"altered notes" are the result of "sympathetic vibration with vowel formants." I've been a professor of linguistics, played harp first in 1949 at five years old -- my father was a harmonica virtuoso who toured the world. Carl
I tried bending for years until I thought I broke my Golden Melody for trying too hard and then I stopped playing for a couple of years. Then my father got me a Tremolo for Chris and I had a great time playing classic songs and anime bgm songs, and for no apparent reason decided to dust my old harp and turns out that the instrument wasn't broken, I just mastered bending so well that I forgot how to play normally so whenever I played the first 4 draw holes I played the full step bend all along and that's why the sounded so different. Now I have to harmonicas and when I discovered your channel started to really, really improve with the blues. Thanks a lot. I love your channel.
I also have Golden Melody in C, and i found that with the stock red plastic comb 4 draw bend needs quite.. ehm.. specific technique and breath control - because its a very thin line between bending and blocking the reed completely. However, with aluminium comb, 4 draw bends much easier (it won't mute that easy if you apply a bit more air pressure). I don't know if anyone else faced similar issue
So I also have a history of RSI (guitar is a nightmare ergonomically tbh) and you just saved my ass on harmonica. I’ve absolutely been struggling with soreness in the throat from bending and tension. I tried the tongue bending and it’s way easier. No throat tension. Uhg now I have to reprogram my muscles memory.
Apparently you had a similar path of discovery as I had, I recently learned about throat tension while singing, and now I’m learning how bending works on a harmonica 🤷♂️
Thanks for the tips. I come from flute and chromatic harmonica. Recently I picked up an older Hohner Meisterklasse (pre-MS). All the notes sound fine played straight. So far I have only been able to bend the lowest D consistently. The sound is muted however. Is that just a phase I will have to pass through? The other bends are still tough to get. Will practice your "eeeeeeyuuuuuu" some more.
Fortunately, my notes bending faiures only lasted 4 days of practice. I have seen many videos on bending and couldn't get it at all. That was until I started learning blues riffs and scales on the harmonica and playing with the sounds that I accidentally and finally stumbled on note bending. Alas, eureka.
So far the only luck I've had is to pucker so much on a single hole that I can restrict the airflow itself. I've tried pulling my tongue back, dropping my jaw, making throat noises, and even sticking my lips out to manually lengthen my mouth, but I still get the same crisp, clean note with no bend. Can't for the life of me figure out why these techniques work for everyone else and not me. Even tried three different harmonicas just in case I had one that couldn't bend for some reason.
Same here. Whatever i do, Reality is programmed to forbid me from learning bending. The Forces of Existance itself are pulling strings to keep this rule of the universe active.
What does three hole step draw bend mean? I didn’t understand. Sounds good, but I don’t know if I am suppose to be bending 3 blow or 3 draw when going from 2 draw 3 blow 3 draw.
You can only bend the draw notes on the low end of the harp. 3 whole step draw bend is bending -3 a whole step down, or two semitones. If -3 is a B (on a C harp) then -3'' would be the note A (B -> Bb -> A).
I sure cannot find your description, I even went on Google to try and find where you tube puts descriptions, is it moved? Can’t find it. All I see are comments. Please help. Thank you.
On mobile, you can click on the title. There’s a button that says more. On desktop, it should be clearly visible underneath the video. In this description, though, I only have the scale cheat sheet linked, which you can find here: bit.ly/scalesheet
NICKEL ALLERGY: i wondered about the Sydels because though the reeds are stainless steel they say the plate they are attached to is "German silver" which is usually an alloy of 60% copper, 20% zinc and 20% nickel!!! have you ever had any nickel allergy problems with your Sydels? thanks
Hey, Jer Tres: The Seydels are great, but German Silver does have nickel and I find my beard hairs always get yanked out by the root from the gap between the comb and cover plate. HERE IS A SOLUTION: The Yonberg Typhoon. The reeds/reed plates are stainless steel and the body is resin with stainless steel plates where your fingers hold onto it. Yonberg also has a Titanium version which I just bought. The Typhoon is $125 US and the Typhoon Titanium is $175 US. The Titanium is so light and quick that I find myself playing it 1-2 hours a day. I love it, and I think it sounds better than a Seydel (I have every Key of the Seydel 1847 Blues Silver, and all the Seydel Skydiver and Sailor tremolos and the incredible Fanfares). If you have the money, you might want to check out the Yonberg. RockinRonsMusic in San Diego is their authorized dealer. I hope this is helpful. Cheers.
@@HarmonicaRevolution thank you for your amazing videos. I have just bought a Blues Harp MS Series to start playing this instrument. Have you tried it?
"altered notes" are the result of "sympathetic vibration with vowel formants." I've been a professor of linguistics, played harp first in 1949 at five years old -- my father was a harmonica virtuoso who toured the world. Carl
I tried bending for years until I thought I broke my Golden Melody for trying too hard and then I stopped playing for a couple of years. Then my father got me a Tremolo for Chris and I had a great time playing classic songs and anime bgm songs, and for no apparent reason decided to dust my old harp and turns out that the instrument wasn't broken, I just mastered bending so well that I forgot how to play normally so whenever I played the first 4 draw holes I played the full step bend all along and that's why the sounded so different. Now I have to harmonicas and when I discovered your channel started to really, really improve with the blues. Thanks a lot. I love your channel.
