Real People Behind the Story Note: Like the standard 15-button autoharp, this arrangement keeps the "basic" 12 keys the same, even though playing in D is still awkward, and the reach from A to E7 is "dicey." From Carrie Underwood and Jason Aldean to Florida Georgia Line and Lady A, all paths lead to Country Roads. All rights reserved. A mid-to-late 1960s "Bluegrass" model Chromaharp - a 15-chorder with A, D, and E in the first three positions, making it slightly more guitar-friendly than the standard 15-chorder. The new ones are inevitably cheaper than the 21-chord versions. Once you're used to it, the chords you're most likely to need for songs in the key of F, C, G, D, or A are all in the same relative position. What is a Bluegrass Banjo? The Oscar Schmidt materials say it's "Ideal for Bluegrass." Other Inst. The Circle of Fifths Part 1 6-String Banjo Buyers' Guide on Riverboat Music Contact What Kind of Banjo Do I Want? I confess, I got this by accident - I thought I was bidding on a different harp, but it didn't cost much. Note: If you don't already own an autoharp, and are looking to buy one, consider bypassing the old "A" style - they were made for playing on the lap, not held across the chest as is the modern usage. C'est de la musique ! Both the Chromaharp Bluegrass model and the early Oscar Schmidt "Appalachian" fell far short of giving Folk, Bluegrass, and Country musicians what they needed (more chords to support playing in sharps). (The instrument includes Bb, F, C, C7, G, G7, Gm, D, D7, Dm, A, A7, Am, E, and E7.) Introduction to Scales About the Cast A 21-chord Chromaharp to clean up and tune. About $30 plus shipping and an hour or so of work. You probably won't be playing or reconfiguring a 12-chord autoharp anyway. The Circle of Fifths Part 2

Overview Who Owns Folk Songs?

But the only differences between this and their entry-level OS-21 harps are cosmetic. [Chorus] G D Em C Country roads, take me home to the place, I belong G D C G West Virginia, mountain mama, take me home, country roads. Acoustic Guitar Buyers' Guides on RiverboatMusic.com, Banjo Buyers' Guides on RiverboatMusic.com, 5-String Banjo Buyers' Guides on Riverboat Music, 6-String Banjo Buyers' Guide on Riverboat Music, 4-String Banjo Buyers' Guide on Riverboat Music, Mandolin Buyers' Guide on Riverboat Music, Ukulele Buyers' Guide on Riverboat Music, Harmonica Buyers' Guide on Riverboat Music, Autoharp Buyers' Guide on Riverboat Music, Appalachian Dulcimer Buyers' Guide on Riverboat Music, Hammered Dulcimer Buyers' Guide on Riverboat Music.

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About the History I started to write another article before I wrote this one, about reconfiguring autoharps to play your favorite keys. Home Did God Really Give Rock and Roll To You? Note: As far as I can tell, Oscar Schmidt adopted this setup for the Americana because it is the favorite setup of autoharp player Bryan Bowers and his disciples. Evaluating and Buying Used Guitars

