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DATE: Thu, 15 Sep 1994 18:47:52 CDT
From: hip~quest.com (Hugh Messenger)
Subject: RE: Bending [LONG] + Blow Bending

At 12:37 9/15/94 -0500, Hugh Messenger wrote:
>At 9:56 9/15/94 -0400, wlgrog~ae.ssu.umd.edu wrote:
>I think you are talking about regular blow bending, which as you say works
>only on the top holes. I'll never forget the day I worked out that I could
>blow bend by using a whistling movement with the tongue rather than just
>blowing *very* hard!
>

I just reread this and guess it seems a strange thing to count as a
Milestone on the Path to True Enlightenment.

It qualifies as such, of course, because it meant I could suddenly play
Jimmy Reed licks in first position up at the top end. Like the one from
"Honest I Do", which makes me go weak at the knees every time I hear it!

I don't know if I'm the only person who started off blow bending 8 through
10 by just puckering up and blowing hard, but in case I'm not ... this is
for anyone who does (or doesn't blowbend at all). Sprinkle a bunch of
virtual IMHO's and FWIW's through the following ... flames to the usual
address ... please let me know if these kinds of postings should not be
directed to the list ...

Put down harp. Arrange the face for whistling. Whistle. Now push the
tip/middle of your tongue forward a "bit" - enough to raise the pitch of
the whistle about like the 'officer on deck' pipe whistle - ooo-eeee-ooo.
The 'heel' of the tongue (our old friend "say the letter K" area) stays the
same. Just move the tip/middle of the tongue up and forward a little.

Now try the same with harp in face on hole 8 or 9. Take it slow, start off
blowing very softly and gradually increase the breath pressure as you move
your tongue. As with draw bending you should feel a point where the note
is trying to 'break'. This is where it is easy to overshoot and miss the
bend - the tone will just get nasty, the note may bend a little, but it
ain't exactly pleasant.

Of course this is just one method. You may find that using the back of the
tongue to constrict airflow may work better than the 'tip of the tongue'
method described above.

Once you can bend these notes, try hitting the note bent. Remember how
your face feels when you bend it, then try hitting the note with face in
this position. "Hit" means using a bit more air than you usually would,
but "throttle back" when you get the bend.

Now try 'scooping' the note, hitting it bent and letting it back up (under
control - try doing it as slow as you can, then gradually quicker). Once
you can do that, you can start doing Jimmy Reed impressions. Also try
sliding from hole to hole, hitting them bent - straight 9 down to bend 9,
slide to bend 8 up to straight 8 is nice.

Once you can do those Jimmy Reed scoopy, slidey, yummy kind of things in
first position, drop one in when playing cross harp as the band hits the 4
chord in the 1-4-5. In other words, the 4 chord is the root note, which
means you can play in first position for those bars. Doing it just once in
a song, in the middle of a harp ride, is hellishly effective.

-- hugh