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Forums :: Ask Instructor David Barrett

Bending Using Tongue Position Versus Throat

1 reply [Last post]
Sun, 10/28/2012 - 06:57
wmartin
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Joined: 10/13/2012

I am working on bending notes on the A harmonica at the 6th hole with your lesson.

I can bend on a C harp 2 bend using a Kee Koo Kee simulating a bear growl that goes into the throat backward.
My throat is doing all of the work. My tongue does not move from its original position. I can feel warm air coming into the throat with the feeling of throat and the reeds vibrating.

What is a good drill with or without the harmonica that will help me raise the tongue while keeping the tongue underneath the Harmonica to allow me to do your bending technique for a bend on the A harmonica at hole 6?

I can control the tongue with tongue blocking okay, but bringing back in on itself in a hump and withdrawing it at all is hard for me to do while I am tongue blocking.

I am learning the Harmonica as you instruct by using the tongue blocking technique. In that technique my tip of the tongue is underneath the Harmonica as you instructed.

I have the Harmonica in my mouth, not just my lips and have it angled down a little.

Am I supposed to drop the jaw a little and put the tip of my tongue against my front bottom teeth. Then I should try to push the tip of my tongue against my teeth to arch my tongue towards the roof of my mouth and say the vowels backward.

How can I do this if my tongue is underneath the Harmonica? I can bend with a C harmonica at the 2nd hole without moving my tongue.

Thank You!

Will

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Sun, 10/28/2012 - 08:12
#1
David Barrett
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Joined: 12/20/2009
Answer

Hello Will. The front of the tongue... what's on the harmonica... does not move in the bending process. A helpful tool for how to control your upward movement in the front of the mouth is "shhh" and for the middle of the tongue "keee" and the back of the tongue "kuuu"... these all place you in the approximate area for the bends on the harmonica. You can experiment with your tongue location in front of the mirror (harp out of mouth) with placing your tongue behind your lower set of teeth (mimicking that you're tongue blocking on the harmonica). Take a look at Ryan Walker's newest contributor submission, the video where we speak of The Strut. In this video we cover the same conversation.

If you find more luck on the C Harmonica, then feel free to use it... working the entire range of the harmonica... using more of the front of the mouth and tongue for the higher bends and more of the back of the tongue further back in the mouth for the lower bends. As you start to get the range of bends on the C Harmonica, then you can experiment with the A Harmonica.

Your jaw does not need to move in the bending process, but lowering your jaw can be helpful for some students to achieve the lower bends on lower harmonicas.

The throat has nothing to do with the bending process. If you're achieving the bend, your tongue is in the area it needs to be and your just focusing more on the throat and are not noticing the tongue movement.

A side note... I don't start my private students on bending until they have completed "Walk with Me", "Temperature" and much of the Solo Harmonica Study 1 material... this takes about six months. Focus on developing good tone first, before you start to squeeze and contort your embouchure for the bending process. I'll let you guag where you're at in your training.

Also, bending takes about six months of experimenting to achieve most of the bends on one harmonica... so don't be hard on yourself if it feels VERY slow to develop this skill... it is a skill that develops very slowly.

Best wishes on your studies.

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After watching the BluesHarmonica.com overview video, try one of the lessons below to experience a lesson at BluesHarmonica.com.

  • Tongue Blocking Study 2 – This study is for the newer player or the player new to tongue blocking
  • Bending Study 5 – This is for the advanced player looking to improve their bending skills

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