I am really struggling to bend on mySP20 in C, especially the 4 draw and the 3 half bend. However, I can hit them all, inconsistently, on my Seydel Session Steel in A..
Do others find it easier to bend on an A, or is it perhaps the steel works a bit better for me?
On the four draw try doing tee too the too should be the bend. Let me know how you get on.
Thanks. Yes, that helps to move it a little bit, but I feel I’m using too much force to pull it off. I’ll keep at it.
Keep practicing use half the breath you normally use, it’ll come.
Practice both methods of tee too and kee koo and your bending should come .
Reed gap is a big factor in how easy a bend can be played. If you can whistle inhaling it is a big help I/M/O. If you can try to lower the pitch while doing it or trying to. It is easy to move through the sweet spot so try it slowly, even if you cannot whistle, just inhale slowly. Your tongue will draw back exactly like a bend, If you can get one bend you can get another. Don’t know where you live but if you hear a dove cooing try to replicate this. I you can stick the harp in and do it.
I do not work on the -3/// much or the -1/. Too low. Seems like the tunes I like have the bends with a quick bens like -3/. If you ever watched batman , which I did not, try this riff. -2 -2 -2// -2// -2/ -2/-2/ -2/-2 -2.Its sounds like the tune played at the beginning. It helped me go to the -2// to the *2/ and release the bend to -2.
Yes, the bends will be easier on an A than a C harp. I’ve never played steel, so I can’t answer to that, but I have played C and A, and A bends easier. I play Little Walter instrumentals for practice. Getting back into it. Lots of cool bends there. Just keep harpin’. You’ll get it eventually. Off The Wall is an instrumental in C. It’s on Youtube.
And I have played SP20s for years. Since they were introduced. Did not prefer the Marine Band with wooden combs.
@wannago I think SP20 might be the most bendable harp out there. Some folks find the Lee Oskar easier, some the the SP20. So I’d put my money that you’re finding the key of A easier, rather than it being a brand thing.
Yeah, I thought about this further. C must be easier to bend, and that’s why everyone starts on a C. Of course, bends on both harps (A/C) occur at different places in the mouth, at least for a pucker player like me. It’s probably true for a straight tongue blocker, too, but I use TBing for special effects, not for every bend, although I can TB bend all the way to the 1 hole.
Lower harps are bent towards the back of the mouth. A LOW F, for example, is bent almost in the throat. Whereas a HI F (which I rarely play these days) is bent (with pucker) almost at the front teeth. Luke can clarify better on this subject. I haven’t had to think about this for years.
I play all the Little Walter instrumentals pucker. Even played Rollercoaster at my father’s funeral last year. Didn’t want to, but my brother told me YOU WILL PLAY HARMONICA AT DAD’S FUNERAL. Wish I’d worked up Blue Midnight as well for that funeral, but I hadn’t looked at a harp since about 2012. Everyone loved it, and my grandniece, a five year old, asked for a harmonica for Christmas. Keep it in your mouth–that’s what the pros have always told me.
My final comment is no matter what happens in life, play a little everyday. Don’t quit for any reason, as there are always many reasons to quit. I just started playing again daily recently after quitting in 2006. You will learn to bend. Took me a while when I first started. Now I play Little Walter instrumentals (which I learned in the 1990’s for a band).