[Harp-L] Learning to Bend and other useful learning techniques -- Was--> I am envious

>Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2006 16:11:19 -0500
>From: "Leon & Gail Albin" <spock@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>I have read the 'How to Bend' pages in many harmonica books and ...I still can't do it.

Gail,
I am very new to harmonica, about three months experience. However, since I just went through the bending learning curve myself with great success (I learned to bend in one week - after spending one week learning to get single notes.) maybe I'll be able to add something that hits the right note for you. With your seven years experience most of this is probably not new to you, but perhaps something I say will cause the light to go on.

Here are some of the things that helped me. Some of these pertain to my path to get good clear single notes using lip pursing, but, of course, let up to the week that I added bending, and thus quite likely contributed to the ease I had with learning to bend.

I spent a lot of time just holding a harmonica in my mouth, no hands. I would walk around with the harmonica in my mouth, or lie on the couch reading with the harmonica in my mouth. I was not 'playing' anything, but I was breathing through the harp. This exercise prevented me from puckering. When we pucker we often have a natural tendency to suck/blow rather than breath through the harp. I believe this exercise contributed to my getting rid of the tendency to suck/blow. It got me used to breathing in and out through the harp and reduced the tendency to suck an blow.

When I did practice notes I paid very close attention to the tension or lack of tension in my face, lips, forehead, back of the neck, etc. When I played a diatonic scale scale, pentatonic scale, or the blues scale (or a song. See 'aside' next paragraph) I would often end up tense. Sometimes I did not even realize it. I had to make a conscience effort to notice the tensed up muscles. By making this conscience effort at noticing tension creeping in I was in a position to immediately eliminate it. (Usually I was trying too hard to the get the scale progression down right, tensing up as a result, and not realizing that the tensing was present and was causing the notes to be badly played tone-wise.

ASIDE: For those others who may be reading this, this have nothing to do with learning to bend, but I will add that I did not attempt to play any 'conventional' songs during the first month of practice/learning. The 'songs' that I practiced were, in my opinion more reusable. In stead of Mary Had A Little Lamb or Oh Suzanna, the 'songs' I chose to practice were scales (first position diatonic scale and second and third position blues scales). So I learned 2nd and 3rd position right from the start. I will say that because of my previous music experience (mostly piano), I began my harmonica learning experience with quite a bit of theory under my belt. Now back to the main thread....

I often stood in front of a mirror while I played my 'songs' / scales to see if I was moving only the harp or was also moving my head. I think sometimes I was moving my head as well as the harp and wasn't recognizing this was happening because of my attention being focused on whatever playing exercise I was attempting. Standing in front of the mirror eliminated the tendency to move my head.


After about a week (practicing 10-30 minutes at a time, several times a day) I could get good clean single notes. Then I started working on bending.

When I started to learn to bend, I did not start by trying to bend. Instead I would camp out on a hole for many iterations, inhaling / exhaling (not sucking and blowing), holding that note for various lengths of time, maybe one or two seconds, then ten or fifteen seconds. I would play a series of that single note legato or staccato - fast, slow, etc. making sure that I was staying relaxed, and I would occasionally hear a tone that was flat... Ah!... that was a bent note.... hmnn... let's keep doing this. The next time I would stumble across that bent note I would hold it (if I could)... for several seconds to get the feel for it. I agree that it is hard for someone to verbally tell you how to get a bent note, but once you 'feel' it yourself, You will progress rapidly.. even though the feel will be some what different from hole to hole. Pick a hole camp out on it for 10 or 15 minutes.... if you don't discover a bend there, try a different hole... then another. Of course you should know that there are certain holes that cannot be bent. (I feel another aside coming....) So stick with the 1,2,3,4 and 6 in the beginning. Most folks find the 4 the easiest to begin and the 2 more difficult (or so I'm told) and that was the case for me also. Also I still cannot consistently get all the bends on the 3 draw (there are three of them)

From several sources I learned the following technique for bending, and although it is not completely effective (for me) it did result in my 'feeling' several bends and that allowed me to progress farther. I'm sure you've read this before, but just for completeness ..... While inhaling gently on an easy to bend hole, say the 3, 4, or 6... simulate saying/inhaling 'eeeeee'. This should get you the unbent not. Hold the not for several seconds and change the 'eeeeee' to 'uuuuuuu' ( like the double 'oo' in the word 'cool''). Alternate 'eeeee' and 'uuuuuu' with 'keeeee' and 'kooooo'. Pronouced like 'Key' and the first part 'Coo' (like 'a bird coos').

I too read many of the suggestions online ( <http://www.harmonicalessons.com/>Harmonica Lessons, <http://www.angelfire.com/tx/myquill/Harmonica.html>Diatonic Harmonica Reference, <http://coast2coastmusic.com/diatonic/index.shtml>Coast to Coast Music, and I bought Jon Gindick's <http://gindick.com/bending_tone.asp#bend>Tone and Bending Workshop CD. All of these are good sources, but I think you have spent a lot of time there already. For for those other newbies who may read this I have included those links.


Another ASIDE: After getting the single notes with lip pursing and bending. I then began working on single notes with tongue blocking. It felt very awkward for the first day or so, but after a few days of practice it became very natural and automatic. I've been at this for about less than 90 days. I've almost all my time learning techniques. After about 60 days I did learn Happy Birthday (in Dec one of my neighbors had a birthday, so what the heck) and then Red River Valley. Those are the only two songs I know. I'm still focusing my time on learning techniques). Basically my agenda went something like this:
Week One: Single Note using lip pursing, emphasis on breathing vs suck/blow and relaxing, Diatonic Scale in 1st position
Week Two: Bending
Week Three: Blues Scale in 2nd Position and 3rd position, still practicing single notes
Week Four: Hand Effects
Week Five: Throat Vibrato
Week Six: Diaphram Vibrato

Now to that ASIDE about which notes can be bent and which can not. I kept hearing this but it wasn't until about a month into my studies that I learned why. I was disappointed that many of the sites, for beginners, did not explain why. I'm not sure now where I did first discover the answer. So I don't know who to credit. Anyway, here is the short answer. The two notes in a hole affect each other. The higher of the two notes can be bend donw to a semi-tone above the lower note. On a major scale diatonic harmonica there is only a half step between notes 3 and 4 of the scale and 7 and 1 of the scale. Thus there is no 'room' to bend the higher notes in holes 5 and 7. Other 'intervals' can be bent one, two, or even three semi-tones, depending upon the interval between the two unbent notes in the hole. For example: In holes 1, 4, and 6 there is a full step between the notes. So the high note can be bent one semi-tone. In hole 2 there is a step and a half (okay, minor third). The the higher note can be bent two semi-tones. In hole three there are two full steps between the unbent notes so there are three semi-tones bends available.


With my apologies to the many pros out there that already know all this. Perhaps I have said something here that will be useful not only to Gail, but also to harmonica instructors. I know that as we progress will our knowledge of any subject or skill we tend to forget what points were truly the keys that got us over a hump. I find it useful to document these things while I am still a novice, when the information/techniques that really were useful are still fresh on my mind. This applies to many other endeavors, not just harmonica.


Hoping someone finds this, admittedly lengthy, note useful.
Paul

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