Totally agree! Reminds me of when I taught myself to whistle loudly with my fingers. Weeks and weeks and weeks of failure. But I eventually got it. I guess that's what keeps me going.
I’ve learned so so much from this lad in such a short time literally only just stumbled upon him today and after only two hours of practice I’ve learned more from him than I’ve learned in months paying rubbish teachers . Thanks
Holy crap! I’ve been noodling on the harmonica for about 15 years (very casually), but never been able to bend notes. I didn’t even make it to the end of this video before I actually managed to bend notes! Seriously - I started learning literally 12 minuters ago and now I bend without much fail! Superb, my man!
Ok, so after getting frustrated and thinking everyone was bad teachers, including this guy, I realised i was doing mistake number 4. Make slow tongue adjustments, you don't pull it way back, it's only subtle. Thanks mate! Great video.
Tomlin, I'd like add tip number 9 (or number 0) = get a good professional harp. Many begginners start off with cheap ones, like the BluesBands and it is such a disservice to the player. I've struggled for 4 months to get one single good bend on those, until I finally decided to get me some Special 20s... Man, what a difference. What I couldn't do for months on those, I've learned pretty much on a week on the S20s. Though I am still perfecting my bends, I can hit all of the draws (even the 1 and 1/2 step on 3th hole). Just to show that a good instrument DOES make a huge difference on this case. Cheers from Brazil.
Man, i think i'm having the same problem here. When i'm bending on the fourth hole, i can't get the full bend, and mine is the Bluesband model haha BR assistindo vídeo aqui também, que coincidencia. abraço
Nerenahd Dhaneren eae cara... comprei uma meio no susto, sem presquisar antes... erro meu :( comprei uma hohner em C... queria saber se comprei uma decente
Luiz Felipe Alves Kkkk, comprei no susto foi boa. Olha, existem várias Hohner, muitas são horríveis, muitas são excelentes. Depende de qual vc comprou, se foi qualquer uma mais barata que a Special 20, com certeza é fraca. Agora, eu fiquei nas BluesBand baratas por uns 4 meses, e aprendi umas músicas, aprendi a isolar as notas etc. Pra isso, até q tá valendo. Se vc vai evoluindo e chega num ponto de começar a fazer bends, aí é hora de trocar por uma melhor. Ou se vc está sério sobre tocar gaita, vai logo pra uma Special 20 que vc vai evoluir muito mais rápido. Abs.
Count me as another beginner who has benefitted from your bending lesson! I can now draw bend on #4, getting a bend on 3 draw seems harder but will keep experimenting! Thank you for these lessons!
Been struggling with bending, worked through your tips. The first one told be what I was aiming for, tip 5 was a game changer. I can now bend, so grateful.
I don't know exactly how... I just watched the video and try to make the same sound and then I made bend note! I think it's because I reduce the space in my mouth put my tongue up. Thank you!
You are just so awesome!! After a lot of videos, I finally got it watching this one - on hole 4 anyway......it was the tongue movement. 4 needs the pressure at the back upper palate for me. Seems to be a quite different for each note though...can't get anything on 1 and 2 yet, and not much on 3 (if any?). 6 works by changing the tongue nearer the front of the mouth, at which time the tongue starts to flutter! More practice. Thank you so much!
Great lesson! Clean bends are my struggle. I agree with Nerenahd, cheap harps don't make decent bends. I too use the Special 20 (but I still need more bending practice). Tomlin - some people are natural artists and make bends easy. I have an engineer's mind and I like how you break down your lessons to the mechanics of technique. Just what a gearhead like me needs. I'm a thousand-times improved by practicing your lessons!
Wow thanks for the tip. I bought an harmonica ages ago like in 2005 and the only ressource I found taught me how to tilt bend and I thought that was it. God damn. I actually clicked "like" on the video, consider yourself lucky because I never click like on a video, especially not one from a bloody anglo.
I am kind of surprised by how quickly learning to play the harmonics turned into chewing lessons. By the way, that "dont pull yout tongue back to far" tip was golden for me. Thanks!
Really good thanks. 3 draw bends another matter,seeming very sensitive, requiring very little extra tongue movement and easy to over bend and get high pitched rattle?
Totally - the 3 is very sensitive as there are three different bends on it. The first bend requires quite a lot of finesse with the tongue in the front of the mouth. The second bend is further back. The third bend is much further back.
Just went through the tips in this video again to improve my Bending, really helped. Great tips and they all work when applied probably. Thank you Tomlin 👏👏👏👏👏✅
@@TomlinHarmonica oh I was wrong... My concert marine band is an octave harmonica. The holes are smaller than the normal harmonica. Is harder to bend with it, right?
Yesssss ! Thank you Tomlin ! I did it ! Had been drawing and drawing for hours and thought my mouth might be different from the others' :D ! And now I did it ! I read a comment (by BurkettTimothy) and also tried the first hole, which also proved easier for me, so I tried to remember how I did it and finally it worked on the 4th hole. Not all the time at the beginning, so I hope I won't forget !
