Feelin' for the Blues - bending question
David,
I've been working on the bending exercises for a few weeks now and can get consistent bends to varying degrees on holes 2-6. As I try to bend the draw note all the way down (ex. on the 4 draw bend to the flat 5 in 2nd position) I start to get get a slirping sound in my mouth that affects the tone of the note. It feels like I'm cutting off the air flow to the point that my tongue and cheek are almost touching, which creates the sound in my mouth.
Any advise on how to get any bend all the way down without making this noise? I've been experimenting with widening my mouth sort of like I'm smiling, which seems to help a bit...
Great, thanks! I've been watching Joe Tartaglia's videos that are on the same level I'm at, which has helped a ton also.
I appreciate the quick response.
Good morning MichaelMc. When learning how to bend, students commonly use auxiliary muscles to help with the bend... the mouth, jaw, cheeks, neck, etc. all tense up in the process of trying to bend a note. Only the movement of the tongue is needed to bend though, so the key is in relaxing all of your muscles, including the tongue, and just move your tongue to the spot required for each hole on your harmonica (each hole has a different "sweet spot" for the bend). When you squeeze, your mouth closes down in size causing the slurping you're speaking of. So, the key for you in practice is to relax your muscles and focus on your tongue movement for the bend. This will take time, so don't expect your bends to sound good quickly, it takes most students about six months before the tone of their bends sound more pleasing.