Are some harps easier to bend than others
Hope so
As a beginner i bought a suzuki promaster ,its a heavy and decent harp and i got it knowing i cant blame the tools should i struggle to learn. Then i got a hohner marine band in key of A to participate on thise site.
I am reasonably happy with my slow progress and know the harps are perfectly capable so its the operator (me) who is the weakest link.
But i noticed some harmonicas are sold as blues harps ,easy to bend etc etc ,brass reeds etc etc.
Would it be possible that my decent harps are making it difficult to bend notes combined with my lack of experience,reason i ask is i havent even come close to bending at all ...i have managed to choke a few reeds and produced a few honkers that would make a goose proud.
cheers brian
I learned bending 2-3 years ago, and yes, harps made a difference for me in that time. I bought a couple of them and some were easier than others. If I remember correctly, the first one I succeeded with was Suzuki Bluesmaster in the key of A, which I don't consider a good harp today. Now I prefer Hohner Rocket.
When Hohner first marketed the model named Blues Harp in 1965, they claimed that the "paper thin" reeds were easier to bend.
it was complete bollocks, of course. It was just a Marine Band with different covers. But those nonsensical advertising claims entered the harmonica lore and are still heard today, though less frequently than in the past.
Reeds of brass, phosphor bronze, stainless steel - they all have similar elasticity or they wouldn't be suitable to play. And bending notes only slightly changes the behavior of the reed, and does so well within its normal vibrational travel.
As your technique strenthens, you'll find that any airtight harp bends equally well, but when you're learning, sometimes small differences seem huge. And at first low key harps will seem harder to bend, and high pitched harps may bend too easily and will be hard to tame. But over time, you'll find that most behave and respond well to the right touch.
Brian this is just my experience. I assume you have gone to Davids lesson on bending. I was interested to listen to a pod cast with Joe Filisko who stated he did not try to teach people how to bend but focussed on what not to do when bending. Interesting idea. Back to your question. I put in a lot of practice every day on bending using all key harps from low F to D for me the D harp is the most challenging and gets progressively easier as the harps reed sets become longer. But I suspect you are asking are there harp brands that are easier. I have Manji, Crossover, Special 20, Marine Band Delux (customised) and my experience is there is very little difference between the good airtight brands. What I do know is that as I progress I look less at the brand and more at my technique. I stuck to Davids advice on bending experiment, experiment. The one thing I do find useful when bending is drawing from the throats area of my mouth not the front. Again this is my experience and I suspect there are many different thoughts on that. Good luck,experiment experiment but don't force. Have confidence in your harps.