Bending on accordion vs. harmonica

In yesterday's Tip of the Day, David Barrett posted a link to an NPR interview with an accordionist who bends a note on accordion.

I'd like to use that as a springboard to a brief discussion of the difference in bending techniques between the two instruments.

You can bend notes on accordion (on a high-quality, airtight instrument) in one of two ways:

1) Pushing a lot of air through the reed to make the pitch sag.

2) Partially obstructing the small air hole that opens when you press a key or button, by only pressing it down partway.

Are either of these techniques applicable to the harmonica in a way that might help you play better?

Not really. Let me explain.

==PUSHING A LOT OF AIR

Human lungs have a maximum capacity of 6 litres (slightly more than six quarts, or about 1.6 gallons) of air, from stone empty to bursting full.

Accordion bellows, for the big chromatic ones like the one in the interview, can move two to three times that amount, and do it without physical discomfort.

Try just breathing hard (using no other techniques) and getting the pitch to sag on, say, Draw 2 of a C-harp. Not easy, is it?

==OBSTRUCTING THE AIR HOLE

A harmonica player can bend a note this way by crowding a hole with their lips or tongue. I've heard accordion players do this and it sounds kind of bad, almost as bad as when harmonica players do it. The clarity of tone is replaced by a sort of "blowing a raspberry" sound, and you can really only get about a semitone of bend with this technique, and without much control over sliding the pitch around smoothly.

When it comes to bending notes, we harmonica players have a clear advantage because we can use our tongues to tune our oral cavity to the note we want, and then persuade the reed to respond. This allows us to create full, clear, sustained bent notes.