I can't thank you enough for this video! I've been struggling for weeks without much progress, and now playing along i just managed to get clean bends! Also it's really nice to practice with some melodies, it's rare to see that in other channels. THANK YOU sou much Jon!!
Jon Gindick has the best harmonica videos on RU-vid in my opinion. His books and paid videos are also the best sources I have found for learning harmonica.
Love your methods Jon .. been struggling for over a year to get a good reparative bend but your technique has me hitting it most times … thanks heaps from Australia
Thank you sir. After watching your video I finally found out that my mouth shape wasn't right in the first place. I am currently practicing along and manage to get some decent bending on hole 3. Thank you soo much for sharing and going through the basics. Cheers!
Holy shit ive been playing for about 3-5 months this video smashed me threw the wall of bending thanks mr gindick ..along with jpallen,ronnishellist,jasonricci has helped im so hyped right now
Jon, you are a master instructor. I have been playing for a few weeks. So much of what I've read sunk in when watching this video. I intend to watch every video you've ever posted.
Hey, I just realized you're the guy whk wrote the book I'm using! So thank you on two counts, for the most helpful book and the most helpful RU-vid videos I've found.
Jon. I’ve watched many videos on bending over the last 6 months. I can bend no problem although it took me a while. This video made it much easier to refine my technique. Thanks. I’d wish I had seen this first. Thanks again. I’m 69 years young and living proof your never too old to learn new things.
Love you Jon! You are so generous and skilled at helping us make breakthrougs at an early stage of our development. What seems impossible can become possible. Thank you!
the tip to articulate a "K" when trying to hit a bend is *invaluable* for the 3 draw ... been trying for what seem like forever to hit the half step bend correctly, and applying your "K" idea makes it WAY easier. thanks loads!
Jon, I read a lot of tips on the internet on how to get those first bends. They were all good in a way, but I think your explanation here is the best. Of all the bending tips that I saw, yours was the first to emphasize that you are breathing from the throat (I had the right tongue position, but not the throat concept). That one tip really did it to me. Prior to today, I was bending the 4 draw no problem, but this video really got me bending the 2, 3 draw. Awesome. Thanks so much!
Fantastic instruction, so clear, the best I have seen since getting a harmonica for my 71st birthday last week . I wanted to learn something new whilst in self isolation. I have watched several other harp gurus and even read Barrett's scientific paper on bending but after watching this video I have learned to bend the one draw. Onwards and upwards I hope. Thank you very much Jon.
Outstanding lesson. I really appreciate how you showed how this technique works similarly both with tongue blocking and lip pursing since I have been trying to learn tongue blocking, and didn't really understand how to bend strongly with it. Showing how the throat is where the sounds come from, and not the lips was really helpful. Also that the 2 draw two half step is a melody note and the full step is bluesy, as well as showing and provign how the 3 draw half step is so important, coupled with all these techniques to do it all was really good.
I finally get it. The clicking! I can now draw the 2 and the 3. The four draw is so much better. No more sliding. That click works. Oh, How I have fought this for so long. But I didn't understand the clicking. I get it now. Thank you so very much.
the "kah kah kah kah kah" totally helped!!! Guys emphasize the "K" consonant got me to redirect my air flow in the right way for the 2". Thanks so much!!!
I'm bending notes !~~! My friend just gave me a copy of your book Rock n' Blues Harmonica w/ CD - thank you for putting this together - can't tell you how much I appreciate your work!
I used to bend using only vowels, now the your consonant tip (kee-koo-kee) gives me more tone control (it gets right to the note) and faster changes on bent/unbent notes. thank you!
This video helped me not only learn to bend, but also to get a great 2 draw. This is my second day playing harmonica, and I'm very excited now. I feel like I owe you money for this! Thank you very much.
Until now I had never heard a better explanation of how to do the bending A great teacher. I played only in the first position, now at age 67 would play the blues, and it's hard bendings despite having a Manji From Buenos Aires a Greeting
OMG I can bend holes 2 and 3 i have been trying for months but after watching Jon's video I understood better. I'm away to check for online course. Brilliant
Jon, Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for explaining this so clearly. I've only been playing for about 2 months and been through about 5 books and countless on-line videos. I just couldn't get the 2 and 3 draw bends down more than 1/4 step. 1 and 4 were no problem, but 2 and 3 were killing me! I was pretty convinced my harp was bad...but no more. The KEE KOO helped a lot, but when you talked about breathing through the back of your shoulder blades on the KOO...WHAM! it worked and made sense!
wow im a hobby guitarist and just rediscovering the harmonica.....such a versatile instrument, so much to learn and so much beautiful songs written with these instruments....gonna put a lot of time and air into these things the coming time!
This guy is for me the best harmonica player in terms of tone, and it makes sense now that I'm watching the videos, because when I read his book he was always very insinstent on how to shape your mouth in order to get the fattest tone the possible. I'm watching his videos and now I notice he really speaks what he does. It's incredible how big he can get his mouth on the harp while playing a single note on lip purse... it's even bigger than mine when I tongue block.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the world. I find that bending success is very dependent on the quality and intention of the harp. My Suzuki Bluesmaster and my Lee Oskar harps I can bend easy now but some of my other Suzukis are much more difficult. to lower on the draws.
Christien Gagnier I’m with you on that. When I started to learn 22 years ago I used a Hohner Pocket Pal. To this day I still struggle to get a really good bend without it sounding cramped and hissy on the Pocket Pal. I traded up to a Lee Oskar after the first few months of learning and could bend with relative ease very quickly. I still use Lee Oskar 22 years on and have found them brilliant for bending notes.
Hey Jon! I bought your harmonica book back when it came with a cassette! I got pretty good at the harmonica (good enough to play by myself and not scare the dog away!). I wish I had these videos back then... But hey, never too late to get back into it, right? Thank you brother!
Muchas gracias por su extraordinaria lección. Aunque no entiendo prácticamente nada el idioma inglés,he aprendido con Vd. en este video más que con nadie . Le quedo profúndamente agradecido.Sin lugar a duda alguna seguiré sus lecciones.. Thank you.
I like the tone you get from your gob iron. I'm a beginner, learning on a Big River in D, i can just about play single notes. Trying to draw bend is driving me up the wall at the moment cos i can't get the technique.....but i've never had lessons apart from watching videos like this and it's difficult to gauge things like draw strength or getting the air pressure right, and watching blokes like you who make it look easy, makes it all the more frustrating hahaha.
hey mr john i want to tell you that your lessons are really helpful andawsome and i have problem i can't hold the harmonica proprely(my finger keeps hitting my lip) because my upper lip is covering all the top cover plate so what can i do to solve this problem,sorry for my bad english and thank you sir
Great lesson. A little confused about the pitches. So 'kee' is the the unbent note, i.e. G on the 2 draw? And 'koo' is the bent note? And where does the 'kaa' that is mentioned before the other two come into it?
Still working on the bending, getting good clean single notes, just getting marginal differences when I try to bend. More practice and I will get there!
