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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Newb here, what is bending down?
Newb here, what is bending down?
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Richmond
1 post
Jul 11, 2011
10:50 AM
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So I think I've gotten a little turned-around in my understanding of 'bending.'
It is said that you bend 'down' a note. In my mind, if I'm pulling air 'up,' curving it between the roof of my mouth and tongue, then it would seem that the reed would be bent 'up.'
So instead I had been pulling air 'down' and dropping my jaw kind-a in order to bend the reed down.
So now I think I understand, correctly, that bending is pulling up. I can get a clear bend and do it nice and slow and controlled.
So what I'm confused about is what I was doing when pulling down.
I can start on the 2 draw (key of c) with a 'bent' note, bring it down to 'normal' where I'm pulling straight out of the hole but then I can drop my jaw and pull down kind-a and I get another sound.
Am I bending in the opposite direction, or what? I tried searching for answers.
Sorry for the long-winded post. It's just hard to describe.
Last Edited by on Jul 11, 2011 10:51 AM
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ReedSqueal
168 posts
Jul 11, 2011
11:18 AM
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My guess for the terminology of 'bending down' refers to the actual pitch of the note. Not the physics of the reed itself.
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Go ahead and play the blues if it'll make you happy.
-Dan Castellaneta
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Seven.Oh.Three.
109 posts
Jul 11, 2011
11:30 AM
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Look up Micheal Rubin's music theory videos on YouTube called "meat and potatoes". If you search for "meat and potatoes harmonica" they'll come up. He explains what you're talking about. There's 40 videos ranging from 5-10 min each and you'll learn plenty. Just make sure you start at video #1 or your head might explode.......
7.o.3.
And yes they (we) mean Bending the pitch down.
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Tommy the Hat
103 posts
Jul 11, 2011
11:30 AM
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Hi Richmond and welcome to the forums. I'm sure someone with more experience than me will chime in and help; I'm pretty new at this also.
But my first thought, if I'm understanding your post correctly, is that you may be thinking of bending the reed where as (at least in my newbee mind) bending down is referring to the sound. Example, on a 3 draw/C harp there are three possible bends (3 steps. You go from the natural note "B" (no bend) to Bb (1/2 step bend), then you bend further down to A (full step bend) and then even further down to G#/Ab (a step and a half). Your bending down in pitch not bending the reed.
There are a few ways of bending as far as mouth/tongue/throat technique but either way it is about directing airflow to effect sound/pitch.
EDIT:
Well it looks like others beat me to it and did chime in...lol. I was having trouble posting.
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Tommy
Bronx Mojo
Last Edited by on Jul 11, 2011 11:31 AM
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