supposed to draw harder for bending?
Hello David,
Maybe other students have posted this question before - I tried to search the forum for similar questions but don't see a good way to do that. I apologize if it is a duplicate question.
My question is: I watched bending lesson and Hob's study video to start experiment with bending. For normal unbent note, I blow/draw softly and air runs slowly. That's enough to make reeds sound. However, when I am bending, I feel like I need to draw much harder to speed up and pressurize the air flow; otherwise, it either does not sound or it sound like normal unbent note. Is this normal or I am just doing it in a wrong way? I posted my bending recording on hole 3 here https://soundcloud.com/user-782495222/bending (the soundcloud insert of the forum seems not working?)
along the line, I am still working on bending. I think I can get the bending tune right, but I find that the volume of the bending tune is much lower than normal tunes even if I draw hard. This makes it inconsistent in a song/melody. Would you mind listening to a 15 second of my recording to check what my problem might be? Much appreciated!
C harmonica 2nd position: https://soundcloud.com/user-782495222/500miles
Hello zech. Your bends sound good, there's nothing to worry about. A bend does sound different than a standard blow or draw. As time goes on, your tone will get even better (it's very good now) and you'll be able to increase volume (without bending deeper or a more airy sound). You're on the right track, there's nothing to work on.
Thanks for your encouraging words!
Hello zech.
No worries, that's what I'm here for.
Listening to the recording, I think you're doing well. In general, you should not draw a lot harder than when you play a standard note, but when new to bending, it's just fine to play a little louder and with a little bit of muscle tension (it's hard to relax when you're trying something new).
As your bending improves, you will use less and less volume and tension... eventually having it be the same as a standard draw/blow.