G'day GUEST (16 May 06 - 8.07 AM)),

If you are wanting to play the melody ... and not particularly bothered by the chords ... then a tuning scheme that gives you the relative minor note (say: A below the C of a C mouth organ) would serve well. In the case of Chinese-made ("Hero" / "Tower" / whatever) tremolo mouth organs (which, being fully "gridded", have 48 "holes") this is how they are tunes ... where there is a repeated G on the draw in a basic vamper (such as a "Blues Harp" or Hohner "Special 20") there is an A on the Chinese models ... to allow a straight run down to the dominant G.

This reflects the greater concern with melody (and less concern with 'Western' harmonies) in Chinese tradition. Unfortunately, the Chinese also seem to do a lot of playing in C ... or else that's where they start off for teaching children - and I can't remember seeing their "48-hole" models in any other key! (The Chinese models seem to be made in an "inherited" Hohner plant, left in China after WW II ... and Hohner also listed the same '48-hole' models - as their "Asian" tunings - in my first (1957 ...?) Hohner catalogue.

I guess that someone determined to have that low 'minor' note (at the expense of 'built-in chords' could have some clever tuner person tune the offending G up one tone to A on small 'vamper' models ... but most people don't know anyone qualified / game to do that! I do know a few ... around the outskirts of Sydney, (NSW, Australia) ... but I live with the existing tuning ... and use the chords ... and (usually) can play in the upper octave when the melody needs that low 'minor' note (but then, I also play button accordion (2-row G/C and D/G as well as 3-row A/D/G and D/G/C) and Anglo-German concertina (G/C and D/G)

Regards,

Bob