Oda
Guest
Dec 22, 2008
6:04 AM
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Hey all!
I'm my few months of playing, I've focused mostly on technique. I can comfortable blow-bend, and draw bend all 3 notes on 2 hole draw. I can also hit the bends directly. (thanks to the practice of whammer jammers bata beeeooooo)
The hole I have most difficulty in bending is the 3 draw... from Adam's lessons I learned that it contains the 'blue note' and I can never get it to sound nice and clean. I can bend the 3 hole... but not to get all 3 notes, and not very well! any tips?
PS. Has anyone had a problem with growling? kinda hard to explain... sometimes when I draw and try to bend, I kinda get a growl out of the harmonica. Kinda like a backwards gurgle.
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andy r-g
Guest
Dec 22, 2008
7:18 AM
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Don't see growling as a problem but as the beginnings of a useful technique. Elsewhere you will find people asking how they can learn to growl! Just practise how to use it tastefully.
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MrVerylongusername
76 posts
Dec 22, 2008
7:19 AM
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Keep practicing, remember it is about breathing in and breathing out, not sucking and blowing.
Oh and as for that growl - hang on to it. Sure, you need to learn how to make the note sound nice and pure and clean, but that dirty growl is wickedly useful in the blues!
Last Edited by on Dec 22, 2008 7:19 AM
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tookatooka
58 posts
Dec 22, 2008
7:34 AM
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Same here Oda. A few things I've tried is Jason Ricci's bending video on You Tube where he mouths the words Ting - for the natural 3 draw, Tang - for the 3 draw with a half step bend, Tong - for the 3 draw with full step bend and Tow (pronounced cow) for the 3 draw one and a half step bend. You need to experiment with accentuating those mouth/tongue and throat muscles until it comes.
Another one which may help is to play a simple melody using just the three and four hole. Mike Will has a very useful section on bending here, http://www.angelfire.com/tx/myquill/
Go to the Bending section and he has put a tab there for Mary had a Little Lamb. I know it sounds daft but because you are familiar with the tune, you know what you should expect to hear.
I still haven't perfected it yet but I feel I'm getting closer.
Regarding the growl? not sure about that but you may even find it's an advanced technique which you've stumbled upon and we'll all by asking you how to do it.
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Andrew
49 posts
Dec 22, 2008
9:27 AM
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Oda, if you only own one harp, it may be the harp - my harps all behave differently on the 3-hole draw bend. The Bb is the worst - it really hates the blue note!
Last Edited by on Dec 22, 2008 9:28 AM
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KingoBad
2 posts
Dec 22, 2008
11:23 AM
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Oda. do you snore ant night? I find that I sometimes gurgle the same way on the 3 hole draw if I am lazy with my breath control. It is the same sensation as a snore - the exact same sensation. I find that if I am not very focused on a good technical 3 draw (especially when going for the full step bend) it will snork away. You might be letting air leak through your nose during your bend just enough to get your reverse gurgle. If you could control it, i suppose you could use it to your advantage as previously suggested, I just prefer ungurgly dirty notes.
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Preston
Guest
Dec 22, 2008
2:48 PM
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I really stink at coaxing all the notes out of the 3 draw. I realized how bad I was at it when I started experimenting with 3rd position.
Here is something I do to help myself. When practicing 3 draw hole step and step-and-a-half bends on the C harmonica, I grab my low G harp too. The 4 draw and 4 draw bend on the G harp are the same notes as those two bends on the C harp. It helps me to hear the notes the way they should sound right before I try hitting them on my C harp.
I first started doing this waaaaay back when I was learning to bend to the blue third. 4 blow on a Bb harp was my reference sound when I was learning the blue third on the C harp.
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Oda
Guest
Dec 22, 2008
2:59 PM
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Andrew, I own 2 harps, special 20's (A & C) it's the same in both.
Kingo, No I don't snore at night, I'm actually a very light and quiet sleeper! but yeah, it does feel like a snoring
sensation. Do you know of any examples in recorded blues where the growl is used?
Preston, that's very helpful -- but I don't have a G! Can you, or anyone else for that matter, provide an mp3 of all the
bends on the 3?
thanks all!
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Luiz
19 posts
Dec 22, 2008
3:17 PM
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Oda, here goes my tips to bend the 3 draw, hope it helps :)
To get a half step bend, I think it's easier to start tonguing it, as Adam points on his videos. I let the tip of my tongue touching my lower front teeth. Touch the upper part of your mouth with more or less the middle part of the tongue and then let the air come in tonguing the note.
