So I’ve been hammering away at bending for 3 months now and can get them all fairly easily now….but recently while practice the blues pentatonic scale I realized I was having issues going from a 4 draw to a 3 half step bend so now I’m questioning my technique! I can half step bend hole 3 two different ways. One way is sort of like sucking a straw, like I’m swallowing the note of that makes sense. It feels completely different than how I’d bend a whole step on 3! The other way I bend hole three is hard to describe but it’s tough to get and control it this way…although I can drop it on down a whole step using that same technique…hope that makes sense lol can someone describe how they half step bend hole 3 as compared to say 4 draw bend?
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Hello @Madmartigan26,
well, that’s the problem!
I play the bend on - 4’ in the mouth a little differently than - 3’, - 3" and -3"‘. The - 4’ comes alone with a slight tongue pull.
For me it is difficult to hit - 3’. The tongue pull is only minimal. I didn’t notice for two years that I had ignored the note and pulled to - 3" or - 3"’ directly in the song. Here the tongue pull for me goes to about the middle of the palate and almost the complete tongue pull, or the tongue is rolled towards the throat.
I now practice the bends as individual notes with the “Bend-it-Better Tool”. It works excellently.
With the right - 3 bends over a few minutes your throat gets really cold and dry. Then you’re doing it right!
Take a few minutes every day to do it. Then you’ll be able to play these bends cleanly and quickly in a song in the future.
Regards Astrid 
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Hey @Madmartigan26 CONGRATS!! Good job noticing - playing the -3’ in tune and holding it is the most challenging of all the bends in my opinion, and I know Joe Filisko agrees.
As you move up in keys it’s a smaller and more forward requirement. The F harp, I can literally just move the tip of my tongue slightly down to get the -3’, versus the lower keys require bigger and more back movements. On a G harmonica I have to move the back of my tongue up into the “Kk” zone.
The straw sucking analogy fits well to what I’m doing.
With ALL technique: What FEELS better? What SOUNDS better?
Also, it’s most often not either/or, but both/and.
One way might work/sound better in one context, and the other in another.
Hope this helps. Rock on! 
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