Hey, thanks for the great video! After a couple of minutes, I've managed to bend on a c harp that I received last week, but I'm in possession of an old harmonica, a "hohner gold", 20 holes that I found in my grandpa's desk drawer... :D and I didn't manage to get a bend out of it...! I'm wondering if it's even possible! Do you know if it's possible to bend on any harmonica, or if there are some models that simply aren't meant for this? Anyway, thanks for the cool content!
I don't know if anyone will see this comment, but I found a comment on a forum that just let EVERYTING just click, especially with the tongue position: Take a straw or imagine a straw in your mouth > imagine sucking air through it, but be thorough with your imagination as your brain needs to take this position > now imagine sucking as if it's icecream/milkshake in it. This change in your tongue is exactly how you'll be altering the air stream. I wasn't able to conceptualize it before FIRST doing the sucking air through the "straw" and THEN moving to the sucking position for a milkshake. After this, I had a perfect bend in about an hour.
Amazing stuff! :-) Got it the first time, thanks to you! I don't even remember how I decided to get my first Harmonica, about 10 days ago? But what I know, is that I got my second one as well, finished your beginner free course, and I'm full onto it. Man, thank you very much for your contribution! I didn't know what I was missing all these years hahhaha :D PS (big one) : Whoever's reading this...Before even discovering Tomlin's channel and suggestions, I got a Fender Blues Deluxe (E) as a first. So, it plays okay... But it *DOESN'T* bend well at all (at least not with my rookie skill). Then, I bought a SUZUKI Bluesmaster in C, (I could have gone for the Hohner Special 20 as you *also* suggest, but that will definitely happen next time). Well, the Suzuki Bluesmaster bends way better. And it's absolutely more responsive. *Suggestion* : Better buy a Telecaster or a Strat guitar from Fender.. But, please, better buy a harmonica from the pros: Hohner, or Suzuki or Seydel. My father has a collection of Hohners, btw, he loves them.
@@TomlinHarmonica More than helpful, mister. (-: I would like to express my gratitude for the quality of the free e-courses. Long-time fan of MOOCs here, so I deeply appreciate what you do: They are well-structured, user-friendly, and free. I will definitely pay you for the advanced course as well, sooner or later. I'm on the 4-week Blues Foundation now, and creating a new habit: incorporating your diaphragm breathing exercise, as a 1-minute mindfulness meditation before my training. I will put a full stop here. Thanks again, have a nice day!
Is it better to go below the half step on the C bend? Lot's of people doing videos on bending do that. Also, do you compensate for the harmonica if it plays a bit sharp on the unbended note?
do you bend with tongue blocking or puckering? I can use tongue blocking decently, but I find it impossible - so far - to bend with it. What would you suggest me?
Can my harmonica go bad? As in it doesn't hit the bent note properly? I don’t know if I played it too hard but the 2nd hole goes dead as soon as I try to bend it. And the 3rd isn’t much better.
I have a question: do we use only our mouth to isolate the note or do we use our tongue as well? I'm sure you taught that on another lesson but I cannot find it. I have learned the tongue isolation and I think someone cannot bend using it, right? I'll just change it, if there is no way I can bend with this style.
What’s even crazier, is you can bend a guitar string down... but still presents the same sound. Harmonica is definitely an instrument that can be difficult to even learn. Let alone, master
Man, you're my hero. My mom gave me a harmonica for my birthday when I was like 14 or so. Since then I've tried to bend. That's more then 10 years ago, I learned playing piano, guitar, bass and mandolin during that time but didn't manage to do that f*ing bend on my harmonica - until I watched your video yesterday. Turns out: I held that thing wrong for 10 years - tip 5 was the missing hint for me. You're the only one I've seen who actually shows that. Plus the eee-ooo and the last tip helped a lot. Thanks again 1000 times!
@@TomlinHarmonica I still strugling with this bending technics.. OMG, so hard for me.. I use my only cheap china's harp.. Do you think I use the wrong harp? And should I pick the good one?
@@andrestp from my experience from bending you probably should invest a couple more dollars for a good beginners harp that is easy to play and to bend with like a hohner special 20
@@andrestp cheap harps are not a good way to start learning harmonicas. They usually have a really bad tone, and most of them are really leaky so are significantly harder to play than decent harmonicas. Bending would almost be impossible on those harps. Anyone would recommend a semi-decent harp over a cheap one.
It took me a lot of trying, i found the first hole was easiest to bend and just couldnt get the 4th hole to do so. Just keep practicing, and it will come to you
@@parealbuffalo5790 You get a perfect bend when the sound of the airflow between your tongue and your palate (the roof of your mouth) matches the pitch of the bent note. Once you get that, bending becomes easy. I made a video about this, maybe it can help you.
This is crazy. I have been playing harmonica for about a week (total playing time maybe 1-2 hours), and have been focusing on bends because I know how hard it can be, and I never understood how it's done. Within 10 minutes of trying this stuff I had fairly consistently bent holes 1 through 6. !!!! Thank you Tomlin!
I've been playing the harp for a few months now on and off, happy with my progression, could not bend for the life of me. I installed one of those tuner apps on my phone that detect which harp note is being played and had it next to my laptop while watching this video, never once getting the 4 draw bend button to light up on the app. I practiced, rewatched this video, paused, repeat process for a good 45 minutes and all of a sudden with the culmination of all the tips I got the -4'! I was so happy I nearly cheered out loud! Now I'm just working on getting it every single time and getting it into the muscle memory, like learning how to play single clean notes. Thanks so much Tomlin!
