How to Play the Harmonica: Bending Notes on Harmonica 

I swear if my mom walks in she's gonna think I'm choking on something

Holy shit. I've literally watched over a dozen tutorials on bending and not one of them even elaborated on all the points as you did. I went absolutely nowhere with those videos. THANK YOU JP Allen!!! I tried "ko" and "ahh" with the back of my tongue down and used my soft palate...I got the bend (not 100% perfect) in 5 minutes. Now I'm on the right track. I wanna give you a hug dude! LOL. Everyone else, don't even bother listening to people in the comments give advice...just watch this damn video or look elsewhere. Peace, from Oahu! ✌🏾️✌🏾✌🏾

ive seen every single tutorial on utube on how to bend notes with a harmonica,been trying for 9 months and i accidentally did it while i was watching ur vid.i accidentally did it again and now i do it on purpose!! lesson learned,thanks buddy ;)

this got me my first bend, and of course with lots of other previous videos, but this one is probably one of the better tutorials on bends around youtube.

This guy is the Bill Nye of harmonicas, I'm loving it

Hands down the best bending tutorial I've viewed. I've made decent progress over the years but never been able to bend a note. Through this video I've been able to do it.

I give anyone credit for trying to teach someone how to bend, so my hat's off to you, JP. Why do I give anyone credit for that? Two reasons: (1) Anecdote: When Howard Levy was just getting acquainted with the harmonica, he asked his already pretty accomplished harp-playing buddy how he bent notes, and his friend said he couldn't explain it. And (2) I learned how to bend notes simply by playing...a lot! All the best to all the harp players out there!

SO hard to bend notes, but with your video dude, and your relaxing talking (gives me a sense of patience with your talking) I have now been able to bend the 1st, slowly moving onto the next ones! With your tips to continue improving I know I'll have it down in no time! Thanks a bunch!

Watching this video in August 2010 started me on playing blues harp. All started with a bend! Thanks JP!

Dude I'm getting it! This video had me in tears but I almost got it and I just started playing harmonica 5 minutes ago hahaha.

So to bend I become darth vader?

Amazing video. Most precise explanation of the physical action of the mouth while bending I've seen. Super helpful.

By far the most useful tutorial on bending... Ive been playing for a week now and could only barely bend on the first hole. Now all thats missing is the second bend on the second hole and the final bend on hole 3. In like 10 minutes after watching your video Ive made so much progress

bends initially are not hard at all, i learned them in one day, but still it's much easier to do them better and more deeply when you listen to the mechanism of how it works. and this guy explains it the best. i've listened to quite a few explanations, but this one's definitely the clearest.

This was the best lesson for bending! I got a few bends. Hard to repeat but finally worked a little.

Dude you are like a Harmonica GOD!!! I seriously got the bending technique in like 10 minutes after watching this!!! Thank you so much!!! It's people like you, that make a difference in the world today!!! Keep on keepin on brother!!!!

Awesome stuff! I had tried a lot of youtube videos to try to learn bending. This one is easily the best and clearly explains how to get there fast!

once again...Your ability to convey the Information about playing, etc. is Excellent. I 'get it' with your videos...Thanks...

This guy, when I first started out taught me how to play songs like bridge over troubled water Bright eyes , don’t cry for me Argentina etc THANK YOU.

I've been trying to learn bending for weeks now. Watched tons of videos. This is BY FAR the best explanation and i got it within the first try of these instructions. Thank you so much! :D

I figured it out pretty quickly, thanks for this man I will enjoy this lesson for the rest of my life!

yeh!!!!!!!!!! thanks man ur great, as soon as u just hear it once and know it is genuinely possible with the harmonica u have is a great moment!

Great video. Easily explained and got me to finally get somewhere. Thanks!!!

one of the most discriptive how to vids ive ever seen. thanks!

this is an excellent lesson. one of best on the tube. great teaching style

Excellent lesson! Great teacher.

Great lesson!

First video I watched out of about 20 that taught me how to bend my first note. Yay! Thank you!

Thanks a lot！😄I know how to bend the notes now,your videos really helps!!!

brilliant lesson, thanks so much for showing this with detail.

Honestly the best bending instruction I found so far on youtube. Got my first bend! Thanks!

This video is fantastic! The vintage video quality is different, his descriptive instructions on mouth movements with bending was surprisingly clear, and I picked up the technique in minutes of trying on my first day of even owning a harmonica! Also the instructor looks like a younger Tom Cruise with longer hair!

Great video. I learnt how to bend from this vid about two years ago. Forgot how to do it and came back again. Bending again now. Great teaching!

Thanks a lot. It helped me so much. God bless you.

the moment of truth bending...serious awesome lesson bro..thanks! god bless

What a FINE teacher you are, JP! :-) Now I finally understand the mechanics of the draw bend! You show us _exactly_ what we need to do to make this bend happen. Thanks heaps! :-)

great!!! im learning it.. this is an example of a good teacher

Hands down best bending video omg I am finnaly getting what I wanted to do for a song!

Great lesson!!!!

been trying to bend for months, seen loads of vids and within 2 mins of watching this was bending notes - great lesson!

