I was mentioning to @drexellkleber that if I were playing Heard it in a Love Song I would probably choose a G harmonica or a D Melody Maker, and he asked me what’s the deal with the Melody Maker and why I might choose that harp? I thought I’d respond to that question here to keep things tidy.
The Lee Oskar Melody Maker is designed to enable the player to play a MAJOR TONALITY in SECOND POSITION.
The normal tonality of 2nd position is best described as Mixolydian, which simply means that it’s like a regular major scale with a Major 3rd, but the 7th degree is lowered by half-step.
So on a G harmonica, if we are playing in the key of D and we want to play the MAJOR 7 which is a C#, we can do down low on the -2’, and up high on the 9’, but in the middle octave the -5 is a natural C, the MINOR 7, and the ONLY way to get the C# which is the MAJOR 7 is to play an overblow on hole 5, which is a super advanced technique that few people can do well.
SOOOO, the Melody Maker is tuned where the -5 IS the C#/MAJOR 7. If you want the C natural theory, you can bend down the -5’, but normally it plays like you’re playing a D major scale.
ALSO, the 3 blow plays the MAJOR 2ND, which is E in the key of D, the note we would normally have to do the challenging -3" to be able to play.
And that’s basic scoop on the Melody Maker tuning. Hope that helps!
Aloha,
Luke