That moment you make a Bend for the first time. :D Feels REALLY GOOOOOOOOOD. Stop video and repeat. Because from now on i'm better than when i first started it :P.... And repeat…..
Great tutorial. What I recently discovered is that no matter which harmonica key and which hole you're playing, you get a perfect bend when the sound of the airflow between your tongue and your palate matches the pitch of the bent note. Once you get that, bending becomes a natural thing to do. Keep up the good work!
The only thing that works is tilt bending and straining. sucking hard (not playing louder). Eee-ooo changes the sound and pitch goes slightly up on the ooo not down. what am I doing wrong.
I paused when instructed each time until I achieved an audible difference in tonality. I worked each section thoroughly and changed from slight bend to a clear and deep sustain. While trying to develop proper technique, I developed incorrect techniques simultaneously. Then upon resuming video each time, he explains precisely how to correct such errors as if he was present. By the end of this video (30 mins for me) I was bending smoothly and deeply, half or full! Complete NOOB here, credit due to this MASTERFUL TEACHER! Just started yesterday on your beginner 12 bar blues. Thank You. HOHNER BIG RIVER HARP "C"
Tomlin Leckie, how much does the difficulty increase when one goes to steel reeds? I have the basic 5-harp Hohner Roadhouse Blues pack (essentially Chinese crap), and my thought is to replace those with quality harps as I blow them out. But my need right now is for an F harp, as I play ukulele and 75% of the songs I play are in the key of C. Rather than buying another piece of junk, I thought I would get a Seydel, but it will have steel reeds.
I've been practicing bending & I don't have any trouble bending the notes 1-4 but the subsequent bends F, A, A flat, etc. are much more difficult. I'm hoping your suggestions will be helpful. Question: Why no time spent on holes 8,9,10? I can get some crazy sounds by over blowing but I don't know how to tell if there anywhere near what there suppose to be.
Hi Paul, great questions! The lower bends require your tongue to go further back in your mouth. It takes time to build up this kind of bending strength. Here is a video to help with that - ua-cam.com/video/6QUDh9V4pFU/v-deo.html To answer your second question about blow bends (not overblows), up until recently this has been a big weak area for me. I've been working on it for the last 6 months or so and it is starting to get better so I will be doing more material at the high end in the future :-)
Thank you Tomlin. I have owned a harp (albeit a cheap one) for most of my life. I currently own a Hohner Big River and a Hohner Super Chromonica, both in the key of C, however I just ordered a Special 20 to hopefully make my bending easier. I've never really committed to learning to play, but in the tinkering I have done in the past 40 years I have always struggled with getting a consistent, on key bend. I have have owned books & watched videos attempting to explain it till I'm ready to throw the harp into the ocean. This is the first time someone has walked me through the nuances, step by step, that made a meaningful difference. After just one viewing my bends are more solid and within a few minutes of practicing your tips there is a significant improvement. This just might be the breakthrough I needed to take my playing seriously.
I practiced for 2 weeks based off another video and I was getting pretty close but I was like, “ is this the right sound?” So using that tilt method I was able to hear the right tone, then I just went eee ooo and it clicked right away. The more you practice the more the explanation of the tonque movements make sense too
I've been trying to do the bending so hard since so long and this is the first video that really really helped me. I could do my first bending... thanks a lot you are the best
I really can't thank you enough for this. I was struggling with the whole step/whole and a half step bend, and your advice on not blowing too hard and mouth movements helped me nail it after so freaking long.
Well - for some reason, this just won't work for me at all. All I am achieving is varying the tone from a thin, treble sound to an open, bassy sound, but the actual NOTE itself remains stubbornly the same. I've tried it on three, old harmonicas I've had for years - a Hohner Chromonica; a Chinese chromatic one called "Tower" and an ancient, cheapo 12-hole-double-row kiddies harmonica called "Sonny Boy" - but I get the same result with all of them. I hate to sound so negative, but no matter how gently I draw (just enough to get a note), and no matter how much I change the shape of my tongue, i just cannot get any note to bend. Either I need to continue practising for a few years, or perhaps these old harps just aren't good enough? I really don't know what the problem is. I despair.
Hi Steve, it sounds like you are not using a 10 hole diatonic harmonica. That is what you will need to bend on. I would recommend getting a Hohner Special 20. Hope that helps.
