Did I learn how to bend? I think it sounds like the sounds I am hearing on Jason's, Adam's, and Jon's videos. I just want to get your opinion.
Last Edited by outdoor joe on Jul 18, 2018 1:52 PM
Hey Joe, you're definitely getting bending on the 4 hole and the 3 hole. The 1 hole and the 2 hole sound more like some sort of tongue articulation (except for your first try on the 1, which is a bend). I'm not an expert, but this is also what my Bendometer shows - a very usefull tool which I can recommend to not only check IF you are bending and what bends are available but also to see wheather your bends are where you want them to be pitchwise (your 4 hole for example is bent very far down - it will sound differently, if you bend it a little less so to say). You can download it for free.
All that being said: Congratulations on your first bends! Keep at it and the bends on all the holes will be available to you soon!
Cheers
Last Edited by SkullKid on Jul 18, 2018 5:14 PM
Thanks! For the grats and the info on Bendometer! I tried it out and you are right about not hitting them fully. But today is day 1 of trying and I think I made some serious progress! Was very exciting to hear the difference in pitches.
So far the 1 and 4 seem to be less daunting because they don't have multiple steps like 2 and 3.
I'd recommend HarpNinja over bendometer. At least the last time I checked bendometer had a restrictive license that basically meant you had to buy it again every year. It also did some funny things with microphone permissions (turning on your microphone without permission) and required internet access to verify that you owned your copy. HarpNinja has the same harp related features and some extras and is made by a forum member.
Great progress for a day indeed! I won't link any of the 1001 videos on how to bend here that may be helpful to you, since I wouldn't know where to start; just look them up on youtube. :) However, I think this video may be of some use to you for future reference: Tomlin demonstrates how each of the draw bends should sound like on a C harp:
Regarding Bendometer vs HarpNinja: Nacoran may be right, I've never used HarpNinja - however, you can also use the Bendometer for free, with the (in my eyes) minor inconvenience of clicking a box away every 30 seconds or so. It's up to you!
Cheers
Last Edited by SkullKid on Jul 19, 2018 6:19 AM
You are at the edge of understanding this technique...4 hole inhale was a full bend down to the floor - the other ones were not bends, although that 3 hole inhale was just beginning to bend.
My evaluation is that your "technique" needs better understanding and refining - try that 4 hole inhale again, but try to see how SLOWLY and quietly you can create that bend up and down. focus on your tongue placement - arcing towards the roof of the mouth. Once you can start on 4 hole inhale and slowly bend down and release, controlling perfectly the pitch, then take that understanding to holes 1, 2 and 3, moving that target point to which you arc your tongue towards the back of the throat, finding the "sweet spots" for each hole and the notes created through bending technique.
It is not blindly hoping and praying that you will control a bend, but total understanding of slight tongue movements that radically create all the possibilities as well as target points that you can count on to always recreate the bend exactly where you wish to place it. ---------- The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Jul 19, 2018 7:29 AM
Dang Iceman that was really great advice, thankyou. I guess looking back on it I was really trying to rush it, but taking it slow makes more sense. Kinda like everything about this, take it slow.
Also thanks to Bee and SK and nac, I really appreciate it!
I downloaded a couple different free apps and am going to see which I prefer. Using a couple of them I noticed that I can't really ever bend the 2d and the 3 sounds kinda whiney and metalic IMO. The 1 seems pretty easy and the 4 I am going to just do what Ice said and make it my b***h for a while.
I would definitely listen to Iceman. I struggled early on with bending. I happen to pick up Jerry Portnoy's Harmonica Masterclass CD set, and Jerry says to say vowels (i.e. ee, ooh, etc) when bending. I then realized that it was my tongue placement in my mouth that seem to control the bends.
I am not sure this is the only way, but it sure worked for me.
Last Edited by Blind Melon on Jul 20, 2018 10:13 AM
Melon - the tongue placement definitely seems to me to have massive control. In the book Harmonica For Dummies it shows diagrams of the tongue placement and it makes a lot of sense. I just need to get it down.
