Hi! I’ve gone through the amazing video about bending ( How To Bend a Note on Harmonica for Beginners). I can do the “high pitched tea kettle” sound on a C harmonica on hole 4
however, unless I’m really really quiet, I’m only able to variate between a “High pitched tea kettle” and “train too-too horn” sound, whereas in the video it seemed possible to have various pitches - is it my technique, the harmonica or something else? Do I just need more practice?
thanks in advance!
Hi @yuriythebest - welcome to the forum! Glad to have you here. I’m not familiar with the video, so I’m not sure exactly what you’re talking about, but, if you haven’t seen it already, maybe this vid might help provide some other perspectives?
Hi Luke! Thanks, yes, that’s the video I was talking about
It is almost certain that your technique is still needing more work (= more practice)! Bending is something that harpists never stop practicing and perfecting.
When your technique is correct you should be able to bend even at low volume levels. Most beginners use too much power and try to force the bend. This can actually damage/destroy the reeds. So practice at medium to low volume levels. 
Regards,
– Slim 
It is your technique. Try placing your tongue bent down flat against your lips. SLOWLY pull your tongue back while drawing air in, and you should (depending on the hole) pass through multiple notes while bending.
Don’t give up! The hardest bend is the first one…And I think the second hardest is the next where you have to figure out what the heck you just did to pull it off 
The Bend It Better Tool is the best.
Important Tip, it is very important to also hear the note that you are trying to hit. You need to train your ear. Make sure to use the play function on the tool and not just the visual.
Happy Harping!
Hi @yuriythebest, I’ve been using the ‘bend it better’ tool for a week or so and it’s helped me a lot. My learning is not a straight-line improvement over time, sometimes I play worse this week than I did last week. Bend it better has definitely given me a boost. I can now vary my -1’ in C, up and down pretty much at will, looking at the line on the screen rising and falling. Doing that effectively within a song is a different matter of course. There are tips, as you know, on how to bend, what to do with your tongue etc., and they are very helpful. Here’s my take on it though and I’ll try not to ramble on too much.
When my kids were little, I used to do a lot of funny voices for them; Felix the cat, Quick draw and Baba Looey, Marvin the Martian etc. and I could do a pretty good James Stuart for the grown-ups. I can still do them but I’m out of practice. My point is that I don’t know how I do it, I just can. Most of us can mimic a foreign accent with varying degrees of success, but we couldn’t explain what we’re doing with our mouths and tongue and larynx to achieve that different voice. So, I think to a large degree we just need to listen, try different things and practice, practice, practice, until we get it.
I know that Jon Gindick sometimes posts in this forum, many years ago one of his tips got me bending in minutes. Think of the shape of your mouth when you make the sounds eeeee and oooooo. Then incorporate those shapes into your bends. It worked immediately and in a couple of days I was bending with confidence . I probably looked goofy walking around making eeeee oooooo shapes with my mouth, but it worked. Play on.
Thanks, Luke for the vid. I’m finding it helpful even though most of the time I can’t manage the bends. Yes, I have managed occasionally but then can’t do it over and over again. So reading the other posts about this was helpful - inspirational. I just have to (not) grit my teeth and keep trying.
PS What I mean is that I thought it was just me, that I was particularly useless at bending or that there might be something peculiar about my mouth - but now I see that others also find it difficult and those who can bend are very encouraging. So I’m going to keep trying. I do love the sound. Thanks to everyone.
@explorermatt good to see you on the forum again bud. It’s been a minute! Those are the vowel shapes I used when I first learned how to bend, and that’s how I used to teach it as well, as in this vid from 11 years ago:
About 5 years ago when I made the Blues for Beginners vid I asked a pro harmonica player to critique it and I had said “if you don’t know how to bend, try say oy” (oh and ee) and he was like “What?!? That’s backwards, if anything, say Waoo”.
I was like What? This guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about! But then I tried it and to my utter shock I got a bend. This turned my world upside down. I was beside myself for several days.
How could opposite mouth movements both produce bends!?!?!
Then I consulted my Harmonica for Dummies book by Winslow Yerxa and he talked about the Kk spot. I think the lifting of the BACK of the tongue (which makes the front of it go down) is key, and I think both “ooo” and “aah” can create a mouth movement that puts the tongue in that position.