@@TomlinHarmonica Thanks for your response. Since I posted this negative comment above, several things have happened. I ordered myself a 10-hole diatonic - The Hohner Blues Harp - which just arrived this morning. While I'd been waiting, I'd been watching a few other tutorial videos about bending - and some were more useful than others. I found one by David Kettlewell, where he demonstrates how to bend on ANY hole on a chromatic harmonica! He also said how difficult it usually is to learn and develop the technique (he explained it differently to the way you do, though it's essentially the same tongue movements) and he said not to stress out over not being able to get it straight away - or even after a long time - and not to get despondent, like I'd been. So, while I was waiting for the Blues Harp to arrive, I practised a bit more on the Tower chromatic one. Yesterday, on the FIRST hole only, I actually managed a semitone bend! I had to combine drawing harder than I thought with tilting the instrument like you showed us, but I managed to get a sustainable bend! The tongue has to be really bunched right back against the back of the throat while you inhale really strongly, but it works! When the Blues Harp diatonic job arrived this morning, the first thing I tried on it was a first-hole bend - and I got it more or less straight away! I can't do it on ANY other hole yet (I don't quite understand why - especially not the 4th?) - but it's a START! If I can do that - then it's only a matter of time before I can get better at it and get results on the other holes as well! Thank you for all your help!
Been getting really close these past few days, the tip about having a "muscular tongue" and not "breathing any harder" are helping out a lot. One thing I'm wondering though about bending (and also playing harmonica in general): Am I supposed to do this audible breathing (iii, uuu etc.) when I'm playing? I've just been breathing in and out normally through the harmonica without making any particular sound and I'm also getting close to being able to bend without making any specific sound, so I'm wondering if the iii, uuu is supposed to be used for general harmonica playing? Is it supposed to be used for bending? Or is it just a bit of a "crutch" for learning the bend (like tipping it) to start with?
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I've learned some pretty technical things on guitar,bass and drums, but this is the most frustrating musical technique I've ever tried!! 😆
Agreed!!!😅😅
100% I’ve been trying to bend for so long now and just can’t get it
Joe Deverell-Smith Don’t give up!!! I got it and you will too!
Totally agree! Reminds me of when I taught myself to whistle loudly with my fingers. Weeks and weeks and weeks of failure. But I eventually got it. I guess that's what keeps me going.
Trying to incorporate bends in the blues scale.... my poor neighbors lol. It's like a chromatic squeaky toy. Over n over and over 😯
water fire earth air these four nations once lived in harmony then everything changed when the avatar learned the harmonica.
Actually I am imagining the draw bend as some kind of airbending and it helps controlling the air flow...
I need to harmonbend as well
Me too
That's mad, I got it pretty much straight away! Keep at it, I'm sure you'll get it soon!
The 'ee' 'oo' technique is what got it for me, as a guitarist I find it weird that the note bends down though!
I’ve learned so so much from this lad in such a short time literally only just stumbled upon him today and after only two hours of practice I’ve learned more from him than I’ve learned in months paying rubbish teachers . Thanks
Number 5 was the only thing I needed, I cannot thank you enough 😭❤️
Can you actually bend better now?
@@eduardojara6955 yeah! But it took some time tbh hahaha
Time
This is the best tutorial on bending I have seen!
Holy crap! I’ve been noodling on the harmonica for about 15 years (very casually), but never been able to bend notes. I didn’t even make it to the end of this video before I actually managed to bend notes! Seriously - I started learning literally 12 minuters ago and now I bend without much fail! Superb, my man!
That's fantastic news Psykel! Let me know if I can help you further with anything. :-)
Tomlin Leckie Thanks! Can you help me pick up girls?
Tomlin Leckie Never mind. You taught me how to bend tones on the harmonica, so the girls will be coming!
@@Psykel
There ya go!
Thank you for your technical tips on how to play diatonic harmonica .. very useful for me as a beginner to learn from you..Regards from Indonesia
I am a diatonic harmonica beginner at Taiwan. I like your lesson, I will try your method from now on.
I gave up on bending and the harmonica because i could never preform a bend. this video has helped me break that curse.
Ok, so after getting frustrated and thinking everyone was bad teachers, including this guy, I realised i was doing mistake number 4. Make slow tongue adjustments, you don't pull it way back, it's only subtle.
Thanks mate! Great video.
100% percent difference in the tilt of the harmonica!! great tip
I like the EEE...OOO method the best. It was the first method I learned and have never changed.
Whatever works for you :-)
Thanks for watching! Don’t forget to ‘Subscribe’ and turn on notifications to never miss another Harmonica video. :-)
Thank you.
Best explains I've seen so far! I am a follower now!
Thank you very much
Û
Thank you
Came here from Karin Gredge. Subscribed, thanks for the tutorial
Thanks Tomlinson you are a great teacher I'm an absolute beginner but the tips are a big help. Jon
Cheers, Jon! :-)
Picked up my first harmonica today ! Your a very good teacher I got this almost instantly! The eeee o thing really helped
OMG this helped so much i was having so much trouble with this
Tomlin, I'd like add tip number 9 (or number 0) = get a good professional harp. Many begginners start off with cheap ones, like the BluesBands and it is such a disservice to the player. I've struggled for 4 months to get one single good bend on those, until I finally decided to get me some Special 20s... Man, what a difference. What I couldn't do for months on those, I've learned pretty much on a week on the S20s. Though I am still perfecting my bends, I can hit all of the draws (even the 1 and 1/2 step on 3th hole). Just to show that a good instrument DOES make a huge difference on this case. Cheers from Brazil.
