This web site's main page has a six-frame display. The frames function independently of each other, but are designed to be used in tandem. In combination they can be employed to find reasonable and interesting substitutes for designated chords, and to assist the individual in locating these on the fretboard of a guitar or on the harmonica.

This program can be used in various ways. You can 'spell out' the notes of a specific chord in one frame, while using another to locate those notes on the guitar (in 13 alternate tunings), a third frame to find the same note combinations on various harmonicas (in different keys), and a fourth frame to sound out the chord in question. Or, alternatively, in Frame 1 the user can display the seven chords common to a particular key, while using Frame 2 to explore possible variations of those chords and Frame 3 to determine if alternate guitar tunings would be more conducive to their 'playability'.

Utilize the 'previous page' button in your browser to re-make choices in particular frames -in order, for example, to explore an entire sequence of chords (a chord 'progression') in frame 3 without having to disturb the fretboard layout in frame 4, or the harmonica layout in frame 1. Opening your browser to full-screen capacity permits you to see more of the displayed material, with less need for constant scrolling. Open it before you begin submitting requests, as opening it later will cause the frames to revert to their original state. In fact, you can open it now.

If you have the 'Beatnik' sound system installed on your computer (a sophisticated music plug-in which can be downloaded for free from 'www.headspace.com') , frames 5 and 6 become available for your use. Frame 5, currently under construction, will offer a few exemplary harmonica/guitar excerpts to listen to, if you so choose. It will include a variety of styles (in 'cross' and 'straight' harp), with accompanying written commentary - on harmonica style, key, and guitar chords (and maybe even some harmonica tablature). Frame 6 is currently operable; it is a simple 'chord sounder' for those who wish to sound the chords they are exploring, but do not have a musical instrument at hand. From a one-octave range, sound as many as 8 notes simultaneously. In the future this frame will employ multiple octaves, so that any chord, in any 'voicing' (ie, with particular notes of the chord on the 'bottom', in the 'middle', and 'above'), could be sounded.

Harmonicas come in different keys, and one is not limited to using a harmonica that is in the same key as the song one is playing; in certain circumstances one may want to use a harmonica in a different key. The frame in the upper left hand corner of the main page can help the individual to find at least one alternate-key harmonica that may be used. When the user specifies the key of the song in which he/she wishes to play, two harmonica layouts are displayed in Frame 1. In this frame there are not only diagrams of the harmonica that is in the same key as the song, but also of a harmonica that can also be used, one in a closely related key associated with the 'subdominant' or 'IV' chord of the key that the song is in. [In this frame, choose the key of the song, and click on 'go' to see the display].

Straight Harp:

The first schematic displayed in Frame 1 identifies the primary notes (by letter names, such as 'Ab' or 'C') associated with each hole of the harmonica that is in the same key as the song - the numbers in the diagram below this schematic identify the notes by the place they hold in the scale associated with the song's 'key'. For instance, assume that the song is in the key of 'C'. Blowing on the second hole of a harmonica in the key of 'C' results in an 'E' note, which is the 3rd note in the 'C-scale' (C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C) and one of the three notes comprising the 'C-Major' chord (C, E, G). When one uses the harmonica that is in the same key as the key of the song, it is called playing 'straight' harp, and one emphasizes the 'blow' notes (which are all notes in the primary Major chord associated with the key - C-Major, in our example - the 'tonic' chord in the key of 'C').

Cross Harp:

But one can also use an 'F' harmonica for a song in the key of 'C' (F-Major is the 'IV' chord, or 'subdominant' in that key). In a song in the key of 'C', the 'F' harmonica is played in 'cross' position, by putting emphasis on the draw notes. The second set of schematics in the upper left hand frame identifies the notes (by their letter names) which one one can get from each hole of the harp when it is played cross-style. The numbers in the diagram beneath this schematic identify the place that the notes hold in the original key, the key that the song is in(which is not the key of 'F' in our example, but rather the key of 'C').

The schematics in this frame were derived from a similar diagram on page 45 in 'The Harp Styles of Sonny Terry', 1975, by Sonny Terry (as told to Kent Cooper and Fred Palmer), Oak Pubications, NY. Oak publications offers another series of blues harp tablature books by Tony Glover, that covers the work of Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Junior Wells and Jimmy Reed. A more recent book is 'A Sourcebook of Sonny Terry Licks for Blues Harmonica', by Tom Ball, 1995, Centerstream Publishing, Arnheim Hills, Ca 92807, which includes a CD.

