Posted Tue, 07/21/2015 - 07:27 by David Barrett Admin
In this study we’ll define what an overbend is, what notes are available on your harmonica with overbends, how to perform an overblow and provide you with exercises for you to practice overblows on holes 4, 5 and 6. continue reading...
Posted Wed, 11/12/2014 - 08:39 by David Barrett Admin
In regards to the 10+ bend... If your tongue moves forward in your mouth, the 10+ bend will start in the fully-bent position (10"+... 10 blow whole step bend)... in this case the Bb. This is due to the fact that your mouth is starting from a low tuning, and as your tongue moves forward the tuning of your chamber raises in pitch until you reach the pitch of the 10"+, and the bend sounds. In order to hear a slide from 10+ (C) to 10'+ (B) and ultimately 10"+ (Bb), you need to start with your tongue forward, tuning your mouth HIGHER in pitch that the bend. continue reading...
Posted Tue, 11/11/2014 - 07:31 by David Barrett Admin
As I spoke of yesterday, your focus is to use the front of your tongue, far forward in your mouth... this creates the small chamber needed to tune your mouth to the blow bend you wish to produce. It's common to hear someone describing their bending process that their tongue moves forward to produce the blow bend. This is consistent with us wanting to create the small chamber, and this will work for holes 8 and 9 blow bends, but not for the 10. Chew on this for a bit... continue reading...
Posted Mon, 11/10/2014 - 06:21 by David Barrett Admin
I helped a lot of students with their blow bends at the Harmonica Masters Workshops and in ever case the student needed to have a much smaller, more frontal chamber in their mouth to produce the bend and control it. Remember back to Bending Study 1 on the site... we're tuning our mouth cavity to the pitch that we're trying to create on the harmonica for a particular bend. Blow bends are very high notes, so when raising your tongue for the bending process it's the very front of the tongue, forward in the mouth, to create the tiny chamber needed to match that very high pitch.
Posted Fri, 05/30/2014 - 06:17 by David Barrett Admin
The same Chewing Vibrato you experimented with yesterday can be used on blow bends. To prime your embouchure, play a 8+ and then 8'+ a couple of times to feel where the sweet spot is for the pitch of the 8+. Now play the 8+ and move your jaw up and down and the vibrato will be there. The same applies for the 9+ and 10+. The first time I heard of this as a technique was in an audio cassette instruction by Gary Primich. Have a great weekend everyone!
Posted Fri, 04/25/2014 - 07:20 by David Barrett Admin
The dip is a technique used often by harmonica players, but is a technique that sometimes draws confusion for new players. To define the dip... this is where we start a note bent and then release it quickly to the intended pitch. This is similar to a vocalist swooning into a note for dramatic effect. For example, a 4 draw can be presented by playing 4' D-flat and then quickly releasing up to its natural pitch 4 D. The dip is generally a fast technique, though it can be drawn out in a slow blues for a more dramatic, bluesy effect. continue reading...
Posted Wed, 01/22/2014 - 08:00 by David Barrett Admin
Tip of the Day comes from educator Winslow Yerxa in his upcoming interview on the site. In this video snippet he talks about blow bending and the small, frontal embouchure required for the technique. My tip (in the video as well) is to play a 6 draw bend on the D Harmonica... observe the movement of your tongue... and then perform an 8+ bend on the G Harmonica with the same movement (it's the same pitch/bend, so you can use this familiar movement of the tongue for your blow bend). http://youtu.be/f8FDXiwD_o4