Man, i think i'm having the same problem here. When i'm bending on the fourth hole, i can't get the full bend, and mine is the Bluesband model haha
BR assistindo vídeo aqui também, que coincidencia. abraço
Henrique Alves - this Blues Breaker I don't know, but you should get at least some Special 20s. Abraços e não desista! 😐
É a bluesband mesmo cara, eu me confundi. A mais genérica de todas
Nerenahd Dhaneren eae cara... comprei uma meio no susto, sem presquisar antes... erro meu :( comprei uma hohner em C... queria saber se comprei uma decente
Luiz Felipe Alves Kkkk, comprei no susto foi boa. Olha, existem várias Hohner, muitas são horríveis, muitas são excelentes. Depende de qual vc comprou, se foi qualquer uma mais barata que a Special 20, com certeza é fraca. Agora, eu fiquei nas BluesBand baratas por uns 4 meses, e aprendi umas músicas, aprendi a isolar as notas etc. Pra isso, até q tá valendo. Se vc vai evoluindo e chega num ponto de começar a fazer bends, aí é hora de trocar por uma melhor. Ou se vc está sério sobre tocar gaita, vai logo pra uma Special 20 que vc vai evoluir muito mais rápido. Abs.
Count me as another beginner who has benefitted from your bending lesson! I can now draw bend on #4, getting a bend on 3 draw seems harder but will keep experimenting!
Thank you for these lessons!
that eeeeooo really worked for me thanks !
Such a clear video! And how frustrating to not find that bend... The end was very reassuring, that it can take un to six months!
Been struggling with bending, worked through your tips. The first one told be what I was aiming for, tip 5 was a game changer. I can now bend, so grateful.
Just started to play. Great lesson Tomlin, thank you!
Tomlin, of all the lessons on the Internet yours, are the best
thank you so much for this! finally played my first draw bend after this video and it sounds so cool. god bless you and keep you safe
That's a great moment - so glad you hit one!
Thank you. The eee-oooo really helped. I'm trying to hit my wife up for your 12 week course as a Christmas present.
did she get u the course
Fantastic Tips. Made it easy for me. at 62 I've learn to bend! Thank you,
IV
Your lesson has helped me so much. You answered all my questions on technique need immediately!!! Thank you!!!👏👏👏👏
I don't know exactly how... I just watched the video and try to make the same sound and then I made bend note! I think it's because I reduce the space in my mouth put my tongue up. Thank you!
You are just so awesome!! After a lot of videos, I finally got it watching this one - on hole 4 anyway......it was the tongue movement. 4 needs the pressure at the back upper palate for me. Seems to be a quite different for each note though...can't get anything on 1 and 2 yet, and not much on 3 (if any?). 6 works by changing the tongue nearer the front of the mouth, at which time the tongue starts to flutter! More practice. Thank you so much!
Great lesson! Clean bends are my struggle. I agree with Nerenahd, cheap harps don't make decent bends. I too use the Special 20 (but I still need more bending practice). Tomlin - some people are natural artists and make bends easy. I have an engineer's mind and I like how you break down your lessons to the mechanics of technique. Just what a gearhead like me needs. I'm a thousand-times improved by practicing your lessons!
Thank you very much, you explain wonderful
Helped a lot... Thanks..
very helpful.. Thanks
Thanks a lot for your tips! You save me hours of struggle! Thanks a lot for your videos! :)
Thank's, that's great advice. I've stopped fighting the harmonica.
This is the best bend video i found!!!
Wow thanks for the tip. I bought an harmonica ages ago like in 2005 and the only ressource I found taught me how to tilt bend and I thought that was it. God damn. I actually clicked "like" on the video, consider yourself lucky because I never click like on a video, especially not one from a bloody anglo.
I placed tape over the third and fifth holes so could focus on the bending technique instead of trying to hit a single note and try bending.
Thank you very much friend i nailed it almost immediately with the three first ways a semitine down but i did it with an f major harmonica.
Helpful, well done video!
I am kind of surprised by how quickly learning to play the harmonics turned into chewing lessons.
By the way, that "dont pull yout tongue back to far" tip was golden for me. Thanks!
Really good thanks. 3 draw bends another matter,seeming very sensitive, requiring very little extra tongue movement and easy to over bend and get high pitched rattle?
Totally - the 3 is very sensitive as there are three different bends on it. The first bend requires quite a lot of finesse with the tongue in the front of the mouth. The second bend is further back. The third bend is much further back.
This was the lesson i needed to actually start bending, i found it very helpful!
Just went through the tips in this video again to improve my Bending, really helped. Great tips and they all work when applied probably. Thank you Tomlin 👏👏👏👏👏✅
Great video Tomlin thanks for your advise!
thanks from nepal
My pleasure from Scotland Ramesh :-)
"Keep the harmonica tipped up" that's the secret! i can bend now! tyvm!!! XD
Thanks for this video, i have only a "concert marine band" harmonica in C. Have you more tips for concert harmonicas bending?
Hi Francesco, I've never played a "concert marine band" but as far as I understand you would need to learn to block a single hole and bend that.
@@TomlinHarmonica oh I was wrong... My concert marine band is an octave harmonica. The holes are smaller than the normal harmonica. Is harder to bend with it, right?
