PM42
53 posts
Jun 14, 2018
7:15 AM
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I've been working on some scales with a tuner and I'm realizing that I have a difficult time going straight to a 6-hole bend or going to the bend from the 6-hole blow. If I start with the 6-draw, I can bend it down easily and consistently, but getting to the bend from any position other than that is proving a challenge.
Anybody got any tips or techniques worth trying? I play tongue-blocked.
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CarlA
950 posts
Jun 14, 2018
7:36 AM
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Many players can bend down the note with ease, but very few can hit bent notes directly. It’s just a matter of practice and persistence. No “secret answers” will help you on your quest.
Not too sure who said this quote, but it goes something like “practice the little harmonica till it feels heavy as a bus”
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WinslowYerxa
1584 posts
Jun 14, 2018
9:00 AM
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You're doing Stage 1 bends and looking to do Stage 4 bends.
I define 5 stages of bending ability:
Stage 1: Start with the unbent note, bend down, and release.
Stage 2: Start with unbent note, bend down, and stop on the bent note without releasing back to the unbent note. To do this, leave the bending machinery engaged and stop breathing. Memorize the feel of doing this.
Stage 3: After you stop on the bent note as in Stage 2, re-start the breath flow to start directly on the bent note.
Again memorize the feel of doing this and try several successive start-and-stop actions on the bent note, until you can do a cold start on the bent note out of the blue.
Stage 4: Move back and forth between the bent note and either the blow note in the same hole or an unbent draw note in a neighboring hole. From this, work on moving to and from the bent note from any other unbent blow or draw note.
Stage 5: Move between bent notes in different holes.
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Winslow
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Last Edited by WinslowYerxa on Jun 14, 2018 9:02 AM
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The Iceman
3590 posts
Jun 14, 2018
11:04 AM
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"No “secret answers” will help you on your quest. "
sorry, but I disagree.
It's the ol' placement of the tongue philosophy again...once you've determined the "x" marks the spot point in the roof of your mouth to "aim" that tongue lump towards for that particular bend, just
1. Ready
2. AIM
3. Inhale and bingo - note created through excellent bending technique "magically" appears.
Rank beginners are able to do this within 2 - 4 weeks of learning tongue placement approach.
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The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Jun 14, 2018 11:04 AM
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CarlA
952 posts
Jun 14, 2018
11:19 AM
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@iceman
Once again, no secret answers. You gotta basically practice till you get it
You’ve basically just presented the OP with what he already knows.
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tomaxe
130 posts
Jun 14, 2018
11:28 AM
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Yerxa and Iceman are giving excellent advice as always,
Here's something that can work, too, and is often sited by others:
Finding a familiar song or creating your own catchy melody that uses this bent note as a crucial note to the song is a good way to teach your brain/muscle memory/tongue placement to hit the note clean.
Scales don't always work for me in that way. I guess they should, or could, but I guess my brain doesn't work that way.
For me, if I can resonate that note in my head, like if I can whistle it, as its "second nature" in my musical subconscious, for some reason I can get it more easily.
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The Iceman
3591 posts
Jun 14, 2018
2:13 PM
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"Once again, no secret answers. You gotta basically practice till you get it"
True, but how many people say you only need to practice this tongue placement technique 2 - 4 weeks for bending all notes to exact pitch?
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The Iceman
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Spderyak
225 posts
Jun 20, 2018
3:57 AM
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Lot's of good players here.
The thing I notice is there is a lot of one technique fits all harmonicas and that there is no difference between bending a high pitched harp or key from a lower harp or note.
Could be..then again I think not.
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The Iceman
3593 posts
Jun 20, 2018
4:20 AM
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"that there is no difference between bending a high pitched harp or key from a lower harp or note."
I have not found this to be true. Technique remains the same, but focus points change.
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The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Jun 20, 2018 4:21 AM
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