Re: [Harp-L] Blow Bends



michael rubin writes:
<major clippage>
It is my belief that U blocking is the most advantageous way to high
note blow bend.
I agree and so would my mentor Harry Harpoon, who is a full-time U-blocker. (I reserve my U-blocking just for those pesky high note blow bends.)

Michael continues:
<more brutal clippage>  "How's your high note blow bends?"
"Great!"  Plays a Jimmy Reed style song.
"Wow!  What are you doing right?"
"I am U blocking like you said.  It was uncomfortable for 3 days,
then it kicked in!"

I have seen it many times.
Michael Rubin
Michaelrubinharmonica.com

This also reminded my of my old buddy Harry, albeit in a different context. It is his technique for dealing with Gus'es and guys who insist on sitting in when he's on stage (you know, friends of friends, etc...). Harpoon will ask nearly the same question at the microphone, "How are your first position blues? Your blow bends?" Trotting on stage giddy at being acknowledged by the band leader, the guy will always answer, "Great," with a wide grin even if he has no idea what Harry is talking about. Harry will promptly count in a Jimmy Reed tune, one that everyone in the place has heard a hundred times.


The first time those blow bend riffs come around Harpoon nails them, of course (he had taught himself to play harp decades earlier by playing along with a Jimmy Reed Greatest Hits album). The second time the famous high note blow bends come around, Harry will gesture to the sitter-in, with an enthusiastic "OK, you take it." I've rarely seen it fail. The sitter-in will almost always fall flat on his face trying desperately to duplicate Harry's text-book bends or fumbling around attempting to fill in with something musically irrelevant (as you know, nothing else will do but a high note blow bend in a Jimmy Reed tune), possibly even out of tune (many times the guy won't even have the right harp).

Now, Harry Yates is as nice a fella as you'll wanna meet, but he doesn't suffer fools lightly, especially ones who want to cash in on his stage presence and his special brand of rapport that he works hard to establish with his audience. I've had many a little chuckle witnessing Harry exact this special toll on guys who can't cut the harmonica mustard on his stage. On the other hand, in all fairness, I can say that if the guy can play those Jimmy Reed riffs, he's welcome to stay on Harpoon's stage and play as long as he likes.

I get a special chuckle reading Michael's post because when I first approached Harry about teaching me a few things about harmonica at one of his gigs, he had one stern question, "Can you do this?" (rolling his tongue). Fortunately I could or my great 3-year journey with Harry would never have started, nor would our lasting friendship. I might mention that the next thing Harry told me after accepting me as a would-be student based on my tongue-rolling ability was to "Go buy Jimmy Reed's Greatest Hits album and come back when you can play all the tunes." Good thing for me that I had recently been working out with Gerry Portnoy's Masterclass CD's so I was ready to face Harry's challenge (where I live, there wasn't another potential teacher within a hundred miles). You can guess the rest of the story. I'll just say that Harry now tells me that this is also a tool he uses to weed out the poseurs who want him to simply imbue them with harp skills without being willing to invest themselves in the process.

So thank you, Michael, for stirring up some cherished student-teacher memories. Oh, and my apologies for being so heavy-handed in (not) quoting your whole original post.

Michelle





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