Gettin there
Yesssss ! Thank you Tomlin ! I did it ! Had been drawing and drawing for hours and thought my mouth might be different from the others' :D ! And now I did it ! I read a comment (by BurkettTimothy) and also tried the first hole, which also proved easier for me, so I tried to remember how I did it and finally it worked on the 4th hole. Not all the time at the beginning, so I hope I won't forget !
Great news Anne. Happy that it finally worked out for you! Cheers! :-)
@@TomlinHarmonica Thanks ! I'm having a workshop with Thierry Crommen at the end of the month : I have to be ready for it !
Jeeej! Managed to bend! But does it only work breathing in? Or does it work for both?
good vid thanx
i did it!!!
Hey, thanks for the great video! After a couple of minutes, I've managed to bend on a c harp that I received last week, but I'm in possession of an old harmonica, a "hohner gold", 20 holes that I found in my grandpa's desk drawer... :D and I didn't manage to get a bend out of it...! I'm wondering if it's even possible! Do you know if it's possible to bend on any harmonica, or if there are some models that simply aren't meant for this? Anyway, thanks for the cool content!
Useful video.:)
I don't know if anyone will see this comment, but I found a comment on a forum that just let EVERYTING just click, especially with the tongue position:
Take a straw or imagine a straw in your mouth > imagine sucking air through it, but be thorough with your imagination as your brain needs to take this position > now imagine sucking as if it's icecream/milkshake in it. This change in your tongue is exactly how you'll be altering the air stream. I wasn't able to conceptualize it before FIRST doing the sucking air through the "straw" and THEN moving to the sucking position for a milkshake. After this, I had a perfect bend in about an hour.
Are you doing another beginner course as you did October 2018 cheers
Aang would have been an amazing hamonica bender
Amazing stuff! :-) Got it the first time, thanks to you! I don't even remember how I decided to get my first Harmonica, about 10 days ago? But what I know, is that I got my second one as well, finished your beginner free course, and I'm full onto it. Man, thank you very much for your contribution! I didn't know what I was missing all these years hahhaha :D
PS (big one) : Whoever's reading this...Before even discovering Tomlin's channel and suggestions, I got a Fender Blues Deluxe (E) as a first. So, it plays okay... But it *DOESN'T* bend well at all (at least not with my rookie skill).
Then, I bought a SUZUKI Bluesmaster in C, (I could have gone for the Hohner Special 20 as you *also* suggest, but that will definitely happen next time).
Well, the Suzuki Bluesmaster bends way better. And it's absolutely more responsive.
*Suggestion* : Better buy a Telecaster or a Strat guitar from Fender.. But, please, better buy a harmonica from the pros: Hohner, or Suzuki or Seydel. My father has a collection of Hohners, btw, he loves them.
Awww, thanks for the great feedback! So pleased that you found my lessons helpful. :-)
@@TomlinHarmonica More than helpful, mister. (-: I would like to express my gratitude for the quality of the free e-courses. Long-time fan of MOOCs here, so I deeply appreciate what you do: They are well-structured, user-friendly, and free. I will definitely pay you for the advanced course as well, sooner or later.
I'm on the 4-week Blues Foundation now, and creating a new habit:
incorporating your diaphragm breathing exercise, as a 1-minute mindfulness meditation before my training.
I will put a full stop here. Thanks again, have a nice day!
Good stuff. Gotta work hard to make it sound like you do. It only LOOKS easy! LOL
doing i to o with your mouth is the key
So if you can just bend down.....how would you play for example F#in a asending bkues riff.... would you need to pre roll toungue to ghost note the G?
Wowzers, tried a 'kk' zone but technique but failed. oooo -> eee was a light bulb moment for me!
Interesting- how do you bend a Chromatic note to further sharpen it ?
On a chromatic you can bend down in pitch but not very far.
Is it better to go below the half step on the C bend? Lot's of people doing videos on bending do that. Also, do you compensate for the harmonica if it plays a bit sharp on the unbended note?
I used the 8 tips combined and I only got halfway between the B and the A# bend in my A Harmonica
do you bend with tongue blocking or puckering? I can use tongue blocking decently, but I find it impossible - so far - to bend with it. What would you suggest me?
I can bend the 4 hole draw but struggle with all the others. Is the technique the same for all holes? Any tips from anyone? Thanks!
Can my harmonica go bad? As in it doesn't hit the bent note properly? I don’t know if I played it too hard but the 2nd hole goes dead as soon as I try to bend it. And the 3rd isn’t much better.
I've got a Hohner Silver Star, but6 can only get the bend on the first. Would it be better to get the 1896?
Mcully caucklin
I don't seem to get it. Any other suggestions?
I have a question: do we use only our mouth to isolate the note or do we use our tongue as well? I'm sure you taught that on another lesson but I cannot find it. I have learned the tongue isolation and I think someone cannot bend using it, right? I'll just change it, if there is no way I can bend with this style.
Hiya, I generally teach lip pursing instead of tongue blocking. But you can bend with tongue-blocking just not u-blocking. Hope that helps.
Thanks a lot! I'll try it. Greetings from Syros, Greece.
