 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||
| Moderated by: Tony Provencher, Richard Hefner |
|
||||||||||||||
| Don't understand Note Bending | Rate Topic |
| Author | Post |
|---|
| Posted: Fri Jun 22nd, 2007 12:28 pm |
|
1st Post |
|
catsailr Approved 
|
The paper with my Lee Oskar talks about note bending. I am not familiar with this. From what I understand you can make D into D flat my changing the power of the blow or draw. Can someone explain?
____________________ http://www.myspace.com/catsailr http://www.showcaseyourmusic.com/rlnichols |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Posted: Fri Jun 22nd, 2007 01:58 pm |
|
2nd Post |
|
viking Approved 
|
Hi Catslair I only dabble with the harmonica ( blues harp) but in essence you do need to blow harder to bend the note but this only works if you first restrict the air flow into the note hole you want to flatten. try this Blow and suck two adjacent holes without changing you mouth posistion use your tongue to block first the left and the the right hand hole, thus now playing one hole only now cover one and a half holes with your tongue and blow or suck but harder than before these notes should be flat alternate between leaving the whole hole fully open and half closed to hear the change pitch. Note that blowing harder with the hole half closed is no louder than the fully open note at normal pressure. This must be to do with flow volume passing through the hole, fully open at normal flow rate = the same as half open at higher flow rate. More technical than that will need the input of a proper player !! As will become apparent after only a short time playing blues harp Its all in the tongue !! Hear you soon MARK
____________________ Hear You Soon MARK |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Posted: Fri Jun 22nd, 2007 03:19 pm |
|
3rd Post |
|
kurtk Approved 
|
Typically, blues in one key would be played on a harmonica of a different key. For instance, to play blues harmonica on a song in the key of G, you would play a C harmonica. This is known as 2nd position playing or "cross harp". Playing in second position makes the primary scale notes in the lower registers "draw" notes. To bend draw notes in the low octave, you do not really have to draw "harder"... the idea is to redirect the airflow. By this I mean change the angle of the air as it passes through your lips... this is done by reshaping your tongue to direct the air flow. This is difficult to explain, and even harder to learn, but once you "get it"... it becomes second nature, quite easy, and you'll wonder why it was so difficult before. In the low octave, play a draw on 3 where your lips are a little "o" that only expose that single hole. Then experiment with moving your tongue, from the base, up into an arch and down as flat as you can get it on the bottom of your mouth... just keep fiddling with it and after some time, you will start making the note go flat... it helps to have the harp tipped up a little, so your "little o" is up higher on the hole. This will improve tone and make bending a little easier. With practice, you will be able to drop it a 1/2 step, then 1 1/2 step. Another thing to try is to "sniff" air through your nostrils as you play a 4 draw... This may naturally give you a pitch change by changing backpressure. I don't normally do this when playing bent notes for real, but it can help you start to bend and figure out the magic. The draw notes 1234, and 6 can be bent, and the "blow" notes 8 and 9 can be bent using this technique. Jon Gindick has some great books to help explain all this better than I can. Check out "Rock n' Blues Harmonica". http://www.ezfolk.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?asinsearch=0930948106 It is entertaining reading, VERY well written and will have you playing like a pro. Jon does an excellent job of covering all kinds of music theory in a non-theoretical manner that is both fun to read and very valuable. Good Luck!
|
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Posted: Fri Jun 22nd, 2007 03:42 pm |
|
4th Post |
|
viking Approved
|
SEE !! THATS WHAT I MEANT BY A PROPER PLAYER 
____________________ Hear You Soon MARK |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Posted: Sat Jun 23rd, 2007 09:59 am |
|
5th Post |
|
catsailr Approved
|
Thanks for the help. Sounds like it is like trying to tell someone how to ride a bicycle - you just have to keep trying until you find out how. I'll play with the harps this weekend and see if I can figure it out.
____________________ http://www.myspace.com/catsailr http://www.showcaseyourmusic.com/rlnichols |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Posted: Sun Jun 24th, 2007 02:20 pm |
|
6th Post |
|
davebough Approved 
|
Kurt's explanation is good. To hear the sound change, draw on any of the notes he says you can bend and say E-O-E-O while you are drawing. This moves your tongue and changes the size of the sound chamber, your mouth. dave Last edited on Sun Jun 24th, 2007 02:25 pm by davebough |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Posted: Sun Jun 24th, 2007 03:18 pm |
|
7th Post |
|
kurtk Approved
|
Great point davebough! I had forgotten about that technique... When I was trying to learn to bend, I tried that and I got a change in tone (like a guitar wah pedal), but no change in pitch. I know that this method works well for many people to learn to bend but because it didn't seem to get me "over the hump", I kinda forgot about it. I haven't played harmonica in years until I saw the bending question post by catsailr. That got my interest piqued again and I pulled my harp case out of the closet... I am looking forward to re-aquainting myself with this very fun and EXTREMELY portable instrument  I have mainly been playing pedal steel lately. I drug that to a friends house Friday... WOW! That is a HEAVY bunch of stuff to carry. It is the anti-harmonica and anti-ukulele I guess. My back is still sore Kurt
|
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Current time is 01:19 am | |
| ezFolk Forums > Other Instruments > Harmonica > Don't understand Note Bending | Top |