At the end of the day, according to Richard Sleigh, only one thing creates a bend, and that is tuning your mouth to the resonant frequency of the note you are bending to. I think this is why whistling from high to low, or doing “the airplane dive” as I describe in Bending for Beginners can be so helpful. SLOWLY moving the tongue back into that position at some point you’ll hit that frequency and get a little bend.
@explorermatt I’ve now gotten away from “eee” as the default way to come out of a bend as it creates very BRIGHT tone. I mean that can be cool sometimes. But I went through a period of “breaking the habit” because I wanted to also be able to release a bend into a warmer vowel shape, if that makes sense.
@angela_67 I’m so gad you are feeling encouraged and inspired to keep on trying. THAT’S THE KEY. There’s only one path to learning any new technique:
Try. And try again.
It’s so exciting the FIRST time you get a new technique, and then so frustrating when you can’t replicate it at will! I’ve been more recently experiencing this all over again with learning over-blows so I’m with you 100%.
Keep on trucking! 
@Slim this is so good, I think it bears repeating:
Yes and amen.
Hey Luke,
Do not know how to DM directly or if it’s possible.
Anyway I recently saw one of your articles explaining differences between the crossover and MB deluxe.
Based on your instruction, I will buy the MB deluxe next time I buy harps.
In fact, I just bought two Special 20 progressive Bb harps. May send those back and buy 2 MB deluxe Bbs.
Thanks!
Eh @HoneyBoy better to keep conversations like this public anyways so people can potentially benefit from them.
Yeah the MB Deluxe is my favorite Hohner.
To stay on topic with this thread, I’ll mention I think the MB Deluxe and SP20 I find to be equally easy to bend.
The tone of the SP20 is darker, so for key of Bb you might prefer the MB Deluxe to cut thru the mix, but if you were buying a key of F you might consider the darker SP20 as it might be less shrill. Just a thought.
Look forward to hearing how you move forward. Make a new thread and keep us posted with your results when you get there.
I’ll just reshare here, what I shared on @Luke amazing course “beginner to boss” in case it can help anyone.
For me the -1′ bend is by far easier. I could do it from first try and can reproduce it almost anytime. The reason is that I almost just need to put my mouth in a yawning position without worrying about the tongue or the other techniques and I get it. If I switch to the -4′, I could not get it at first. I definitely need the Kk and work on the the tongue position. But it is something else that helped me get it to ‘click’. When Luke explained the “airplane dive/ee-yaw” technique and went from -4 to -4′ I immediately thought, “hold on, this sounds like the Once Upon a Time in the West – Man with a Harmonica Theme. Just a different note”. Apparently the bend on that theme is done from -6 to -6′. And, I also find trying to reproduce that far more easy than bending -4. I guess it is because we have heard that iconic riff so many times that we know how it is supposed to sound like. It is just like my mouth naturally knows what to do to reproduce that -6 to -6′. I think that knowing how it should sounds, and feeling when you get it right makes it easier.
If it helps anyone else, I found the tab for the “Once Upon a Time in the West – Man with a Harmonica Theme”. I think it is very simple and makes for a good practice exercise Once Upon a Time in the West – Man with a Harmonica Theme | Harmonica Club
I’m back here because I’m currently exactly in this “I can bend but…” total frustration.
I started @Luke amazing “Beginner to Boss” course 2 months and a half ago. The same as I started to practice single notes from day one, I started to practice bending 10 min a day, just after I started the course 3rd module on single notes and I’m glad I did. Because in about 1 month I can almost do half-step bend on draw notes, do the 8 blow bend and the -3’’ full step bend. So I think it is pretty good for a total beginner.
BUT…
For me the -1’ bend is by far the easiest. I got it instantly without any effort on the C harmonica. But I couldn’t (and still can’t) use the same technique on any other holes. So I then started with the bend on -6’ which I got before -4’ and then later managed -3’ which I have to force more. -2’ was elusive for a long time. Currently I can somehow do it but have to pull so hard that it is basically impossible to do in transition between notes and produces a lot of parasite air flow sound.
This is where the first frustration starts. I end-up having to use 2 different techniques. For -1’, I would describe it as “lowering my throat down”, for other draw bends I am “pulling my tongue back”. But the first technique does not work at all on the -2, and the second technique is extremely hard and I have to use too much force in the jaw to get it. It is not sustainable. So I am still struggling to get a correct -2’. I don’t understand how I can get a -1’ easily, a -3’ correctly but have to struggle so much for a -2’.
