Harp Gear harmonica amplifiers for
harp amp players. Bending Help
A
couple of questions have come up about bending with the tongue down and
on the bottom of the mouth after the tone article.
Here's my explanation:
When bend I
actually move the back of my tongue and throat to do it. I leave
my jaw in place and I slightly pull my tongue to the rear of my throat
which causes the tongue to rise slightly in the back. When I say
I pull my tongue I am using that as a way of describing the feeling of
the movement. The actual movement on the front of the tongue is
so miniscule it is almost nonexistent. When you "pull" your tongue back
it causes the tongue to rise slightly. This redirects the air and
causes the reed to bend. The front of the tongue moves back
slightly but stays down. It is much the same as when you learn to
bend tongue blocked. You can't move the front of your tongue too
much when you are tongue blocking because you would lose the clarity of
the note. A lot of players bend using their jaw and tongue but notice
the jaw more. This method of bending is more like forcing a
bend. Just using your tongue and throat is like finessing.
Try while inhaling on the 4 hole of your favorite harp to pull the
tongue back while keeping it flat in the front and allowing it to rise
in the rear. You will feel the pull in the part of your throat
where the jaw and throat meet on the bottom side of the back of the
mouth. You should also notice the back of the tongue is coming up
so slightly. This isn't easy at first and it is why a lot of
players have problems bending while tongue blocked. The bend
should sound if you are moving the tongue right. If you are
getting the bend and it is right you will be able to hold your jaw and
feel it staying down and not moving. While I am bending I can
feel the muscles in the area where the jaw meets the throat moving up
slightly but the front of the jaw is stationary. This will take
some time to get but when you do it will allow you to bend while tongue
blocking or lip pursing and with great tone. I am not saying that
bending the other way will not give you great tone. This way will
just allow you to open the oral cavity more and create an even bigger
resonance chamber. This was a little hard to describe but I am
more than happy to answer any questions to help clear it up. (
I would like to thank Larry "The Iceman" Eisenberg for teaching me to
bend originally. This is very close to the description he gave me
when I was first learning. ) brian@harpgear.com