smooth sliding bend
Hi,
Just wondering if there's something I'm missing or doing wrong in the bending technique. I've just started on LOA Level 3 and, as I've been practicing the bends for a while, I can hit the notes fine. What I'm struggling with is making the note slide smoothly from one note to the bent note. The way it's played in the recordings is with a beautiful sliding (for example) 2 draw to 2 draw half or whole step in the way that a guitar slide moves down from a not to a lower note. My bends just move from one note down to the next, more in the way a piano plays one note and then the next one down.
Is this likely just my technique, or could it be a problem with the haprs that means I need a new one? I have a Seydel Session Steel and a Suziki Manji, but i learned to bend on both and I'm aware that learning to bend can cause damage.
Anyway, if it's simply a matter of persevering until it comes, I'm happy with that as I'm loving it!
Graham
Hello Graham.
This is a technique issue, so no need to get your wallet out.
Review Bending Study 1 and focus on the slide exercise from She, to Key, to Koo.
What's happening right now is that your tongue is humping up at the exact point where you're at the full depth of your bend.
Your practice is to start humping your tongue further forward in your mouth, and then slowly humping your tongue incrementally further and further back until you reach the full depth of the bend. It's the wave-like action that I mention in the lesson that you're looking for.