Re: [Harp-L] Re: Bending

[Maka McMahon <makamcmahon@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rick,
 
You're making me think about what I do, 'cause I'm not sure - I just do it.
 
At the moment I'm focusing on pitch while minimising effort - trying to ensure the bent notes are as accurate, quiet (which I think is an imprtant thing to aim for with bent notes) and 'un-strained' as the unbent ones.  I haven't thought much about articulation, but that would be a good thing to roll into the exercise.
 
I started a lip purser and am doing more and more tongue blocking, but the TB bends aren't as good as the pucker bends yet, so improving my TB bends (they're not yet 'gigworthy') gets worked into my practice too.
 

________________________________
 From: Rick Dempster <rickdempster33@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Maka McMahon <makamcmahon@xxxxxxxxxxxx> 
Cc: "jim.alciere@xxxxxxxxx" <jim.alciere@xxxxxxxxx>; "harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Tuesday, 16 July 2013 9:12 AM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Re: Bending
  


That's a good one Maka. How are you starting the note? with the tongue making a 'T' sound? One thing I've found very useful in practice is to stop my automatic throat vibrato, and concentrate on the pitch,
rather than trying to dress up the inaccuracy with lots of wobble.



On 16 July 2013 09:05, Maka McMahon <makamcmahon@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Jim,
> 
>My simplest practice technique is to play all the notes in hole 3, in order, forwards and backwards, with different start points
> 
>-3  -3'  -3''  -3'''  +3
> 
>That way you can hear if the bent note isn't 'right' compared to its neighbours.  Playing forwards and backwards and starting at different places gets you hitting the right note straight away, without having to 'hunt'.
> 
>Works to a lesser degree on holes 2 and 1
> 
>Cheers
> 
>Maka
>