Common Chords:

Scrolling further down the page in the upper left hand frame, one is presented with the notes of each of the seven chords commonly associated with the key chosen by the user: the so-called 'I-major','II-minor', 'III-minor', 'IV-major', 'V-dominant-7th', 'VI-minor', and 'VII-diminished'chords.

Guitar Fretboard:

In the upper right hand frame of the main page, when the individual selects a particular chord (eg, an 'Ab minor 7th'), by specifying the key ('Ab'), and the chord type ('Minor 7th), the formula for that chord type appears ('1st, b3rd, 5th, and b7th'), and the chord is spelled out ('Ab, B, Eb, F#'). [In this frame, select the key, the chord type, and click on the 'spell' button.]

Substitutions:

Depending upon which chord you have selected, you may also find synonyms for it in the material displayed in this frame (the Cm6 and Am7b5 chords, for example, have the same notes). Commonly used chord substitutions may also be displayed: 1) The 'relative' major (or minor) chord that is closely related to the chord in question may appear (in certain circumstances it can be used as a substitute for part of the measure in which the original chord appears); and 2) The dominant 7th chords that can be used as substitutes for the chord (by employing the principle behind the progression of chords that is known as the 'circle of fifths') will also appear for quick reference.

Minor Scales:

Scrolling further down the page in this frame, the relationship between the selected key and various 'minor' scales (and associated chords) is explored.

(the
lower left hand corner
frame)

(the
lower right hand corner
frame)

The tunings are ones covered in more detail by Stefan Grossman in The Book of Guitar Tunings , 1972, Amsco Publishing Company, New York.

I must also admit to having had a further ulterior motive in creating the program. Web pages are not typically designed with the purpose of putting powerful calculating-tools into the hands of those who would visit the page. They are often nothing more than elaborate advertisements in which the visitor is seduced, by the promise of 'interaction', to provide valuable marketing information of a personal nature to the page's sponsors. The present web page was written, in part, in order to demonstrate that the technology could easily be used in an interesting alternative fashion, in which control is returned to the page's users, for creative purposes of their own choosing. I wanted to illustrate how this could be done with relatively little effort, on an old (4 MEG) machine, using the comparatively slow 'scripting' languages available to the non-programmer. Imagine what the technical experts and larger organizations could do, if human empowerment was actually their primary goal.

As this was my first attempt to write code in either javascript or html, there is no doubt in my mind that the script I have authored is awkward and inefficient. Nonetheless, the program remains a relatively small package (approximately 130K) which operates quickly. It spells 30 chord types in each of 12 keys, locates chord synonyms and subsitutes, and displays a variety of instrument layouts. Most importantly, it provides those of us who have limited experience in spelling out complex chords in unfamiliar keys with a vehicle for navigating the complicated web of paths that exist between the interlocking chords of the twelve keys. It thus has the potential for increasing our capacity to appreciate (and utilize) the subtle structuring principles that underlies chord progressions and musical theory.

To construct this page I chose software that is straight-forward, functional, and (whenever possible) free. The simple but elegant 'Hypertext Master 2.5' HTML editor that I used to write the program operated quickly and dependably on the severely limited machine that I was using (a 486, with 4 MEGS of RAM); for non-commercial use it is available free-of-charge from Anarchy Software at "http://www. soton.ac.uk/~mjt495/anarchy/ htmled31.html" . The browser I used for off-line viewing (by 'Opera Software') is a functional, well designed alternative to the more well-known browsers that dominate the marketplace. It was developed by a Norwegian team whose vision it was 'to create an Internet and Multimedia client that can be used by all computer users - including those with older machines and those with physical disabilities.' It indeed was the only browser that worked well on the memory-short 486 and supported JavaScript (although it does so in a somewhat ideosyncratic manner). Information about it is available at "http://www.operasoftware.com" .

The simple 'chord sounder' in frame 6 utilizes the 'Beatnik' sound system available at "www.headspace.com" .

You many contact me at "charcoalnblues@geocities.com". The javascript and html programs that comprise this website are the sole property of their author and may not be used by others, in whole or part, for commercial purposes.