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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Different key harps and restrictions to bending
Different key harps and restrictions to bending
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Fat Jim Chance
1 post
Nov 20, 2014
7:06 AM
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There's a song in which I need to do this Man with harmonica -style of evil bending from B-note in key of E minor. I have done the bend formerly with Hohner Pro Harp in G, thus resulting in E-note getting bent from the sixth hole draw, so I calculated I need a D major harp for the desired effect. I have two different harps in D, Blues Harp and Pro Harp, and with either one I'm unable to satisfyingly perform the bend. I get the note somehow flipped off completely or result in a high screeching sound of metal brushing against metal. With the blues harp I can do this a bit if I draw very, very quietly and tenderly, but as the song requires a raw and sinister tone, tender is not an option. In G I could really beat the note any way around.
To the point, I've noticed this sixth hole draw -bend is easy in G, somewhat easy in A and gets difficult in C. (My A and C harps are Marine Band.) There might be stuff seriously wrong with my draw bend technique, but I'm also wondering if the ability to draw bend notes has something to do with physical attributes of the reed, so that as the key gets higher and reed becomes shorter, bending becomes harder? Can I even do this bend in D, is it possible? Or is it just that both of my D harps are in bad shape? If latter, is there something I could do to achieve this desired note?
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The Iceman
2249 posts
Nov 20, 2014
7:10 AM
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Suggest revisiting your bending technique.
Bending doesn't get more difficult when you venture into higher harmonicas. The reference point in your mouth towards which you aim the lump in your tongue does shift forward the higher the harmonica.
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The Iceman
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Fat Jim Chance
2 posts
Nov 20, 2014
9:17 AM
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I play very much like I'd be whistling, and bend the same way as I would lower the tone when whistling inwards. The tip of the tongue is almost anchored behind the lower teeth, and the back sides of the tongue touch the palate. I then just adjust the air space in the front of the mouth by moving the back part of the tongue forwards and backwards - when the vibrating air space between tongue and pursed lips gets smaller, the note gets higher.
Does it sound like I'm doing something morbidly wrong?
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The Iceman
2250 posts
Nov 20, 2014
10:17 AM
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nope
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The Iceman
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Fat Jim Chance
3 posts
Nov 21, 2014
12:23 PM
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So, if my technique is correct, I should probably start to blame them harmonicas. But. Generally some notes can be bent and others can't. Sixth hole is great for bending as I understand. The way I see it, they're all just reeds vibrating. What is it, that enables one reed to be easily bent and not the other one? I'd love to find some explanation for why I can't bend the note in D that is easy in G.
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nacoran
8130 posts
Nov 21, 2014
1:31 PM
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Part of it has to do with the difference in pitch between the two reeds in the hole thanks to harmonic resonance or whatever the scientific term is. The bigger the difference the farther you can bend the note, so, thanks to the quirky way the harmonica is laid out, the 2 and 3 holes bend farther (and to my mouth, it seems, easier) than the rest of the 1-6 holes (and of course, 7-10 are reversed, with the 10 hole having the most bends up there).
That said, the 6 shouldn't mechanically, be different than the 1, 4 or 5 hole. It might be, however, that you aren't adjusting your embouchure enough between the holes. We sort of use the 3 as the 'go to' bend, so when we pick up a harmonica in a different key, we may subconsciously be adjusting our mouth to play that note. Since embouchure from hole to hole is more of a continuum than a series of defined steps, you get the three bend, and you can probably play the 4 without much adjustment. The 5 you get too, maybe. The 6, if you haven't adjusted a bit more by then, well, it doesn't sound. At least that's my theory. I just picked up the nearest harp I had and tried to blow a 6 bend cold, and it wouldn't bend. I thought about it a second and adjusted, and sure enough, it bent.
You've adjusted your embouchure more. The 6 will bend. Don't try to force it. I just tried whistling for comparison, and I think I use the back of my throat more for a bend then I do a whistle, if that helps.
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Nate
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