Interesting, I'm glad you fixed that!
I also have Golden Melody in C, and i found that with the stock red plastic comb 4 draw bend needs quite.. ehm.. specific technique and breath control - because its a very thin line between bending and blocking the reed completely. However, with aluminium comb, 4 draw bends much easier (it won't mute that easy if you apply a bit more air pressure). I don't know if anyone else faced similar issue
Tried bending for years and didn't break a single harmonica... I had a very much different experience... I feel jealous.
This video was god sent. After so long with no progress it help me break through.
So I also have a history of RSI (guitar is a nightmare ergonomically tbh) and you just saved my ass on harmonica. I’ve absolutely been struggling with soreness in the throat from bending and tension. I tried the tongue bending and it’s way easier. No throat tension. Uhg now I have to reprogram my muscles memory.
Many thanx for your help.
I've always draw bent by choking the lower edge of the hole I want bent with either my tongue or lower lip, relearning this is gonna be fun!
Very useful tips about drawing the tongue back and diaphragm breathing. Thanks.
That "cello drone" idea is amazing thank you!
Good advice!
Apparently you had a similar path of discovery as I had, I recently learned about throat tension while singing, and now I’m learning how bending works on a harmonica 🤷♂️
Thanks for the tips. I come from flute and chromatic harmonica. Recently I picked up an older Hohner Meisterklasse (pre-MS). All the notes sound fine played straight. So far I have only been able to bend the lowest D consistently. The sound is muted however. Is that just a phase I will have to pass through? The other bends are still tough to get. Will practice your "eeeeeeyuuuuuu" some more.
Fortunately, my notes bending faiures only lasted 4 days of practice. I have seen many videos on bending and couldn't get it at all. That was until I started learning blues riffs and scales on the harmonica and playing with the sounds that I accidentally and finally stumbled on note bending. Alas, eureka.
Good video, sir
So far the only luck I've had is to pucker so much on a single hole that I can restrict the airflow itself. I've tried pulling my tongue back, dropping my jaw, making throat noises, and even sticking my lips out to manually lengthen my mouth, but I still get the same crisp, clean note with no bend. Can't for the life of me figure out why these techniques work for everyone else and not me. Even tried three different harmonicas just in case I had one that couldn't bend for some reason.
Same here. Whatever i do, Reality is programmed to forbid me from learning bending. The Forces of Existance itself are pulling strings to keep this rule of the universe active.
What does three hole step draw bend mean? I didn’t understand. Sounds good, but I don’t know if I am suppose to be bending 3 blow or 3 draw when going from 2 draw 3 blow 3 draw.
You can only bend the draw notes on the low end of the harp. 3 whole step draw bend is bending -3 a whole step down, or two semitones. If -3 is a B (on a C harp) then -3'' would be the note A (B -> Bb -> A).
I sure cannot find your description, I even went on Google to try and find where you tube puts descriptions, is it moved? Can’t find it. All I see are comments. Please help. Thank you.
On mobile, you can click on the title. There’s a button that says more. On desktop, it should be clearly visible underneath the video.
In this description, though, I only have the scale cheat sheet linked, which you can find here: bit.ly/scalesheet
NICKEL ALLERGY: i wondered about the Sydels because though the reeds are stainless steel they say the plate they are attached to is "German silver" which is usually an alloy of 60% copper, 20% zinc and 20% nickel!!! have you ever had any nickel allergy problems with your Sydels? thanks
I do have a nickel allergy, the only harmonica bothering me with that though is the Kongsheng soloist
Hey, Jer Tres: The Seydels are great, but German Silver does have nickel and I find my beard hairs always get yanked out by the root from the gap between the comb and cover plate. HERE IS A SOLUTION: The Yonberg Typhoon. The reeds/reed plates are stainless steel and the body is resin with stainless steel plates where your fingers hold onto it. Yonberg also has a Titanium version which I just bought. The Typhoon is $125 US and the Typhoon Titanium is $175 US. The Titanium is so light and quick that I find myself playing it 1-2 hours a day. I love it, and I think it sounds better than a Seydel (I have every Key of the Seydel 1847 Blues Silver, and all the Seydel Skydiver and Sailor tremolos and the incredible Fanfares). If you have the money, you might want to check out the Yonberg. RockinRonsMusic in San Diego is their authorized dealer. I hope this is helpful. Cheers.
@@HarmonicaRevolution thank you for your amazing videos. I have just bought a Blues Harp MS Series to start playing this instrument. Have you tried it?
How do you keep spit going in and bubbling my harp when I play I think take breaks am
Is there an actual demonstration for those who needs to hear it on the harmonica
😁👍
what will be the price for the course? others around are too expensive in my opinion...
Starts at $250
@@HarmonicaRevolution one time only or yearly subscription?
@@EmersonTanakaHarp one time only. I personally really don’t like that yearly subscription model.
@@HarmonicaRevolution oh yes definitely! thanks
Well... Guitar? (Months /years/ of mastering)
The first note is the easiest to bend
For me too. I can bend hole one easy, but can't get any of the others
4 i think is the easiest :/
Okay.
This really helped me finish my learning progress: ua-cam.com/video/Src0l4a51sk/v-deo.htmlsi=-i09QKSyWMlgz6Zg