Although I'm no I'm no master I can tell you that what I've found is it's not neccesarily a "pressure" thing with me. I find that bend pretty easy to hit nowadays and the way I do it is by modifying my oral cavity. I just position my tongue, and jaw, and form the inside of my mouth in a way that consistently gets it.
Experiment with dropping your jaw and moving your tongue forward and back. You'll get it after awhile, even if it's a hit and miss thing that comes slowly at first. Then you only have to reteach yourself how to do it every day for the next 2 years.
This is a book filled with incredibly fun original songs written by Dr. Midnight, with each song addressing different bends on the harmonica in a fascinating and intelligent way.
It should come with a tape or a Cd of the songs too, make sure it does before you purchase...
Last Edited by on Dec 16, 2012 12:03 PM
My 3 hole bends are far from perfect, but when I practice them I find that it helps to articulate vowels to get the different bends on the 3 draw. Although don't I don't think about vowels when I play, that is a combination of muscle memory and my ear.
A for unbent, O for 1/2 step,E full step and U (or Q) for the 1 1/2 step.
Pushing the jaw forward seems to give me more control for bends on the lower harps.
Last Edited by on Dec 16, 2012 12:23 PM
Practice playing Sentimental Journey starting on three draw. Really. It helps your mind focus on the tone you want to achieve, AND it's a little bit of fun, too. It's only good for hitting descending tones, though. Master it on a C harp. Then move to an A harp, and finally move to your G harp.
Last Edited by on Dec 16, 2012 1:05 PM
Sentimental Journey is a song from the forties done both as an instrumental and vocal. I'm sure it's on You Tube. If you already know how to bend, you don't need to confuse yourself with language running through your head and thinking about your tongue and such. You have already developed some muscle memory. All that is needed are some minor adjustments when changing keys, much like going from alto to tenor to baritone sax. If you want to Skype, I'll play it for you, and I'll play my whole bending intonaton exercise, which cannot be found ANYWHERE at ANY price!!
It sounds like you have no trouble with the start point and the end point of that three hole inhale.
Are you able to inhale hole three, create the "given" note and then slowly have the pitch fall until you hit the "floor", or the D# (kinda like making a sound effect for a cartoon bomb falling)? Conversely, can you start on the D# and allow the pitch to raise slowly until you are at the given note?
If so, somewhere in the movement you are creating lives the very note that you claim is eluding you. Then, it's just a matter of learning the target spot on the roof of your mouth to aim that hump in your tongue at.
If you can't smoothly play the whole range of that D# to the F#, then spend some time with this. ---------- The Iceman
I just acquired a Stage 1 Special 20 in G (Joe Spiers) thru Rockin' Ron--Draw 3 is really easy to manipulate, it's very airtight and brighter than any Sp20 I have ever played. So I have to think it is the harmonica, have you tried a custom?
@Gnarly.....if he's experienced the same problem with a Special 20, a Manji and a Crossover, I don't think it's the harp. One shouldn't have to buy a custom to play all the three-hole bends.
It's a hard bend to tune in on any harp. It's so easy to overshoot or undershoot it.
FMWoodeye's suggestion is a good workout. Or just practice first octave major scales in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 12th positions. They all include that note.
@FMWoodeye G is a low key, tough to get stable whole step bends on hole 3. Ode to Joy, remember? This Spiers harp lets me get pretty accurate draw bends down there-- Airtight makes it a lot easier--
Last Edited by on Dec 16, 2012 11:29 PM
It is just strength and muscle control that you haven't completely developed. When I thought I was bending pretty well, a fellow told me your bends will improve for years." Years later, I know he was right.
Note that you can bend the 3 hole down 1 1/2 steps. And that there are lower harps than a G. One day you will be able bend them all.
Don't worry about it - just work on it. Try not to strain, just try to focus on what works.
Oh, and although custom harps might bend easier, it isn't the harp. You can do this with any out of the box production harp. ---------- /Greg
@Greg and Gnarly....yeah, the lower you go, the more difficult it was (for me, anyway) to achieve and control the bends, descending and ascending, the way I wanted them. I think I'll pull out my low F and E harps and work on them for a while. Todd Parrott, in a Skype lesson, had me playing "Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho" in fifth position, that is starting on two blow, as a bending intonation tool. I do it every day on different key harps. It helps me as it crystallizes the tone in my head as I attempt the bends.
gapping is something every serious harmonica player should undestand and there are a lot of sites out there that cover the basics.
