Hi all! I’ve recently been trying the bending tool, and I need some experienced ears to tell me what’s going on. I’m able to play licks with bends and it sounds like in the youtube examples, however according to the bending tool I’m still not bending
here is me exaggerating the bended notes as much as possible
= can anyone confirm that the “line” actually moves to the additional notes squares to square Gb/Bb for them?
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QUESTION: Is the issue with my : (A) bending technique? (B) my harmonica? (C) my microphone? (D) there is no issue
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thanks in advance!
Okay guys, so after having a second person listen to me play, I now understand that I still can’t play the “extra” notes such as Db, Gb, etc - however I CAN bend in the sense that I can produce those bluesy sounds which sound like the examples (in the bend it better webapp, the line goes all the way down in the original purple note square and becomes blue/grey)
Yep, you’re getting a tiny bend, but not down to the next notes yet. Keep on trying! Ain’t nothing to it but to do it. Try…and try again!
Also, not sure how many times you’ve watched the YT vid, but if only once or twice, I’d recommend going back and watching it again. Many people up one multiple watches will at some point have a breakthrough.
I asked Luke if I was bending through it and he said 100%. He was correct. It seems the lower and easier I try the easier it gets. I was drawing too hard and locking up a reed. I use a C A 2 tuner to see when I hit the second and third step 3 bend. It helps point out were the first one starts and then the second. It seems the spot is very small but on good days I can hit all three. Not saying they sound good enough to incorporate into a song. Making bends sound good seems to be another story with a long road ahead.
It just takes a bit of time and patience but you’ll get there, more than half the people I’ve met who want to play harp give up because they’re convinced they can’t bend. Bending is the Barre chord of the Harmonica world
So far, the bend still sounds like total crap, is hard to do and I’m as proud as heck of myself
I’m posting here while everything is still fresh now that I’ve reached “enlightenment”, so to speak
THE SOLUTION INVOLVED: getting a Hohner Special 20.
I don’t know if my seydel session standard could ever bend, or if I made it even harder with my (very light) gapping since the notes kept getting stuck initially since I produced lots of moisture and my lungs got tired which I blamed in the harmonica since I couldn’t tell the difference at the time.
Anyhow, my brave and shocking choice of getting a “hohner special 20” paid off, and after a few days of practice I was able to do it. I wasn’t even sure if it was my microphone that wasn’t picking up the “Db” so I went so far as have the bending tool open on both the laptop and mobile phone at the same time to compare, and I also used theonlinemetronome in conjunction with the bend it better tool since it’s slightly different. It also really helped to listen to a simple “example bend” track that just goes -4 -4’ -4 -4’ -4 -4’ and try to play along
Also, it helped to be LOUD. don’t be shy, and when trying to bend be LOUD and have DEEP BREATHS. Wait till people are out of the house, but don’t be afraid to “break the harmonica”, so to speak - it’s purpose is to teach you to bend,
Your experence seems a bit like mine, it took me a while but i’m starting to get there. 3/ and 4/ i can get semi-reliably without sounding horrible and others are starting to move.
I also still think my first harmonica wasn’t the easiest tool for bending, but now I’m settled into session steels i can’t see me changing (I might still try some more, i tried an easttop 008k and it’s ok, i don’t love it though, might try lea oskar and sp20 at some point).
Edited, was meaning to say i’mquite comfortable on seydel session steels now, i know they’re not everyone’s cup of tea but i like the sound and they seem to work for me.
For the past 2 months I have been working on the blow bends. Same as for draw bends it is easier for me on lower key harmonicas. I can now do all blow bends on a G harmonica. I have been trying to do blow bends on my Eb harmonica (the highest I have). I can now sometimes to a blow bend on the #9 but it is still rare. Blow bends on #10 remain elusive even on my A harmonica.
For a month now I have also be trying to do draw bends while tongue blocking. This has proven extremely hard. I feel totally stuck. The best I can do on a G harmonica is get a -2’ and -3’’ (I can’t just get a -3’) and on a A harmonica I get a -2’ and -3’‘’.
Any advice for bending while tongue blocking?
After more practice, I’m getting easier and consistent bends
still have to work on consistent “returns” back to D since that also takes control and skill
One “Secret” that no one in the tutorials seems to mention is that if your eardrums feel like they are about to pop out/like you are in an elevator/plane, then you are on the right track
Remember, volume is key. Trying it “quietly” won’t work. ALSO, learning to bend is a violent and unseemly process, and that’s ok.
After all this practice, I gave it a shot on the Seydel Session Standard, and found I could do it there too now! it takes more effort (reminds me of footballers/runners wearing “training weights”) but after using it I could do it way easier on the Special 20 afterwards (again, it could be that my Seydel session was worn out from the 6+ months of practice and my attempts at gapping). But yeah, no way could I have done it if I kept just trying it on the Seydel Session - all of that advice finally makes sense.
@yuriythebest. I’m not at a stage where I should be dispensing advice to others but my personal experience with bending is different to yours. I have not found that volume is key or even relevant. If I can bend it loud, I can bend it quiet.
I found i was using a lot of force to get the note to bend at first but as my techinque has been slowly getting better i’m using more mouth and less lung to pull the note down.
You guys!
After more practice, bending those notes has indeed become way less “energy intensive”, still more than regular notes but not the “jaw muscles tiring” experience I’ve had previously
To those at this stage,
it’s good to practice/experiment specifically with the “making it less energy intensive” part
What really helped me with the “energy intensive part”, especially with the -3 draw bend, is making a “farting” shape/sound with the mouth and tilting the harmonica upward.
Even after you can bend, I’ve found it a good idea to practice while looking “off-screen” from the bend it better app, then look back to make sure it’s still a full bend, especially with the 4 draw.
Also, I, finally, after 6+ months of learning the harmonica can claim to understand what “practicing the blues scale” is actually for. Previously, this esoteric bit of knowledge eluded me. I tried it before I could “actually” bend but didn’t know that I couldn’t, so I just made bluesy sounds that weren’t full-on bends and wondered what all the fuss was about. Now, I get it: it’s for practicing the 3 and 4 hole draw bends as well being able to quickly switch between those notes and the other common bluesy notes.
I really hope that, say, 10 years from now someone who was struggling will find this thread and it will help them.