Then I am also practicing on A and G harmonicas as there are some riffs I’d like to play on those. And this is where the frustration piles up. Because at fir I couldn’t get a bend on -2 and -3 on those harmonicas as I did with the C. As I struggled, I tried to use my first technique on those holes on those two harps and realized I can then easily get -2’’ whole step bend and a -3’‘’ minor third bend. But I still can’t get a -2’ and -3’ half step bend. And If I try the control how much I “pull my throat down”, then I get no sound at all. And on an A harmonica I struggle with the -4’ the same as with the -2’ on the C harmonica.
So the whole thing is driving me nuts. I end up having to use two different techniques in different places in different harmonicas and despite that there are still bends I can’t do, the bends I can and can’t do vary depending on harmonicas and there are holes where I can do full step bend but not half step bend… And you can’t be sure that the bends I can’t do are the ones I need on every harmonica.
But I’m sticking with it. Especially working on bends on the A and G harmonicas as bending on those harps feel so much harder and I think that if I keep practicing with those that would unlock everything.
Anyone struggling with similar issues? Sorry for the long rant…
After playing one year and not getting a good bend I used much less effort and when the oooooo sound is played slowly move you tongue back keeping the tip down. When you hear it trying to bend the KA played, is what activated my first bend. Frankly some players get it quicker than others and there is so much talk about bending. It can seem intimidating to the new player. There is a small sweet spot in your mouth you must create. Sliding you tongue back slowly will go a long way to keeping you from going through the bend, which is what I was doing. I got 1,2,3,4 and 6 draw bends going but cleaning them up and playing them right consistently is very different than activating a bend. This is the part of bending that will take much practice and time. Frankly most bends do not appeal to me but there are times you have to play . To some they seem evil but they are a necessary evil You are bound to be a better player than at least one person than has bent notes, meaning you can learn it.
@Mugen Ha!! You’re on the right track my friend. At the end of the day, the reed will bend to the pitch your mouth is tuned to.
As I’ve said on the forum before I bent by lowering the back of my tongue for decades, and then found you could bend by raising the back of the tongue up and my world turned upside down and I lost. my perception of reality for a few days. LOLOL.
Just know we have all been there and have felt the feelings you are feeling. It’s TOTALLY NORMAL. It’s a crazy instrument, but the good news is you’re on the path, and you’ll will find what you like best WITH TIME, as long as you NEVER QUIT!
Rock on!
Thanks @Luke & @scott4. I’m psyched! As I shared in the course, despite I could get the half step bends on the C harmonica, I was not satisfied with my technique. So over the last week-end I restarted everything from scratch working on a G harmonica with my first technique despite I originally could only get it to work on the -1’. That helped me a lot. I’m glad I spent the time to patiently rework my technique. Now I can get all draw bends (half step, full step and minor 3rd) on the G and A harmonicas and some of the blow bends and I’m really psyched about that. On top of that, I don’t have to force any of them and they sound so much better.
The only drawback at first is that on the C & D harmonicas I lost the -3′. Using the technique I use for all other bends I get directly to -3’‘. So for -3’ I am still using my other technique which feels more like squeezing my embouchure to produce a duck 
sound than bending my tongue/throat 
.
i’m working through JP’s Breakthrough Blues in tandem with Luke’s course and up to now i’ve been really inconsistent with bends. 1 draw came really easily and i can even go straight to the bent note on the 1 hole but 4 continues to defeat me. I can start to get a bend but it’s totally inconsistent. I suspect almost everyone out there has had a similar experiences but here’s something that may give everyone struggling some hope. I started module 6, lesson 7 of JPs course this morning, partly dreading it because the lesson title was ‘2 draw bend’. I wasnt getting it at all but then about three quarters through the lesson he mentioned articulating a sound like ‘koh’. I gave it a try and suddenly i could do a half step and a full step bend as if it had never been a problem. Obviously they are unrefined and i need a hell of a lot of practise to perfect them but the point is, it just took that one little thing and suddenly something that seemed impossible is within grasp. The 4 continues to trouble me but its given me renewed hope that I just need another ‘2 draw’ moment to crack that one. Luke and JP continually tell us that bends will come to us if we just don’t give up and it’s easy to get disheartened and think it’s not actually going to come to you but hopefully my experience will give anyone else struggling some renewed faith to keep going.