Thanks. This tutorial is very helpful!

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have watched hundreds of videos, read books but have never been able to bend until now! I had to move up to the 4th until I could get it! Thanks so much once again

Well done man, great teacher

First time I managed to bend a note, took me a couple of weeks but finally got a bend on first hole! Thanks!

Brilliant. Not played harmonica until today, checked this out and was bending (of sorts) within minutes. Thanks.

This is probably one of te best explanations, technique wise. I've been, for a while of and on and in that time playing beds only using my mouth shape, ee-oh. It makes a big difference in using the whole mouth structure, bends come faster and are more easily controlled. Nice stuff, have to try it on my wife as well.

10 days and 30 beginning lessons and now this! My first bend!

This video is REALLY HELPFUL.

I've watched a few videos about bending, this has been the best of all. especially with the yawning part of the technique! Thanks for the upload!

Fantastic explanations. Best I have heard/seen. thx

I did this and my harmonica hit me for using to much teeth.

I watched many tutorials and this is the only one that has worked for me. I still need to practice but I can at least make it occasionally now!

This is by far the best video on how to bending.

i jsut strated learning a few videos ago and now i can do this trick this realy helps and sounds awesome

More easy said than done, it really helps but it requires a lot o practice. But It`s the most helpful of them all. Thanks a lot.

Exceptional explanation. I've got it at once, but I still need practice. Thumbs up

I'VE FINALLY LEARNED IT! THANKS A LOT

JP, This lesson REALLY helped me to better understand. I'd just been playing 3 days and I was able to bend 1 draw. This really solidified it for me... I just wish I could get the hang of 2 draw! Could you go through each step by step?

Great explanation thank you so much this has really helped me with bending holes one and two.

This video really helped! I found dropping the jaw to be important and also tilting the harmonica up (the side away from your mouth) slightly, and eventually I got it after 2 days.

i think my tongue's broken

Ok. I felt silly doing this. Silly. I am an experienced singer, guitarist, bass player with tens of thousands of hours of stage time. I dabble in harp but only melody stuff, and chords. I always had trouble bending. Your video really helped me break through. First few tries sucked but with your techniques, I was bending full steps in a few injures. Thanks Yo

This helped me SO much already! Tank you!!!

Holy crap, I've been trying this for days, watched 4 or 5 different videos, and now within the first 3 minutes of this video I figured out, at least how to do it, even if it still sounds awful. Thanks a billion.

It was an immediate help ! Thank you so much

you're a good teacher..keep it up dude..

You're really good teacher, and so with smiles and practice drawing, thank you very much.

a good tutorial, definitely gave me some insight into what I'm supposed to be doing

Nicely explained, like it!

Very good! Thank you.

My mom walked in to my room when he was showing how to move your tongue, and she was pretty freaked out :D

Great Teacher! I'm getting it!

Best harmonica teacher ever... I succeeded at the first try! Thank you sir!

that worked thank you very much.

I knew nothing about bending. then i watched this video, im not using this technique exacly, but it helped me find away to get started :) thanks, best vid out there for sure!

really good teacher

Man, a helpful lesson it is. Plus you remind me of Mathew McConaughey. It's like getting a harmonica tutorial from Mathew McConaughey. Cheers!

man, you're the best... all of the others just kept sayin "you gotta feel it yourself, there's no way to show how to learn to bend". All you did was just say "bullshit, this is how it's done"! I'm sooo grateful, worked perfectly the first time I tried ;)

Thank you so much to explain in so much detail.. Im just abt getting it now and will continue to practice :)

This tutorial is crazy good! Thank you so much.

Got a massive bend outta this! Thanks man. Subscribed!!

i had the hardest time bending. but it was the harps i was using. i started out with cheap harmonicas. i wish i wasn't so cheap at the beginning because i almost gave up... Someone got me nice harps for Christmas and i cant believe the difference! these are so much easier to play on.

finally I got it!!! best lesson on youtube!!! thanks a lot

Really good teacher. I can already do it on the first hole!

thank you so much, this video is very useful

This is the real deal! It works! Thank you so much!

Very nice it took 30 min to learn how to bend, thx to you!

Thank you so much, I was able to bend (a little) on my first try after watching your video! Great lesson!

by far the best explanation :)

Wow...that really helped. I'm going to use the breathing as a warm up exercise before I play. Thanks alot!

Bending breakthrough!! I have never been this consistent!

steve vai play harmonica too? I didn't know :D

I have watched TONS of videos to explain this, and the only word I needed was ‘Yawn’. Thank you!

thank you so much, you are a great teacher, i learned this tehnique immediately ;D

Very Helpful Technique, Thank You!

I bought a harmonica yesterday, and I can bend quite good already :)

JP- I got your happy harpin' DVD about a year ago, I had some things happen which caused me to stop for 6 months. fyi I have finished the DVD today with going through about 5-6 lessons a day at a set time. I'm anxious to keep learning. Thank you for doing the video, I Really enjoyed doing it. I plan on continuing practicing I'm one way or another. Timothy G

thank you so much!! the 'ko' thing helped a lot

THIS IS MY FAVORITE VIDEO ON RU-vid

thank you this really helped me