It is significant to note that the banjo is probably the only instrument in common use today, the progress of which has been retarded, and I say the C tuning is responsible because of the player's inability to intelligently give full expression to modern harmonies. You might ask: "what are 'modern' harmonies?" As we all know, there is "nothing new under the sun"; popular modern music of today differs only from elementary popular music of yesterday in that it has "grown up," so to speak, and learned to incorporate the intricacies of the harmonies and counter-harmonies of the old masters, expressing them in the mood and tempo of today. The colouring of these harmonies, when analysed, consists, for the most part, of progressions in close harmony (close harmony is that which is in the range of an octave, the opposite to open-or extended-harmony, in which the notes exceed the range of an octave) such as the 7th chord with the augmented 5th added; the 7th chord with both the 9th and the augmented 5th added . . . and so on.
        Above is an example of a progression in triplets involving, principally, but two chords; a G7th and a C7th, but observe what a wealth of harmony can be added and passed through these chords. Compare this progression with any G7th and C7th progression as found in any C notation banjo music anywhere. Which do you prefer? (As this progression is by no means elementary to one unfamiliar with the D tuning, I would suggest that it be played over on the piano first, exactly as written, to enable the reader to hear the beauty of it.)
        I might add that this phrase cannot be played in four-note chords using the C notation, the pleasing movement of the harmony on the inside strings being lost.
        Another advantage of the D tuning is the added variety of effects I can obtain by "doubling" the top string to either strengthen the melody, the

Ken Harvey 1942
 

Ken Harvey 1942

obbligato or give "bite" to a hot lick or break. To forestall any attempt at criticism from those who are certain to say that doubling the melody or an obbligato (in consecutive octaves) wrong according to the accepted rules of harmony, let me state that orchestrally and for a chorus of voices, it is one of the most effective and generally used devices. I have already pointed out in a previous "B.M.G." article that my style of playing has been evolved from orchestral ideas; may I also point out that the consecutive 4ths and 5ths are, if anything, worse . . . and I have never struck such a collection as I did the other day when struggling to make four-note chords out of three-note chords with the C tuning.
        One has only to think of the immense popularity of the Hawaiian guitar; a popularity which has been gained by the pleasing harmonies obtainable  on the instrument more than tonal effects, to understand the possibilities of the tuning I use . . . D, G, B, D . . . a tuning which has exactly the same intervals as the first four strings of the Hawaiian guitar (with a difference in pitch, of course). The advantage I have is that I can obtain every chord possible on a four-string instrument without the handicap and limitations of the Hawaiian guitarist's steel, and obtain many more varieties of pleasing chord colourings in every case.

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