This is by far the useful harmonica bending techniques I found, at least I practiced and saw the note is dropping a bit. Tq
I am using a honher roadhouse harp in C, can't bend the 4th hole draw for 3 weeks 😭😭😭
What’s even crazier, is you can bend a guitar string down... but still presents the same sound. Harmonica is definitely an instrument that can be difficult to even learn. Let alone, master
Man, you're my hero. My mom gave me a harmonica for my birthday when I was like 14 or so. Since then I've tried to bend. That's more then 10 years ago, I learned playing piano, guitar, bass and mandolin during that time but didn't manage to do that f*ing bend on my harmonica - until I watched your video yesterday. Turns out: I held that thing wrong for 10 years - tip 5 was the missing hint for me. You're the only one I've seen who actually shows that. Plus the eee-ooo and the last tip helped a lot. Thanks again 1000 times!
That's fantastic, took too long but I am so glad you picked the harp again! :-)
Me too! Bending for the first time since i bought this years ago.
@@TomlinHarmonica I still strugling with this bending technics.. OMG, so hard for me..
I use my only cheap china's harp.. Do you think I use the wrong harp? And should I pick the good one?
@@andrestp from my experience from bending you probably should invest a couple more dollars for a good beginners harp that is easy to play and to bend with like a hohner special 20
@@andrestp cheap harps are not a good way to start learning harmonicas. They usually have a really bad tone, and most of them are really leaky so are significantly harder to play than decent harmonicas. Bending would almost be impossible on those harps. Anyone would recommend a semi-decent harp over a cheap one.
Good grief......so blasted hard!!! I can't even come close! Very frustrating.
Amen, David. But he did say "six months." Trust me, I'm in the same boat as you. Keep practicing my friend.
It took me a lot of trying, i found the first hole was easiest to bend and just couldnt get the 4th hole to do so. Just keep practicing, and it will come to you
Twelve months and piteux resultat . : Decevant
@@parealbuffalo5790 You get a perfect bend when the sound of the airflow between your tongue and your palate (the roof of your mouth) matches the pitch of the bent note. Once you get that, bending becomes easy. I made a video about this, maybe it can help you.
David Danz it’s easy when you try to pronounce ggggg...
just incredible, hundres of videos that ended up being useless, but this video, this man, bro i fucking love you never gonna forget
This one lesson gave me my first 2 draw bend. 👍😎
This is crazy. I have been playing harmonica for about a week (total playing time maybe 1-2 hours), and have been focusing on bends because I know how hard it can be, and I never understood how it's done.
Within 10 minutes of trying this stuff I had fairly consistently bent holes 1 through 6.
!!!!
Thank you Tomlin!
I've been playing the harp for a few months now on and off, happy with my progression, could not bend for the life of me. I installed one of those tuner apps on my phone that detect which harp note is being played and had it next to my laptop while watching this video, never once getting the 4 draw bend button to light up on the app. I practiced, rewatched this video, paused, repeat process for a good 45 minutes and all of a sudden with the culmination of all the tips I got the -4'! I was so happy I nearly cheered out loud! Now I'm just working on getting it every single time and getting it into the muscle memory, like learning how to play single clean notes. Thanks so much Tomlin!
That is awesome to hear! So pleased for you and well done for persevering and working through it :-)
which app are u using`?
Mr Trung which app?
What app??
What app?
That moment you make a Bend for the first time. :D Feels REALLY GOOOOOOOOOD. Stop video and repeat. Because from now on i'm better than when i first started it :P.... And repeat…..
Most clear explanations about bending. Thanks a lot
Thank you!
Great tutorial. What I recently discovered is that no matter which harmonica key and which hole you're playing, you get a perfect bend when the sound of the airflow between your tongue and your palate matches the pitch of the bent note. Once you get that, bending becomes a natural thing to do. Keep up the good work!
Tommy Harmonika huh
I'm trying to grasp how to get the pitch of the note. 🙄
The only thing that works is tilt bending and straining. sucking hard (not playing louder). Eee-ooo changes the sound and pitch goes slightly up on the ooo not down. what am I doing wrong.
6:02 I think this part is most important and most common mistake amongst novices like me who just bought harmonica. Thanks Tomlin!
I did a tilt, no change in sound for me .. anyone else? :( but I heard a change in the report breath -
I paused when instructed each time until I achieved an audible difference in tonality. I worked each section thoroughly and changed from slight bend to a clear and deep sustain. While trying to develop proper technique, I developed incorrect techniques simultaneously. Then upon resuming video each time, he explains precisely how to correct such errors as if he was present. By the end of this video (30 mins for me) I was bending smoothly and deeply, half or full! Complete NOOB here, credit due to this MASTERFUL TEACHER! Just started yesterday on your beginner 12 bar blues. Thank You. HOHNER BIG RIVER HARP "C"
+Duke Dixon dude! This is awesome to hear - I'm so pleased. Keep up the good work!
you're gifted, my friend
Hows you playing now I'm new to Harp got seydel 1847 wood and it's a beauty
Tomlin Leckie, how much does the difficulty increase when one goes to steel reeds? I have the basic 5-harp Hohner Roadhouse Blues pack (essentially Chinese crap), and my thought is to replace those with quality harps as I blow them out. But my need right now is for an F harp, as I play ukulele and 75% of the songs I play are in the key of C. Rather than buying another piece of junk, I thought I would get a Seydel, but it will have steel reeds.
ho did you find the toung position ?? 🤔
I've been practicing bending & I don't have any trouble bending the notes 1-4 but the subsequent bends F, A, A flat, etc. are much more difficult. I'm hoping your suggestions will be helpful. Question: Why no time spent on holes 8,9,10? I can get some crazy sounds by over blowing but I don't know how to tell if there anywhere near what there suppose to be.
