Hi, ya got another newbie here... I understand the minus sign as a draw, but sometimes I come across a parentesis () or backslashes //. Are these indicating bends?

Can someone give me an easy definition to a 'bend' & how it's acheived?

I'd appreciate any good info for this beginner.

Thanx,

always Maria.

P.S.: I've been at this a week and not too thrilled w/ my cheapy Kay Chicago Blues Harmonica. I swear, it's already going out of tune! Good news is I sent away for a Hohner Special 20, as I heard that is a decent beginners harp. (smile)))

bend is reach a note by changign the flow of air, and you can achived by open your mouth while gradually tilt up your harp.

thanx for responding so fast. Since posting this, I've been playing around and think I finally understand the concept of bending notes. For instance, when plucking out the song, "Stairway to Heaven," the 'ven' in heaven, makes a delightful sound, when I sort of speak "heaven" on into the holes 6 -6 (G/A).

Does anybody know what the the parentesis () or backslashes // mean?

~always Maria.

The biggest issue is the lack of a standardized format for tabbing music for the harmonica. Occasionally, the parentheses and backslashes can be used for indicating bends. Also, they can indicate pushing in the slide on a chromatic harmonica tab. Sometimes the slash is used to break up the music into measures and sometimes parentheses are used to group multiple notes that are played together. It really depends on the person who wrote the tab, and what kind of harp the tab is for (diatonic or chromatic).

If I use something that might be misinterpreted or isn't necessarily clear, I'll usually put a note in the tab explaining what my notation means. I have since pretty much standardized the way I write tabs, but they don't all match up, especially among some of my earlier postings.