geordiebluesman
337 posts
Nov 28, 2010
11:16 AM
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Hi Harpers, i'm looking for a top tip from someone to help me get stronger more defined and more consistant 2 draw bends.
I can get a bend on hole 2 but it's poorly defined and i can't tell if it's the full step or the half step.
My bends on 1 3 4 5 & 6 are all pretty good but 2 has always been a problem so if you know a good way to improve this let me know,Cheers.
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Andy Ley
16 posts
Nov 28, 2010
11:28 AM
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The best exercise I know (thanks to Jon Gindick) involves using the 2 hole bent in a diatonic scale from holes 1-4. The do-re-mi pattern is so easy to hear that you'll soon know if you're hitting that bend properly.
The scale is: 1b, 1d, 2b, 2d'', 2d, 3d'', 3d 4b.
You could also try using a chromatic guitar tuner to check your half steps. but the scale is more 'musical'
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GermanHarpist
1900 posts
Nov 28, 2010
12:05 PM
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It may help to bend with the back part of the tongue....
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The MBH thread-thread thread!
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arzajac
397 posts
Nov 28, 2010
12:09 PM
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Play this riff:
http://andrewzajac.ca/files/2draw.mp3 (Played on a crappy b-flat with a crappy laptop mic)
I played it three times in this clip. You figure out what it is. Hint: The first note is the 2 draw.
That riff fits into a 12-bar blues progression at the end of bar four.
I think you will shoot yourself in the foot if you use a guitar tuner to find the precise bend since you need to train your ear just as much as your mouth.
I hope this helps.
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MichaelAndrewLo
504 posts
Nov 28, 2010
12:32 PM
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Learn to play it tongue blocked then you'll have it.
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Andrew Larson, R.N.
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joeleebush
136 posts
Nov 28, 2010
1:53 PM
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You didn't say which key harps you're working with but from my experience, I think you will get there faster with (in this order)key of C, then a Bflat, and then an A.
D and E will give you some hassle as the reed is thin and it will try to slip away from you and be off pitch. Leave them alone until you lock down the other keys.
Those main 3 keyed harps will help. Trust me when I say I can get 4 distinct notes out of that 2nd hole on all 3 suggested. (only 3 notes out of that 2 on a G....and if you stick a Low D in the game I am lucky to get 2 pure ones.)
But...I been doing this stuff over 60 years too and that does make a difference. IT WILL NOT TAKE YOU THAT LONG, just laugh at that. I'd say that with 30 hours broken down into doing nothing but working on this in 15 minute sessions, you will have it down.
And you could get lucky and your throat and mouth and breath control will wind up hitting that "sweet spot" right off the bat.
Enjoy and stay focused.
Regards,
Joe Lee Bush
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Oisin
707 posts
Nov 28, 2010
2:54 PM
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Geordie...it took me a good 6 to 8 months solid practice every day to get a full 2 hole draw and more especially to hit the 2 draw bent from scratch. It was a bugger. That was on an A Marine band.
I nearly gave up but I kept at it because I knew it could be done as another guy had played it on my harp with no problem.
I don't play MBs any more but I was glad I learnt that 2 draw bend on it as it was the hardest harp I had to get that note on.
Stick at it Gerodie you'll get it in the end. If you want to contact me off site I can give you a phone call and play a 2 draw bend down the phone to you.
my e-mail is oisan (dot) clancy @ sky (dot) com.
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Oisin
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hvyj
859 posts
Nov 28, 2010
3:57 PM
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The trick to getting the 2 hole draw bends is to open the throat--as if you were in the middle of a yawn.
Once you can get them, learning familiar melodies or scales that require you to play them accurately is a good way to develop control. Another good exercise to develop control is to hit the bend and then take it out to the blow note without releasing the bend. Then draw in pre-bent, hold it, and then release the bend up. Then bend again, hold it, and go back out to the blow note without releasing the bend. Repeat a few times.
One way to learn to separate the 2 available bends is to sub vocalize "eww" as you draw in to get the half step bend and "oh" for the whole step bend. This is really just a slight change in the shape of your oral resonance chamber as you draw in, and eventually you learn to do it by feel/ear without the conscious sub vocalization.
Last Edited by on Nov 28, 2010 4:14 PM
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Dog Face
40 posts
Nov 28, 2010
7:08 PM
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Everyone's hit the nail on the head. Here's my take. (not different than what's been said but yeah..)
-I feel that the same hole on different harps often take different techniques to bend. Kinda like how not all women like chocolate. Here you are thinking you're slick by buying some rare Bolivian chocolate made from the most original strain of cocao (which you think tastes pretty freaking good so why wouldn't a woman) and she spits it out of the car window instead of being polite and swallowing it. Sorry, anyway.....
-What helped me was dropping the jaw and opening your resonance chamber. Try Adam's tone clinic. It's not on the actual bend but it helps explain all of that and lead me to easier bending.
-I like the exercise Andy Ley posted. Another would be the old Batman tune.
All the best!
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Dyslexics are teople poo.
Last Edited by on Nov 28, 2010 7:27 PM
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BigBlindRay
20 posts
Nov 28, 2010
7:23 PM
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I find running though the Major scale in both 1st and 3rd positions particularly helpful. As 1st pos, required the 2 whole step bend and 3rd position requires the 2 half step bend.
It will improve your intonation and help train your ear at the same time!
Then try different patterns eg: going up in fours, three's (tripet styles) and leapfrogging.
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Big Blind Ray's YouTube Channel
Mavis and her China Pigs
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oldwailer
1423 posts
Nov 28, 2010
10:23 PM
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Here's an approach you might find weird--buy a Powerbender harp from Brendan Powers--I would recommend to get the book too--and study out the bends that are available all the way up and down the harp--everything bends!
What this does is work the piss out of the old bender muscles until they give in completely. Then you just go suck that mother down to where you want it.
I know--I'm crazy--but I sure do bend better since I've been dicking around with this PB tuning!
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geordiebluesman
338 posts
Nov 29, 2010
12:14 PM
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Thanks for all the suggestions chaps, it's great to know that so many of you guys have had similar problems, i will stick with it.
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