Re: [Harp-L] Bending draw 5

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Gary Lehmann wrote:
<The tuning we all love, that most diatonics are tuned to, has a half step
<difference between the blow and draw on hole 5.
<So you can't bend the note down too much . . .
<How much do y'all incorporate any shading that lowering draw 5 produces?
<And am I right that real damage can be produced by trying to bend it beyond
<the physical limits?

I dunno about the physical damage, but I've never tried to bend that note the way I bend on the notes that offer more depth in the bend.  I don't usually wear out my harps on the draw 5 reed.

Regarding the "shading," check out Little Walter.  He often uses a slow, shallow bend up and down to put more juice into the draw 5 reed, which of course is the flat 7th degree of the scale in second position.  Most often he follows that bend with the fifth degree of the scale (draw 4), which completes the emotional trajectory--from an unstable bend to one of the most stable notes in the scale.

Regards, Richard Hunter



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