i recently had to give a harmonica lesson to a friend for the first time the other day; my harp-teaching kit: 3-straws and a piece of paper...intrigued?


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cinn mcrickson

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Please

I'll bite on things here, whats the secret, always looking to get better and learn more

lol...actually i think i played it to be more amazing than it really is...see i was enjoying a nice premium diet coke thru a straw one day, when i'm like, "OMG! you use the almost exact same technique in bending as in sucking on a straw.." ..(well at least i do; pro harpists know how evil the harp can be to your physical livelihood [lol])...so i was set on trying it out to teach to non-harpist pals to bend...IT WORKED! it was the fastest i've ever seen anyone learn to bend....just have your tongue shoot back from the back of your front teeth while sucking air over it to produce a nice stacatto bend...keep in mind tho that it is always better to first get down the process of playing individual notes with lip-blocking, etc....

let me know if it works for you!.

interesting. Just starting to get into the bending thing myself. it has been a struggle to say the least. i can do a bend, as in play a note and bend it down, but to make it work in a song while i do everything else, that is a different story. just have to practice more i guess

the main point i do not think anyone on this site can stress enough is:


DON'T GIVE UP!

the harp is too amazing to just give up on..once you get it you will love it!

Well put.

I can barely bend (not consistently, not with good tone, etc.), but I have noticed that one thing that has helped immensely is knowing what the note is supposed to sound like when I bend it. You can listen to samples at Gindick.com or on Coast to Coast music's website or you can play the C scale starting on the 1 hole on a C harp ( +1 -1 +2 -2B -2 -3B -3 +4). When you're aiming for a certain sound, it really seems to help (it's like the auditory version of envisioning something).

Exhaling and emptying my lungs first helps a lot, too, 'cause then I can just keep breathing in for a long time and experimenting with the bend more and more.