simplified, when you pull harmonica apart and look at the reeds in hole 3, the inhale reed will extend up from the plate while the exhale reed will extend down into the plate. If there is too much space between the tip of the reed and the plate, it effects playability. One adjusts the reed gap by gently pressing down on the reed near the rivet until that reed bends a little and the reeds sit closer to the plate....both exhale and inhale reeds interact w/each other so I like to gap them "tight". ---------- The Iceman
KillerJoe, it's easy to believe it tends to a technique problem because 80-98% of the time, that's what it usually tends to be, and that IS the truth, and it's usually the cold, hard truth for at least 80-95% of most players problems. There are legitimate issues from the instrument and that's always gonna be a problem when using an OOTB harp regardless of who makes them, but again, most of the time it usually tends to be more technique related than any actual manufacturing defect, real or percieved, and the number one problem for the vast majority of players tends to be breath force issues more than anything else. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
I've really been working at not playing so hard and the effect on being able to bend accurately and simply sound better are huge. I've also found trying to hit some of the 3 draw bends in a musical context or phrase works best for me..
The way I approach the logical side of the inhale and exhale technique...is it is the only way I am able to play the harmonica for long periods of time and still feel alert, fresh and fully prepared to keep on playing if I so desire. I doubt a national act working pro harp player can do what they do night after night with out breathing their music through the harmonica...
I tend to hit these notes best when on the fly playing live with other musicians... when its just me and the harp alone the weaknesses are magnified... great advice here....less air is better than more air and tweeking the gaps helps a lot.... ---------- Warren Bee Marketing & Harmonica Raconteur
There definitely is a point of diminishing returns regarding air "force" and end result of sound from the harmonica.
Once you cross the efficient threshold, you use more force than is necessary and get less in return.
Systemic problem originates from the fact that the diatonic is not inherently loud in group situations...acoustic and electric, so the emotional response is to play harder in order to be heard.
I'm a fan for letting equipment do the work to propel the volume out into the air. ---------- The Iceman
KillerJoe, I understand the analogy in your last paragraph, which reminds me of the early days of the electric guitar (which were all big hollow bodies like an ES-250 or L-5/L-7, and many of those guys used banjo strings for a thinner guage string for easier bending).
Getting those bends properly takes time, that I know and there are no magic pills to get there quick other than practice but not forcing them.
Peter Gunn uses just 1 or 2 of them, and not all three. Ditto with part of a solo plays on the Muddy tune Gone Down To Main Street, which essentially comes from the horn lines used on Jackie Brenston's original version of Rocket 88.
Part of getting these bends comes from learning to manipulate the embouchure and more importantly, the inside shape of your mouth, and these things are done VERY subtlely, but the vast majority of players, especially the first few times they do it, tend to heavily exxagerate it, which is what you do NOT want to do. Think more along the lines of an opera singer using a more open throat, but everything is done very gradually, not forced, and extremely slight.
Getting all 3 bends on 3 draw and both bends on 10 blow tend to be the most difficult bends for newer and many intermediate players to master. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Holy embouchure, Batman! And I thought playing the harmonica was easy!
Seriously, the old Batman theme - Dada, dada, dada, dada - Batman! - is a simple but effective exercise.
Practice until you can play it in tune, at tempo, without sliding into the notes (have good attack) and and can shift either up or down to include the natural (unbent) draw note or the blow note.
Doing this has improved my playing quite a bit, even though I still don't have it nailed.
@Killer Joe -- it makes perfect sense because just about every player tends to over exaggerate everything when they're learning something new and it's as predictable as clock work, and an almost too easy bet for me to win if I were a gambling man.
Manipulation of embouchure as well as the inside shape of your mouth is often quite similar to vocal techniques of an opera singer.
@the_happy_honker -- Here's thing about harmonica, as you are now just barely starting to learn. In the beginning for some ridiculously simple stuff, such as tunes like 3 Blind Mice, it's easy, but to get really good at it going far beyond that, it gets tougher. Until the last 15 years, there were few really good instructional materials available, and now with more publications plus the internet, you have far more than when I started back in the 70's. Like anything else, learning any instrument takes time because you're always honing your craft and there's always more to learn. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
one thing that helps with embouchure, I think, is making the notes without the harmonica. Try to play it and take it away. The sound of the air when you breathe in and out changes. Try to change the tone of the air by changing your mouth shape inside (not your lips) to match the note you are trying to hit. If you can do that same thing while you are playing, the way the air moves through the reeds works with, not against the note. This leads to better ability to hit bends as well as using less air and ruining reeds less often.
According to hap tabs Peter gunn bass line with three bends 2d 2d 3d'2d 3d" 2d 4b 3''' Hope this helps. It hard that 3 d''' try aw articulation that's how Jerry portnoy teaches it .good luck I am gonna work on this myself it is good work.
