Bushman Game Changer 10 Hole Diatonic Harmonica with Slide POP Tuning. Includes Free USA Shipping
Our Bushman Pop Game Changer is a very fun harmonica to explore. I’m always finding new things I can do on it. It’s different from the Blues and Blues Shifter in that the Pop, on a C harmonica, already has the A on Blow 3 without even pushing in the slide. That changes things in a big way. Now, you have minor chords, and a Harmonic Minor scale in the low register. That difference becomes apparent when you play, for example, Scarborough Fair. If you stick to just single notes, the Blues Shifter can easily play Scarborough Fair, but you can’t play any chords while playing b/c they won’t sound good; whereas the Pop can play the single notes and the chords!
Keys: C, A, D, G, Bb. and Low F
People often refer to the Pop layout as Paddy Richter, but that is a misnomer for a few reasons. First, Paddy implies that it offers some advantage for playing just Irish melodies; whereas this tuning offers big advantages for playing ALL melodies. I never tried harmonicas with the “Paddy” note layout b/c I wasn’t trying to increase my repertoire of Irish tunes. When I found out how important it is for ALL melody players – not just Irish folks – to have that missing note on Blow 3, it became one of my favorite layouts. Secondly, it’s only Paddy when the slide is out – when the slide is pushed in, it offers far more possibilities than the misnamed Paddy layout…a lot more, and not all the notes go up ½ step when the slide is pushed in – some go down. In fact, you can play a complete chromatic scale over 3 full octaves without needing to bend at all, making the Pop Game Changer one of the best melody harmonicas ever made!
