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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Intro/question about draw bends
Intro/question about draw bends
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TheGrumpyFuzzball
1 post
Mar 11, 2011
3:26 PM
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Hello all!
First, a little bit about myself:
I am a freshman in high school, and a classical pianist by trade. At the impetus of my piano teacher, I began to participate first in a traditional worship ministry, and second in a contemporary worship ministry. The contemporary influence led me to discover the wonderful world of non-classical music.
About a year later, I found myself in a location in which there was no piano for roughly a week. This was quite a shock, as I live in a very piano/keyboard rich environment, and I began to seriously think about learning a second, more portable instrument. I had always been much enamored of the harmonica's sound (especially Chicago blues), so I embarked on the wonderful journey of learning the harmonica.
Now for my question:
Are there any bends which I should not try to do? I had, after a bit of poking around on Google, came up with a site that said holes #5 and #7 were taboo and could possibly damage my harmonica, but I wanted to corroborate/add to this list if possible.
Best Regards,
TheGrumpyFuzzball
P. S. Sorry about the wall of text...
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MrVerylongusername
1606 posts
Mar 11, 2011
3:44 PM
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Welcome!
7 isn't really a taboo, it's the mechanics of the layout. At hole 7 the blow note swaps from being the lower pitched of the blow/draw pair to the higher. That means draw bends swap to being blow bends.
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Zadozica
25 posts
Mar 11, 2011
3:47 PM
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Well, the rules say there are no rules. Actually sometimes the 5D is bent a little - maybe a quarter tone or so.
Work on your 1 - 4 hole draw bends including the 3 on the 3D. That will keep you busy for about 2 years.
Don't be fooled, this is a tough little instrument to learn how to play correctly. However, your music theory and timing will prove very valuable.
Also, learn by playing softly at first. Do not power blow or draw - that will kill your harp faster than trying bends that do not exist.
One other rule, the harp is for FUN! So have some and keep us in the loop on how you are doing.
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hvyj
1302 posts
Mar 11, 2011
3:50 PM
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When you bend, try to bend to pitch. Don't slam down to the "floor" of the bend (the lowest possible pitch). Generally speaking, the "floor" is about 20% lower than the lowest note available as a draw bend in that hole. So, you don't have to drop the pitch as far as you might think to accurately hit the target note.
To practice your draw bends, try to match them to the keyboard note that is your target pitch.
Now, draw 5 will NOT bend a full half step, so don't try to push it down that far or you will strain and perhaps damage the reeds. BUT draw 5 will bend a quarter tone with room to spare. in second position that quarter tone bend gives you a "harmonic seventh" or blues seventh which is a "blue note" not available on the piano keyboard but which can sound pretty cool used at the right place in playing blues.
Microtones are part of the blues idiom. The most common are a "blue third" (which is a quarter tone bend of the third degree of the scale--draw 3 in second position) and the harmonic seventh or "blues seventh" explained above (which is about a quarter tone flatter than a true flat seventh). You can't play these notes on a piano (although some piano players will approximate a blue third by hitting the key for the minor third and quickly sliding off it onto the key for the major third). Knowing when and how to use the microtones is a big part of how the emotion evoked by blues music is created.
Generally speaking, major key blues involves flat melody notes from the blues scale played over major chords. So, you are generally better off if you hit the flat note bent instead of bending it down. If you hit the note bent, you then have the option of releasing the bend up into the corresponding major chord tone. Hitting the note bent (flat) creates tension and releasing the bend so it resolves up into the major chord tone provides resolution. This has a lot to do with how the emotion inherent in blues music is created. The artistry is knowing when if and how far to bend which notes and when if and how far to release the bend.
Hope this helps.
Last Edited by on Mar 11, 2011 5:16 PM
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thechangingcolors
57 posts
Mar 11, 2011
4:45 PM
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hvyj, very informative post
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ReedSqueal
100 posts
Mar 11, 2011
9:56 PM
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I really have nothing to contribute to this post - other than TheGrumpyFuzzball needs to meet Lumpy WaffleSquirt ;-)
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Go ahead and play the blues if it'll make you happy.
-Dan Castellaneta
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