Destin
15 posts
Apr 03, 2012
10:29 PM
|
I'm a lip purser and i was practicing the major scale on the upper octave in cross and focusing on keeping my jaw low to maintain good tone and noticed that i have to pull my jaw up to get the blow bends, is that just the way it is or am i doing something wrong with my blow bend technique? I dont want to sacrifice tone if i dont have to
I also notice its hard to play fast with the jaw dropped low.
Thnx for any comments
I IV V....
|
harpdude61
1348 posts
Apr 04, 2012
1:51 AM
|
When you raise your jaw(basically closing your mouth)during a blow bend the tone thins out. If you learn blow bending with your throat the tone stays fuller and you have much better control of the pitch.
All of the great lip blockers (prefer that term over purser)keep the jaw dropped for any type note, especially during a fast run. Bend and play from the throat and you can keep the same embrochure whether playing blow draw, blow bends, draw bends,..even OBs and ODs when you get to that level.
The key to quick,clean runs is minimizing changes in embrochure. If you have to reposition the parts of your mouth to play certain types of notes it will slow you down.
Of course relaxing as much as possible is key.
|
harpdude61
1352 posts
Apr 04, 2012
2:12 AM
|
Destin...This was a great thread a few weeks back.
http://www.modernbluesharmonica.com/board/board_topic/5560960/2972174.htm?page=1
I try to think of BBQ Bob every time I pick up a harp. Relaxing takes practice and I found myself at times thinking I was relaxed...but after following some of Bob's advice I'm trying to take relaxation to a new level for me.
|
hvyj
2300 posts
Apr 04, 2012
5:19 AM
|
If you must "cheat" then TIGHTEN YOUR LIPS instead of closing your jaw. Tightening the embouchure helps getting the pitch to drop much in the same way closing the jaw does--whether you are bending from the throat or not.
|
yonderwall
22 posts
Apr 04, 2012
6:25 AM
|
I don't know that I would agree with hvyj's recommendation to tighten your lips rather than closing the jaw. I look at it as the farther back in the vocal tract that you create the constriction necessary to perform the bend, the "better" (I put "better" in quotes because all of this really is a function of the exact sound you are after). Hence bending deeper in the throat is "better" than doing so in the mouth, but bending in the mouth is "better" than right at the lips (even a smaller mouth cavity still provides a resonating chamber). If you constrict things right at the lips you are directly pinching off the size of the available air path into the harp (you are essentially making the harmonica hole smaller), and will have to blow correspondingly harder to achieve the same volume, where as you don't create such a limitation by bending within the mouth cavity or the throat.
Last Edited by on Apr 04, 2012 6:28 AM
|
Destin
17 posts
Apr 05, 2012
9:39 AM
|
Bending with the throat sounds new to me, I tried it and I think I can get what your talking about just feels really weird
|
harpdude61
1354 posts
Apr 05, 2012
10:36 AM
|
Start with the "kuh" sound..think of the bend as coming from the same place.
|
hvyj
2304 posts
Apr 05, 2012
12:10 PM
|
Perhaps "tightening the lips" is not the best way to describe what I am suggesting. I do NOT mean constricting the air aperture (opening). I mean make the embouchure very firm instead of relaxed.
This is not the best playing technique, but it is an effective way to "cheat"--to get the bends happening. Once you get the pitch dropping consitently and under control, then you can work on refining your technique. And yonderwall is correct in saying this will make you blow harder--which is another way to "cheat" that can be effective to get things going even if it is not the optimum playing technique.
|
yonderwall
24 posts
Apr 05, 2012
3:46 PM
|
Hey, I do agree with hvyj after all :)
I've also been thinking about this a little more. I suspect that in the upper register (blow-bend territory) creating a super-large resonating cavity doesn't matter as much as it does in the lower register, provided the airway remains clear. Granted, bigger is probably always better, but I suspect the differences are not as noticeable. Which would be good, since I find it much easier to push my "bend-point" farther back into the throat on the lower notes than I do on the higher notes...
|
