camomanbg
1 post
Mar 24, 2010
6:47 PM
|
I have to learn an Alan Jackson song (Never Loved Before) to play at a good friends wedding as their wedding song. I am using a Bb harp (this one is a Lee Oskar) and I can't get the 7 and 8 holes to bend. They just get real squeaky. This right in the heart of the range of this song, and I am wondering if there is something I can do to fix it, or if I should just go buy a new one? OR....am I doing something wrong mechanically. I have no problem bending the other holes. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have taken it apart and all gaps of the reeds seem to be uniform. I haven't really even played this harp and I've owned it for over a year.
|
harpwrench
202 posts
Mar 24, 2010
8:53 PM
|
Are you trying to draw bend those holes?
|
camomanbg
2 posts
Mar 25, 2010
7:16 PM
|
Yes I am. Pardon the apparent ignorance, but can you bend any other way than on a draw note? I noticed that I had trouble bending on my B and D harps also. I could use any advice out there at this point. I don't want to go buy new harps just to find out that it's something I can't do physically and not a mechanical problem. I can't even get the holes to produce a normal sounding note on a straight draw, without trying to bend.
Thanks for the help,
Frustrated!
|
isaacullah
887 posts
Mar 25, 2010
7:21 PM
|
Yeah. Holes 7-10 bend on the blow notes, not the draw notes. In all seriousness, you need a beginning harp book. I suggest "Harmonica For Dummies" by Winslow Yerxa. It goes for about $20 and you can get it an most any Borders. It will have all that you need to get you going. It's still one of my favorite books to this day.
----------
------------------
The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
|
nacoran
1506 posts
Mar 25, 2010
9:51 PM
|
You can draw bend a note between the pitch of the draw and the blow note. If you look at how a standard diatonic (blues) harmonica, you'll see that on the 1-6 holes the blow note is lower in pitch than the draw note, but the 7-10 holes are reversed, so instead of bending on the draw you bend on the blow instead. That's why it works that way. :) Good luck.
----------
Nate
Facebook
|
camomanbg
3 posts
Mar 26, 2010
5:19 AM
|
Thanks for the advice guys! I have/had the harmonica for dummies book, I may have given it away. I guess I need to go back and spend some more time with it. I am sure I set it down after getting frustrated when I was just starting out. I recall thinking that I didn't understand a lot of it and maybe it's time to go revist after learning a little bit more about it!
|
blogward
115 posts
Mar 26, 2010
7:58 AM
|
IMHO you could do it nicely in 1st on an Eb harp. 12th on an Ab isn't too hard either, mostly draws, but the Eb works better on this track.
|
