Wrong way to bend?
Hello communitiy!
Since a few weeks I've been struggling with bending and finally I'm getting somewhere, but I have doubts regarding my technique. I managed to have a pitch-wise proper bend (I can tell it's proper since I use HarpNinja), however it feels to me that I achieve it wrong way: for the 4th hole bend I put my tongue back so it's rather "koo" than "key", and my jaw gets tired quite fast, although as far as I know it shouldn't be involved.
So my question is: do I just continue bending whatever way and master it at any cost, or I better concentrate on the proper way described by David in Bending Study 1 since otherwise it can be harmful to my skills and progress in the perspective? Or maybe there is no wrong way to bend at all? Any input is appreciated, thanks in advance! -- Roman
Hi John,
Thank you for your response. I am of course interested in everyone's opinion :)
So you adjusted your technique because otherwise you were not quick enough to bend - makes sense!
Roman Hi
I am sure you will get one of the experts to response to your question but given I can relate to your experience and your question asked the “community” I thought I would share my experience.
Like you I experienced what you are experiencing. To get some of the holes to bend, 4 and 6 I had to apply a lot of pressure (pinch) to achieve the bent pitch. Now when I tried to apply that bend to a study song I simply couldn’t get to the bend quickly enough due to effort required so I had to continue with my practice using Harpninja and experimented using my tongue position rather than the pinch (sucking through a straw) making sure to maintain the pitch required. I do enjoy bending and give a lot of practice to the technique daily with a minimum of 20min. I use all key harps G A Bb C D and low F.
In summary I just continued and worked through any bad habits till I got comfortable and was able to apply bends quickly and with a lot less effort in a song. I do however drop my jaw as I move my tongue and I dont thnk that in itself is an issue.