
A sus 4 | A D E |
Ab sus 4? | Ab Db Eb |
Augmented chords | |
F+ | F A C Db |
Ab+ | Ab C E G' |
That makes 19 chords: 7+7+3+2. There's room for two "lock bars, but I only made one (F). A lock bar had a special button that can keep the bar down even when you aren't pressing it. | |
Lock Bars | |
F lock | F G A Bb C D E |
Ab lock | Ab Bb' C Db Eb F G' |
All the chords have the drone strings open in them as well. |
BbM9 | C9 | Dm9 | Eo9 | Ab+ | Absus | |||||||||||||||||
Lock | FM9 | Gm9 | Am9 | DbM9 | Eb9 | Fm9 | ||||||||||||||||
F+ | Csus | Amsus | G'09 | AbM9 | Bb'm9 | Cm9 | ||||||||||||||||
These are the basic F chords | ||||||||||||||||||||||
These are the basic Ab chords |
Here's a video about this Pentad tuning, made on Dec 26, 2013.
Just click the "play" control (ignore that loading... message if you see it; it will load then).
CM7 | D7 | Em7 | F#o7 | G7 | C7 | |||||||||||||||||
GM7 | Am7 | Bm7 | EbM7 | F7 | Gm7 | Ao7 | ||||||||||||||||
A7 | B7 | Dsus7 | BbM7 | Cm7 | Dm7 | Fsus7 | ||||||||||||||||
These are the basic G chords | ||||||||||||||||||||||
These are the basic Bb chords | ||||||||||||||||||||||
These are passing 7th chords |
In August 2020, I silicone'ed the chord bars because the felt was too fuzzed up after some time. Here are some shots of that:
![]() 'Before': see how beat up, fuzzy and notched these felts are? |
![]() Here the chords arranged by 'key', G, Bb (or Gminor), and a bunch of 7ths. |
![]() Now they are sitting on wax paper, squooshed into toothpasty-lines of silicone. |
![]() The next morning: they are all dry. |
![]() Here's how gooey they are! They trim nicely with an art knife. You have to get those notches clear! This is much more tedious than cutting them in the first place. |
![]() 'After': Back in the harp. Note: I put bamboo skewers in the chord bar slots to help get the felts closer to the strings. That way, you don't have to push so hard. |
String # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
harmonic | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 24 |
approx. pitch | F | F | C | C | F | F | F | A | A | A | C | C | C | Eb | Eb | Eb | F | F | G | A | A | B | B | C | C | D | Eb | E | F | F# | G | Ab | A | Bb' | B | C |
2019!
Here it is a few years later, and I've taken the idea of that diatonic pentad harp, with its "circle of minor thirds", or rather "Major and Minor of the same key", and cleaned it up a little.
I had a spare harp body with a cracked soundboard and a lot of bars made for 15-chord harps. I refelted them and left them uncut, and made this interesting video:
And then I cut
three diatonic sets of 7 chords apiece. These chords are nominally triads, but use the "half felt" trick to add the fourth note
in the top and middle octaves. You get tetrads unless you press the bar down harder.
I also used foam mounting tape to get the chords closer to the strings,
which makes it easier to play. So it's a lot cleaner sounding, and has some good transitions. But not much in the circle of fifths!
The chords are in the keys of D, F and Ab. Those who can multiply realize there are 21 chords there, but only space for 15. I swap parts of the sets out so I can hear what they are like. For a while, it was just F and Ab, like the Diatonic Pentad harp. Then it was D and F, which was great because I'm using the standard string schedule, and Ab basically has no bass that way. Another way is to take 4 chords from D, 7 from F and 4 from Ab. The chords I use are rich enough for substituting in most cases. It can also be organized as 5 chords x 3, IM, IIm, IIIm, V7, VIm for D, F and Ab, which is a little limiting, but can do some interesting things.
I arrange the chords in that same pattern as the pentad, roughly:
GM7 A7 Bm7 C#o7 Bbm7 C7 Dm7 Eo7 DbM7 Eb7 Fm7 Go7 DM7 Em7 F#m7 FM7 Gm7 Am7 AbM7 Bbm7 Cm7 The VIIo7 chords can also be moved to the left of the IM7 (I have spare chord bar buttons in both top and bottom positions) Harmonically, the chords line up like this: DM --Em --F#m--GM --A7 --Bm --C#o << D / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ Dm--Eo --FM --Gm --Am --BbM--C7 --Dm << F \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / Eb7--Fm --Go --AbM--Bbm--Cm --DbM << Ab / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ D#m--EM --F#7--G#m--A#7--BM --C#m--D#m << B key of B, no room for it
GM7 | A6 | BbM7 | C7 | Dm7 | Eo7 | DbM7 | Eb7 | ||||||||
DM7 | Em7 | FM7 | Gm7 | Am7 | AbM7 | Bbm7 | |||||||||
These are D chords | |||||||||||||||
These are F chords | |||||||||||||||
These are Ab chords |