RE: [Harp-L] bending notes

["steve@xxxxxxxxxxxx" <swebb@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi John... I see nobody has yet answered your question, so I'll give it 
a whirl.  First of all, we have to assume  you are very new at harp. 
Inexperienced players always have trouble with bending notes, and 
especially on holes 2 and 3 draw.
My first guess is that you may not have a reallly good harmonica. 
Second, "drawing the air strongly" will result in problems.  Once  you 
get some experience bending, you will discover you really don't have to 
use any more force to bend notes than to play unbent ones. However, 
leaky harmonicas are harder to bend and if you don't have a quality 
instrument, it can hinder your abilitiy to learn.
I went through all that years ago and wrecked more than a few harmonicas 
in the process.
My advice is to buy a Special 20 or a Lee Oscar, or a Bushman Delta 
Frost.. They are all in about the same price range and are good airtight 
harps.  If things don't get better then, post another note here on 
Harp-L and we will take it a step further.
Your vocal chords would not have any effect on this technique at all, in 
my opinion.
Hope this helps.
Steve Webb in Minn.

On Thu, Sep 27, 2012 at 2:30 PM, John wrote:

> Hi.
> Is there anybody who can clarify my problem with bending notes on 
> holes 2-3. If I do manage to get down to the full bend on hole 3 I 
> always seem to get a high pitched whistling sound accompanying it. I 
> also cannot seem to hit the 2nd bend by trying to lower the pitch from 
> the 1st bend. I would also like to know if anyone in the community has 
> enough medical knowledge to clarify whether the fact that my vocal 
> chords which do not close effectively at the end of a word to give a 
> clean crisp ending to the words could be making it difficult to get 
> these bends without having to really draw the air quite strongly which 
> results in hitting the pitch but with very little tone to it
>                      Regards ---------- John