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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Bending,undoing bad habits
Bending,undoing bad habits
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mankycodpiece
31 posts
Dec 19, 2009
9:55 AM
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I've been playing Chromatic,more off than on for over 50 years.i'm totaly self taught in the belief that the harmonica couldn't be taught.
i could always get the bends i wanted by pullin or pushing them down,as i thaught,quite easily.
since taking up the diatonic,i've been playing the little feller as i did the chrome.WRONG.
in fact,i've come to the conclusion that i was playing the chrome wrong too,although i haven't tried bending the Chromatic the other way yet.
i've discovered that if you're bending correctly,YOU CAN DO IT WITH A WHISPER.
i,m playing around with my tongue positions (don't tell mrs codpiece)and have had some success,although a can't get the 3rd bend on the 3 draw yet.the rest of them are there,and getting better.
there it is folks,start again,it's ok though,better late than never.
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mickil
730 posts
Dec 19, 2009
10:37 AM
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Manky,
The 3 draw is harder to intone correctly, as I'm sure you know. I've got a couple of stock harps on which it's a nightmare to get any kind of 3 draw bend; they just came that way from Hohner. I presume you're trying it on different keyed harps. You'll get it right on one, then, in time, on the others. Don't forget there's some latitude with the blue third.
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YouTube SlimHarpMick a.k.a. HarmonicaMick
Last Edited by on Dec 19, 2009 10:39 AM
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mankycodpiece
32 posts
Dec 19, 2009
11:07 AM
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mickil,i'm playing SP20's lowF-G-A-Bb-C-D.I haven't done anything with them other than a little gapping attempt on one of them.
I've been given a Pro Harp which i'm not too keen on,so the intention is to practice doing a little gapping,embossing and reed curve on that.
The main problem is i keep going back,if i don't concentrate,on to what i was doing before.
i could bend ok,and it still works when i do it,but the correct way is so much better,and thats the way to go for me.
On some of the harps,they just choke up.maybe some gapping will help.
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mickil
731 posts
Dec 19, 2009
11:31 AM
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Manky,
You shouldn't have to do all that DIY stuff with your harps just to get those bends. Obviously, there's no harm in tinkering, but, sometimes when I browse this forum, I get the impression that some people think it's a must to do all that stuff just to be able to play. The Special 20 is a good, quality, professional instrument.
If you're having trouble, try this:
1. Whistle a note.
2. Whiltle the same note while lowering its pitch.
3. Now do the same thing while breathing in. Note how your tongue arches and your jaw drops.
If you're breathing from your diaphram - more gut movement than chest movement - you should be well on your way. And you're right: it can be done at a whisper.
EDIT: on re-reading, that post sounds quite curt; not my intention. Good luck with it, Manky.
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YouTube SlimHarpMick a.k.a. HarmonicaMick
Last Edited by on Dec 19, 2009 11:45 AM
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tookatooka
891 posts
Dec 19, 2009
12:00 PM
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Best thing is to try and play a little ditty that uses all those 3 draws. I think it may be Mary had a little lamb but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
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mickil
732 posts
Dec 19, 2009
12:15 PM
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Manky,
If you want a workout on the 3 draw, there's a tab to the Godfather theme in the description of my video, which is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsOC4SKAlTg
It uses all three 3 draw bends in one bar.
Pardon the shameless plug. But, the video is relevant.
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YouTube SlimHarpMick a.k.a. HarmonicaMick
Last Edited by on Dec 19, 2009 12:16 PM
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mankycodpiece
33 posts
Dec 19, 2009
12:33 PM
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I'd finished for the night,but thought i'd have a little doodle on this honer Pro harp i had been given
to finish up with.
streight down all three bends with no effort at all.
tried it with the SP20s and the promaster with no effort,just the 2 and thats it.
i was going to mess about with this Pro Harp,don't think so now.Eureka.A coming of age moment if ever there was one.
mickil,i've already had a look at your videos.
I'll have a practice tomorrow and play something with all three bends,i'll see how it goes.
i'm off now in this moment of Triumph.
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Tuckster
313 posts
Dec 19, 2009
12:40 PM
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@tooka- yup-Mary Had a Little Lamb in 2nd. Great for getting proper intonation on 3 hole bends.It's such a familiar song,you know when you're doing it properly.
