tongue slap a bent note
Fri, 07/19/2013 - 20:06
I'm not quite clear on this because I've never heard it discussed..is it possible to tongue slap a bent note? As in you have a riff and want that big sound so you slap all the notes but one of them is bent? With all my attempts the bend comes a moment after the slap and sounds more like a dip bend. Are the muscles in my throat just not ready yet?
Yes, you can... and we do... though the technique is a little tricky. When your tongue reaches the face of the harmonica for the slap, the bend position of the tongue (where it's humped in the mouth to create the bend you're trying to play) also has to land in it's location at the same time. A good way to practice this is to play the bend you want a couple of times, focusing on where the tongue is located for the bend... then slap, trying to make sure your tongue is in that exact bend location as you land the slap. If your note is dipping (releasing after the slap), then your tongue position is moving after you land the slap... the key is to lock the tongue in place where you land the bend/slap.