Once you get it, to get a whole step bend, just pull the tongue backwards a little, enough to stop touching the teeth, but still keeping a small space between the tongue and the upper part of the mouth. I find this the trickier note and the one that requires more strength and accuracy.
Just pull it even more to bend one and a half steps. I find this bend similar to the whole step bend on the 2nd hole.
Hope it helps, let us know :)
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luiz tube
Last Edited by on Dec 22, 2008 3:19 PM
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Harmonica
Guest
Dec 23, 2008
5:49 AM
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I spent about 6 months of practice (1 hour a day) to get mastery over blue third . It's just a matter of practice. Keep on!
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M
Guest
Dec 23, 2008
6:02 AM
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Yes, it is a matter of practice, but in order to practice correctly, you need a reference. You need to know what sound you are looking for so you can extract the right note out of that hole. Either by using a keyboard/piano, another harp like Preston said, or any other instrument to produce the notes.
The three bends don't just "pop" to the note. You can slur between all four of the notes available. What if you thought you were hitting the blue third, but you were too deep and you were into the full step note? Although I whole-heartedly agree with you that practice is needed to be good at it, I also want to point out that a man might accidentally practice incorrectly!
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Oda
Guest
Dec 24, 2008
2:38 AM
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Thanks for all your advice,
and 'M' you're right! that's why I was hoping someone could upload an MP3 with all the notes on the 3! just go to any free upload service, takes few seconds! thanks.
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Luiz
20 posts
Dec 24, 2008
4:21 AM
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Check this video from Adam, at 5:39 he shows all notes available bending the 3 draw (he's using a Bb harp): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_LWC07W6EI
If you have a computer mic, there are some software that tell you which note you're getting.
Try these:
Chromatia Tuner: http://www.fmjsoft.com/chromatia.html
Bendometer: http://www.harpsoft.com/
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luiz tube
Last Edited by on Dec 24, 2008 4:24 AM
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Jaybird
20 posts
Dec 24, 2008
8:05 AM
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Oda,
You are correct to concentrate on technique in the early stages of learning. It is imperative that you get a solid grounding in the basics before moving on. I practiced nothing but technique... no songs, no jamming, or anything else, just technique, for more than my first year with the harp.
Here are a few tips to cleanly hit those difficult 3 draw bends:
It helps to lower your jaw when reaching for the deeper bends on the 3 draw.
Also try tilting the back of the harp (either up or down).
Don't limit your practice to only one harp key. Each one will react differently.
Once you learn to correctly hit these notes, there are numerous exercises you can do, involving various combinations of these notes. This is a VERY important step.
Hope this helps. Remember, practice makes perfect.
Jaybird
www.YouTube.com/Jaybird33066
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tookatooka
59 posts
Dec 24, 2008
9:38 AM
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Something just occured to me after my previous post and I now think I've got it. (The four notes, that is).
I think I've cracked it but I'm going to check on a keyboard before I am totally satisfied. I think I was starting from the wrong place. e.g. I was dropping the jaw on the natural 3 draw and playing a 3 draw half step bend as my first note which was wrong.
By closing my teeth slightly and not dropping the jaw I get a proper natural 3 draw which is the first note. Then drop the jaw to get the 3 draw half step bend, the second note. Then same again with a bit of tongue bending action to get the 3 draw two step bend, then a little more of the same for the 3 draw three step bend.
As I say, I think I now have it but I'm going to check. I hope this all make sense.
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Preston
Guest
Dec 24, 2008
10:27 AM
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If all you are doing is dropping your jaw, you are not getting a new note out of that 3 hole, you are simply fattening your tone. Keep your jaw dropped on all the notes, your tone will be better. Use your throat muscles and position of your tongue to bend.
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tookatooka
60 posts
Dec 24, 2008
11:53 AM
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Back to the drawing board then. Almost there. Know what you mean but I find I'm putting a slight bend on when I drop the jaw. Need to find the compromise.
Dear Father Christmas,
Please can I have a new tongue and set of throat muscles for Christmas?
I've been a good boy and promise I'll never trouble you again unless Suzuki puts the Fabulous reedplates into a plastic comb.
Seasons Greetings everyone on MBH and thanks for all the advice and patience.
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