My surprise is that you are doing it on holes 1-4, not something higher,
I could make it happen a little, but probably not that much in the middle
register. The fact you say you haven't tried any other holes, does that
mean it took you a while to get to the point where you could do it?
You can bend blow notes a little, but usually the reed shuts down. It
takes a lot of control to make it happen, it's easier if it's valved of
course. You've probably got a lot more control than most diatonic players,
because you've been blow bending chromatics all these years. It's a
similar
concept.
David Payne
www.elkriverharmonicas.com
www.hetrickharmonica.com
________________________________
From: karen mass <kdmass7@xxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2012 8:02 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] weird bending?
hi ya'll...
i've played chord harmonica for many years, fooled around with chromatic
(and now getting serious about it), and only messed with diatonics a wee
tiny bit over the years.
recently, because i've had time and inclination, i've been messing about
with blues harps, hoping i could pick up some blues licks just for
giggles.
so i go to youtube, find michael rubin's tutorials and start working my
way
through them. i've been stuck on bending because i can't yet get three
half step draw bends on the three hole, even on a low-a tuned harp. i'm
still working at it cuz i know i'm gunna get em eventually.
anyhow, the reason for this post is that in web researching the note
possibilities on a diatonic, i've learned this is how diatonics are sposed
to work:
hole 1 blow
hole 1 draw
hole 1 draw bend down 1/2 step
hole 2 blow
hole 2 draw
hole 2 draw bend down 1/2 step
hole 2 draw bend down 1 step
hole 3 blow
hole 3 draw
hole 3 draw bend down 1/2 step
hole 3 draw bend down 1 step
hole 3 draw bend down 1 1/2 step
hole 4 blow
hole 4 draw
hole 4 draw bend down 1/2 step
at least, that's what the documentation i've found on the web sez.
BUT
in my goofing around i've found i can bend holes 1 through 4 BLOW down at
least 1/2 step each! that means on my A harp i can get a Ab. and i
measured all four holes with an electronic tuner. is this normal? why
don't the note charts for diatonics show this? or have i just not seen
them? btw, this appears to be repeatable and controllable for all 4
holes. i haven't messed with holes 5 through 10 yet.
i have also tried this on C, D, and Bb harps and it seems to hold true on
them too.
if i'm displaying my ignorance in all its glory (and i got a LOT of
glory!) thats cool. if not, have others seen this phenomenon?
iowaplayer