Comment by noduerme
Very interesting! I've played harp casually all my life without ever really learning about alternate tunings. The Melody Maker sounds like it would open some nifty possibilities! Someone bought me a chromatic harp once as a gift and I could never figure out how to play it properly. It's funny though, because as a piano and guitar player I never thought about what I was doing. I just play a cheap blues band or marine band, and I realize now that the positions that feel most normal to me are 1st, 2nd and oddly, 12th. I remember once jamming with an old folk rocker (my former guitar teacher) and he started playing something in F major while I was on a C harp. He didn't think I'd be able to follow - at the time, I just called this "cross harp" because I thought that was the generic term for playing in any other key! I don't know why playing in a major 4th seems so unusual, but he was kinda shocked that I pulled it off. There's only one note you can't play straight in that setup...
That is so cool that you discovered those alternate positions!
Yes, "cross harp" is also known as second position. I have never explored the other positions as you have. There is so much to experiment with.
If you ever want to try the Melody Maker tuning, I would pick a song you want to play and get one in that key. I mentioned Dreams (A minor / High F Melody Maker) and You Make Loving Fun (Bb Melody Maker) for the female vocal parts.
Another one I have fun with is Wagon Wheel (the Darius Rucker version). It's in A Major, and yes, Lee Oskar does have an off the shelf Melody Maker in that key.
I do the fiddle part, which was quite a challenge to learn! And the organ part, which is much easier.
I can read music, slowly, but mostly I learn by ear. I used a site called Karaoke Version:
https://www.karaoke-version.com/
This site lets you create your own mix of instruments and vocals for any song.
First I made a mix with everything included, so I could play along with the fiddle and organ parts.
Once I had it down, I made a second mix with fiddle and organ dropped out so I could play those parts on my own. It still included the vocals.
Unfortunately, Karaoke Version later replaced the track with a much inferior version. I have no idea why! If anyone wants the two mixes I worked with (the one including fiddle and organ, and the one without), ping me and I can send them to you on the sly.