Hi Paul, great questions! The lower bends require your tongue to go further back in your mouth. It takes time to build up this kind of bending strength. Here is a video to help with that - ua-cam.com/video/6QUDh9V4pFU/v-deo.html To answer your second question about blow bends (not overblows), up until recently this has been a big weak area for me. I've been working on it for the last 6 months or so and it is starting to get better so I will be doing more material at the high end in the future :-)
Thank you Tomlin. I have owned a harp (albeit a cheap one) for most of my life. I currently own a Hohner Big River and a Hohner Super Chromonica, both in the key of C, however I just ordered a Special 20 to hopefully make my bending easier. I've never really committed to learning to play, but in the tinkering I have done in the past 40 years I have always struggled with getting a consistent, on key bend. I have have owned books & watched videos attempting to explain it till I'm ready to throw the harp into the ocean. This is the first time someone has walked me through the nuances, step by step, that made a meaningful difference. After just one viewing my bends are more solid and within a few minutes of practicing your tips there is a significant improvement. This just might be the breakthrough I needed to take my playing seriously.
Can I do this with a *MADE IN CHINA* HARMONICA
I practiced for 2 weeks based off another video and I was getting pretty close but I was like, “ is this the right sound?” So using that tilt method I was able to hear the right tone, then I just went eee ooo and it clicked right away. The more you practice the more the explanation of the tonque movements make sense too
The eee oooh shit worked for me straight away too!! I'm fookin chuffed!!
I've been trying to do the bending so hard since so long and this is the first video that really really helped me.
I could do my first bending... thanks a lot you are the best
I really can't thank you enough for this. I was struggling with the whole step/whole and a half step bend, and your advice on not blowing too hard and mouth movements helped me nail it after so freaking long.
Aw thank you Karthik!
I thought I was bending for so long lol turns out I’m not
Same here 😂
Same
Well - for some reason, this just won't work for me at all. All I am achieving is varying the tone from a thin, treble sound to an open, bassy sound, but the actual NOTE itself remains stubbornly the same. I've tried it on three, old harmonicas I've had for years - a Hohner Chromonica; a Chinese chromatic one called "Tower" and an ancient, cheapo 12-hole-double-row kiddies harmonica called "Sonny Boy" - but I get the same result with all of them. I hate to sound so negative, but no matter how gently I draw (just enough to get a note), and no matter how much I change the shape of my tongue, i just cannot get any note to bend. Either I need to continue practising for a few years, or perhaps these old harps just aren't good enough? I really don't know what the problem is. I despair.
Hi Steve, it sounds like you are not using a 10 hole diatonic harmonica. That is what you will need to bend on. I would recommend getting a Hohner Special 20. Hope that helps.
@@TomlinHarmonica Thanks for your response. Since I posted this negative comment above, several things have happened. I ordered myself a 10-hole diatonic - The Hohner Blues Harp - which just arrived this morning.
While I'd been waiting, I'd been watching a few other tutorial videos about bending - and some were more useful than others. I found one by David Kettlewell, where he demonstrates how to bend on ANY hole on a chromatic harmonica! He also said how difficult it usually is to learn and develop the technique (he explained it differently to the way you do, though it's essentially the same tongue movements) and he said not to stress out over not being able to get it straight away - or even after a long time - and not to get despondent, like I'd been.
So, while I was waiting for the Blues Harp to arrive, I practised a bit more on the Tower chromatic one.
Yesterday, on the FIRST hole only, I actually managed a semitone bend! I had to combine drawing harder than I thought with tilting the instrument like you showed us, but I managed to get a sustainable bend!
The tongue has to be really bunched right back against the back of the throat while you inhale really strongly, but it works!
When the Blues Harp diatonic job arrived this morning, the first thing I tried on it was a first-hole bend - and I got it more or less straight away! I can't do it on ANY other hole yet (I don't quite understand why - especially not the 4th?) - but it's a START! If I can do that - then it's only a matter of time before I can get better at it and get results on the other holes as well! Thank you for all your help!
Been getting really close these past few days, the tip about having a "muscular tongue" and not "breathing any harder" are helping out a lot.
One thing I'm wondering though about bending (and also playing harmonica in general): Am I supposed to do this audible breathing (iii, uuu etc.) when I'm playing? I've just been breathing in and out normally through the harmonica without making any particular sound and I'm also getting close to being able to bend without making any specific sound, so I'm wondering if the iii, uuu is supposed to be used for general harmonica playing? Is it supposed to be used for bending? Or is it just a bit of a "crutch" for learning the bend (like tipping it) to start with?
When I make the E ...i playing multiple notes