Blow bending and 10 hole draw
Hi david,
I checked out a part of the blow bend series and I have a weird thing going on with my harmonica. and generally speaking to bend as far as you can for as long as you can, but when I do it on the 6th draw and get to the D note on my G harp it is starting to shriek really bad as if it's falling a part. when I blow bend it doesn't happen. is it a technical issue or am I not bending correctly?
I played for a couple of months here and there and I used to pucker but I always tried to get exactly on the note so it was kind of a surprise that you asked to take it all the way down. may I ask what's the reason for that just out of curiosity? I mean, are we gonna use these "edges" of a note that we get to in our bending?
Thirdly, I have a bit of a delay of air, or should I say the harp doesn't respond too good on the 10 hole draw. I tried asking in the other forum but no one has replied for a couple of days.
Sorry for the many questions,
Thanks in advance:)
Really enjoying it so far!
Thanks a lot for the quick response,
I think the "problem" is as such:
I have a CA-1 Chromatic Tuner, and I try to get it to the sweet "green" spot where it is dead-on the note. when It is activated while you are playing on the blow bending lesson, it tends to go about a half note flatter than the green spot so ive been trying to "push" it to get to what you sounded like.
For example, on the 6th draw bend, it REALLY shows as if you are "scratching" a D note, and the "shrieks" that I get, do get when the tuner shows the D note. I figured something was wrong but since the tuner also showed that you are reaching a D, beyond the Eb, I tried to do it also.
I don't know if I'm making myself clear enough here. perhaps I can make a video and show you what I mean if it is still not understood?
Thanks alot
I'm checking it out now -
on the 8th blow bend I see on the tuner that you reach the A (not fully on it, but since you said to stay as far as you go for as long as you go I actually bend it to give a mid-tone between A and Bb).
on the 9th blow bend I see on the tuner that you reach the C (not fully on it again, but like a mid tone between a C to a C#)
the tuner is on 440Hz if it has to do with anything
Perfect, I know exactly what you're saying. With bending, as a technique, you want to be able to go the entire possible range, though I wouldn't lose sleep over not being able to go far beyond the notated note. When playing blues it's common for us to go beyond the notated pitch when it is a blue note (flat-3, flat 5 and flat-7), it makes the note even more bluesy... in 2nd Position, 1', 2", 4', 5', 6' for example. This is not a universal though, the 3' is commonly played dead-on pitch, and slightly sharp when playing to a blues that isn't that dark (shuffles and swings, etc.), so as a technique it's great to go as far as the instrument will allow us... we can then decide how we play it. In non-blues, hitting the note dead-on pitch is preferred (especially when we're playing in unison with someone else).
Thank you! that settled it, so I will go as far as I can for as long as I can without shredding the reed:)
You got it!
Hello Crazymilk. Here we go...
1) "6th draw and get to the D note on my G harp" The 6 draw can only bend down to E-flat/D-sharp... unless your 6 blow (D) is flat... out of tune... which will allow the bend to go lower. The harp needs to be replaced if this is the case. The "shriek" is commonly caused by continuing the bending motion just past the reed's ability to be bent... stop before that point.
2) "I played for a couple of months here and there and I used to pucker but I always tried to get exactly on the note so it was kind of a surprise that you asked to take it all the way down. may I ask what's the reason for that just out of curiosity? I mean, are we gonna use these "edges" of a note that we get to in our bending?" I'm not sure exactly what you're asking here. I assume you're speaking of "sliding" from the natural note to the very bottom. We use bending to both access standard notes (natural, flat and sharp) within the diatonic system as well as all of the degrees between for bluesy expression. Those pitches found in the cracks are how the harmonica cries. Also keep in mind that some bends, such as the 3 fully bent down (Ab on a C Harp, 3''') are not common in 2nd Position, but are in 3rd Position... so... in the end we use it all! If this doesn't answer your question, let me know which lesson, and which part of it, you're speaking of.
3) "Thirdly, I have a bit of a delay of air, or should I say the harp doesn't respond too good on the 10 hole draw. I tried asking in the other forum but no one has replied for a couple of days." Assuming that the harmonica is in good operating condition, then it's most commonly tongue location. If it the harp (it usually isn't) then adjusting your gap is in order (reference the Harp Tech Series in Equipment on Gapping). In most cases it's your tongue located in a place in your mouth that's tuning your mouth to a pitch that's offending that reed. Dropping the middle and back of your tongue (lowering the resonant pitch of your mouth) will fix it. First try this with your mouth open, with no harmonica, in front of a mirror, to visually confirm the location of the tongue.
All great questions... keep them coming.