12-chord autoharps (no longer made) could play songs in F, C, and G. Standard 15-chord autoharps add the ability to play songs in Bb, F, C, G, and D. Standard 21-chord autoharps can play songs in Eb, Bb, F, C, G, D, and A. Set Suggestions In addition, the chord arrangement makes sense - with most of the buttons being arranged in a "circle of fifths" sequence, so when someone decides to pitch a song in C instead of D, all you have to do is move your left hand over a couple buttons. In the 1970s, two variations on the 15-chord autoharp were built that made it possible to play three-chord songs in A, though they still left out F#m and Bm in favor of Bb and C7, two chords that are far less useful in Folk-based genres. On the other hand, if you're playing with a guitarist who wants to do anything by Paul Simon, James Taylor, Judy Collins, Gordon Lightfoot, Steve Goodman, Noel Stookey, Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, or most other Folk, Folk-Rock, or Country artists, you'll probably be missing chords you need, like Bm and F#m to name a couple. They produced 15-chorders that gave you E and A chords by sacrificing the Eb and F7, two chords you almost never need in Folk, Bluegrass, or Country. A standard 21-button" Oscar Schmidt or Chromaharp autoharp's "factory layout" chord array (given in Circle-of-Fifths) is Ab, Eb, Bb, Bb7, F, F7, C, C7, Cm, G, G7, Gm, D, D7, Dm, A, A7, Am, E7, Em, and B7. Aside from looking at the buttons (which you can't read in most eBay or Craigs List ads), one way to tell is that the word Appalachian appears in a box over the Autoharp logo. So both used and new 15-chorders tempt folks who don't want to spend a lot of money on an instrument that they're just trying out. A standard 15-chord 1970ish Oscar Schmidt with a couple bad springs, but nothing that should be too onerous to fix. What Kind of Guitar Should I Start On? Then I tuned it up and realized that it has a delightful sound. Banjo Buyers' Guides on RiverboatMusic.com My New/Old Deering Deluxe 6 It has rusty strings and the smell of mold, but the felt is good. Creek Dont' Rise(tm) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertisingprogram designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Sports, music, news and podcasts. Music Theory

Note about Bm, F#m, and E: If you already have a 21-chord Oscar Schmidt autoharp, and you're lusting after the E, Bm, and F#m buttons on this 'harp, you might be glad to know that Elderly Music sells those chord bars separately for about $10 apiece. That said, as long as you don't disassemble your autoharp over shag carpet, there is no compelling reason you can't move the keys around to make your favorite keys easier to play.

What is a Tenor Guitar? For questions, comments, suggestions, trouble reports, etc. Then I realized that much of what I "knew" about autoharps was misguided, to say the least, by only being really exposed to a handful of instruments. At this moment, I have five autoharps, all but one of which I got very cheap used. I got it sight-unseen, and the vendor offered to take it back, but I just asked him to give me a discount on it instead. Mandolin Buyers' Guide on Riverboat Music But remember, I'm used to fixing up old instruments, and the work they will entail will not all be easy, so please don't rush right out and buy the first used autoharp you see, then blame me if you get something that is unusable with any amount of work. Forums Harmonica Buyers' Guide on Riverboat Music Introduction to Popular Music Theory I figured it would make a nice display piece if nothing else. Are 6-String Banjos for Real? Appalachian Dulcimer Buyers' Guide on Riverboat Music How Much is my Banjo Worth?

About the National Road So now I'm thinking that a conversion to diatonic might be a good project, as long as it will hold a tune. They look a lot cooler, more like home-made or custom instruments, but they both use the standard 15-chord and 21-chord setting, respectively. For that reason, there's quite a market in aftermarket felts and even chord bars for folks wanting to tweak which chords they can play on instruments they already own or have access to. Frankly, you can play more songs with a 21-chord 'harp, and the way the buttons are arranged makes a lot more sense.

My hope is to keep it chromatic, but reconfigure 4-5 of the bars to make it more guitar-friendly. Guitars An ancient 12-chord Oscar Schmidt with a crack in the soundboard. Both Chromaharp and Oscar Schmidt heard them, sort of.

Country Roads - Country Roads is the #1 station for today's biggest country music hits. Musician Or Wannabe? Setting Up a 4-String Banjo Musings The truth is, I have a Chromaharp Bluegrass that I got cheap, but it needs new strings, and I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with it.

Now, say you're moving from your Ragtime Banjo Society gig to a Folk, Bluegrass, Celtic, or Country gig, and your new bandmates want to do the same song in A that you're used to playing in F. You'll discover in a heartbeat that you don't have the chords you need, which may include, not only D and E7 but also A, Em, and B7 (present on a 21-chorder, but not on a 15-chorder) as well as E, Bm, F#m and maybe even C#m. What's preventing you from rechording your 21-button OS? If you still haven't found what you're looking for, please send to us. Whatever else you get out of our pages, I hope you enjoy your music and figure out how to make enjoyable music for those around you as well. http://classictrainsongs.com. But they didn't go far enough.

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