"I designed the Wilde tuning specifically for playing hard rock and blues-rock on the harmonica. As much as I love the standard Richter tuning, I have always found it frustrating when it comes to playing 'rock guitar' style licks, particularly in the upper octave. The Wilde tuning addresses all of the problems many people have with Richter, whilst still retaining the bluesy feel of classic second position harmonica that we all know and love.
Whereas Richter tuning was primarily designed for playing major chords and the major scale in first position, Wilde tuning is specifically designed for playing second position minor pentatonic and blues scale licks, throughout all three octaves.
I have always preferred the sound of draw notes and draw bends to blow notes and blow bends, as you can get more expression and a better tone & vibrato from them. So, on the Wilde tuning ALL of the draw notes bend (from holes one to ten) and your root note lands on a draw in all three octaves.
Holes one to five are exactly the same as standard tuning. Holes six, seven and eight are the same as holes two, three and four (just an octave higher). Hole nine is the same as hole two (two octaves higher) and the reeds in hole ten are reversed (so that what was a blow bend is now a draw bend). This makes fast minor pentatonic/blues scale runs much easier and means you no longer need to overblow/overdraw to get the flat third and flat five in the upper octave as they are now available as simple draw bends.
I think that the Wilde tuning is the configuration that every aspiring rock harp player has been waiting for." Will Wilde
The Wilde Tuned harmonica comes in a Seydel Session Steel model with stainless steel reeds.
