Bending and tongue blocking
Hi David,
Working my way through LOA 1. Regarding the Movement Exercises Stufy 1 Patterns,
Section 3 - Movement and Breathing Patterns Examples 3 and 4. Going through the exersize ...
Tongue Blocking and then attempting to Bend any note while tongue blocking......how do you bend
a note if your tongue over the comb blocking ? You need your tongue to bend a note, yet the tongue is
involved in blocking as its tip is placed on the comb. What am I missing here ? Do you tongue block and then suddenly switch to a pucker to perform a bend ?...seems to complicated.
Am confused as to the mechanics here of a tongue whos tip is on the comb, yet arching up to bend. Coud you please
explain this in a bit more detail ? Perhaps its just that simple ?...the tip of the tongue is blocking
while the body of the tongue is simultaneously arching ? Could it be the harp....i mean that am trying this with a G harp...perhaps a different key would be easier ?
(Feeling like I am rubbing my stomach and patting my head.....while trying to ride a unicyle on a tightrope..
for the first time)
Thank you for your time
Steve
Is the Bending study ( lessons on tongue block bending )part of one of the LOA's ? / will I encounter it if I am systematically working my way through the LOA's ? or does it stand alone ?
Thank you for your time
Steve
Bending Study 1 is in LOA-L3, though you're welcome to work on bending now if you want... it will take some time to develop.
Good morning Steve.
One quick note, and maybe you know this, but just in case, LOA-L1 doesn't include those exercises with bending yet, it says to "Just focus on the all-important C Major Scale right now, from holes 4+ to 10+ on the harmonica," minus the 10'+ bend.
And now to your questions... you got it!... the front (tip-top, the blade) of the tongue is on the face of the harmonica and to bend you hump your tongue. Which part of your tongue you hump is dependent on the pitch you're trying to bend. If it's a high pitch (6 draw for example), then you'll use more of the front of the tongue, further forward in your mouth. A mid bend (4 draw for example), you'll use more of the middle of your tongue, in the middle of the mouth. And for a low pitch (2 draw for example), you'll use more of the back of your tongue, far back in the mouth.
Since you can't see your tongue and don't know exactly where in your mouth to hump, it requires many, many hours of experimenting, so get working and experiment, experiment, experiment.
For lessons on tongue block bending go here: http://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/bending_study_level_1
In regards to key. In my experience, the key doesn't matter much, but just know that it gets a bit more challenging the more you move to the extremities of the harmonica. So, the 1 and 2 draw and 10+ bends would not be the best places to start on your G harmonica.
Best wishes on your studies.