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isaacullah
509 posts
Dec 19, 2009
1:00 PM
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I got my 3 hole bends by playing them in descending order (-3 natural, -3b, -3bb, and -3bb) when coming down from the 4 hole to the -2 draw. I did this over and over again, constantly ensuring that I was making each of the different tones in -3 hole sound out clearly as a new note (enunciating them). I would do this on all different key harps, and I would use my little korg chromatic tuner to make sure I was hitting them right on. The issue is not only one of memorizing a specific tongue position/throat configuration, because the right tongue position is different for the different key harps. The main issue is training your ear to work WITH your tongue so that you can hone in on the right pitch on any key harp. Once I got this lick down pat (it's a damn cool lick, by the way), then I started fooling around with microtones in between the semitones (your blue third and all that). That stuff became MUCH easier...
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The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
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Stickman
6 posts
Dec 19, 2009
6:27 PM
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"Sometimes when I browse this forum, I get the impression that some people think it's a must to do all that stuff just to be able to play"
No kidding!
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The Art Teacher Formally Known As scstrickland
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shanester
4 posts
Dec 19, 2009
6:38 PM
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Yes, the blessing of the low draw notes is they train you to drop your draw and reach deeper into the throat. I am starting to learn that this is the gateway to vibrato, and access to tongue-blocked bending (i'm predominately pucker except for intervals and effects. The deeper you can control your bends from, the more effects you have available from your tongue while bending.
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roadharp
3 posts
Dec 20, 2009
7:14 PM
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try in hole 3 saying e ew o aw thats your natural note and three bends try it it help me.
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mankycodpiece
35 posts
Dec 21, 2009
12:36 PM
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Thanks for all your input lads.
I had sunday at it with varying results until i gave it a break,put on some early Elvis,Mystery train,Lawdy miss clawdy,Thats alright mamma,and played along with them.They're terrific to play with by the way.
While doing that,i realised i was bending all over no problem.I went back to the 3 draw on SP20 A harp,no problem at all.Tried the others with the same result.
So what caused the success?I tend to think it was because i was relaxed,having a good time and not thinking about it.
There is just one other thing,breathing.I think that maybe i wasn't breathing from the diaphram before.The one constant i do now is to continualy check that i'm breathing correctly.
Mary had a little lamb is no trouble at all now,exept that i've had to explain to Mrs Codpiece why i've been playing it over and over.
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congaron
355 posts
Dec 21, 2009
12:57 PM
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I Say "Kah" on the draw bends whenever I move between them on the same hole. It helps me nail the pitch as it's own note. The note is in my head first as always, then the Kah sound puts it more accurately in the instrument for me. Maybe it's because I don't feel i can slide around to get it if I have already "attacked" the note.
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mickil
745 posts
Dec 21, 2009
1:03 PM
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Glad to hear it, Manky. And, you're about a million % right about the relaxing thing. On the days when I tense up, I can't play for toffees.
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YouTube SlimHarpMick a.k.a. HarmonicaMick
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barbequebob
244 posts
Dec 22, 2009
8:52 AM
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Most players problems often have very little to do with manufacturing deffects, real or percieved, and truth be told, at least 80% of it has much more to do with their playing technique and when old, bad habits get ingrained, they become more difficult to stop.
Being 100% physically relaxed 24/7 along with better breath control will do more for one's playing than buying different harp brands/models/ or tweaking ever will.
By having ALL of your muscles, including jaw and facial as well as what you use for breathing and learning how to manipulate them will make things easier. Many newbies who've taught themselves to play often are vey isolated from being around rreally skilled players and they easily get into bad habits without even knowing it. One of the big newbie problems outside of breath control is being unable to physically relax so that they can better manipulate the inside shape of their mouths in order to make subtle changes necessary to adjust to things, and once they start playing uptight, they try to force eveything to happen, and this is a HUGE mistake.
Another thing is that many players in the beginning get bad avdice from people working in the brick and mortar music stores, and they know, in no uncertain terms, jack s**t about ANYTHING remotely related to harmonicas and this has been true (and getting worse) for decades. Also many reviews they may have read in newspapers by music writers may be descriptive writing, but many of these writers have never played harmonica in their lives, and many don't know a damned thing about it, and tho as descriptive as what they're saying is, it's often not the truth.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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