I see many post about bending and know well it is a feat to play them well. Hopefully I will be able to play them and augment a song at the same time. I tried so hard at the start I was going through the bend that a reed would lock up.
I started playing the harp and bending seemed to be a big hurdle with good reason. It is tough to put in words how to activate a bend. I always could whistle both inhaling and exhaling at a very young age. I never thought about it but bending a note while whistling is something I had been doing for years but never knew about it. My point is when you whistle and change a note your are in effect bending it. You change the speed of air flow and move your tongue to change air pressure and air speed to make a desired note. if you can whistle and change the pitch you are moving your tongue to do so. Same goes for bending with your harp. If you can whistle by inhaling pay attention to how you move your tongue to do so. I feel if you can do this bending a note with a harp is exactly the same thing. I noticed this while whistling a tune I am trying to learn as this helps me in a large way. Same thing goes for whistling on an exhale. I make this point only to emphasize how the tongue is used to bend up or down. Just give this a try and pay attention how you move you tongue back and up and down. If you are fighting to get your first bend this may well put your closer and example how your tongue plays a large role in bending with a harp or whistling. Just whistle any tune and pay attention how you move your tongue to get the desired note. Hope this helps and I can say I wish that I had been bending notes up and down and never knew it. The difference is whistling gives a person the ability to make a tune out of it and do it with only one note to start with. Its all we have and without bending while whistling it would be extremely difficult or impossible to whistle a tune doing it. I had been bending notes for years but never knew it but not with a harp.