[Harp-L] Overbending

[Gary Lehmann]

Howard Levy coined the term overblows, and he wishes he had called it
something else.
Let's take a look at how the reeds respond to breath.
Normal action is blow and draw, that's what the instrument was designed
for. I call these notes "given" notes--you don't have to do anything but
breathe.
Next come bent notes--draw on 1-6, blow on 7-10. 5 and 7 are dicey, I
personally don't bend them and they can be easily broken with bad technique.
Now come the other bends, and these are created when you choke the sounding
reed and play the opposite breath direction reed. So, say, 6 blow on a C is
G--if you choke that reed, you can play the draw reed and it produces a Bb,
a half step higher than the normal tone (that's an A note on draw 6).