Key of A harmonica in this video. www.Harmonica123.com jam track can be found at under the "Jam Tracks" tab on my site. It's called the Ultimate Jam Tracks.
Love this. Thank you for sharing these specific and really generous insights from someone who can really play. That three hole draw feels like a hurdle, but it is really right square in the middle of all "the good stuff" in bluesy playing. Especially helpful is the gentle approach you share; I often try to overpower it with too much pressure, out of frustration. Great teaching.
WOW! I've been unsuccessful getting a controllable 3 draw half step bend on my A Hohner Crossover harmonica for years. I bought a second one thinking it was a harp issue and have also looked into having this harp customized to make the draw bend work. Closing your teeth has helped significantly - more than any other solution I've tried. Excellent lesson - thank you very much :-)
Ronnie, I’ve been battling with my control of the 3 bend. Usually it goes to low. Until I closed my teeth! Wow! Thank you so much for that one simple tip!
I have been strugglibg with the 3 draw bend till I watched this video. Just putting my teeth together made all the difference! I have more control over the bend and sustain them. Thanks for that nugget!
YES! I got a breakthrough! Before this video, my "bending technique" consisted in bringing my jaw forward while opening the mouth a bit more and tilting the harmonica upwards (the result sometimes sounded more like a big, rattling and screeching horn). But keeping the teeth together works soooo much better. I can actually get a clean note and also control it better. Thanks, man! Very useful!
Now I understand why I haven't so blues like sounds with my A harmonica! You are really good teacher and tell these things! I have trained under week and I understand how this whole thing works :D I also have played bass over 10 years, so R.I.P :D
WOW, I sure have a lot of practice to do. Thank you so much for getting me started with those certain techniques. Putting my teeth together is actually working. I was definitely using too much air and had absolutely no control.
That was so good cause the 3 hole is a monster and I am watching and drawing from the diagram I got and got it good, no flat sound. I have been messing with the 3draw for 4 days trying to get it and for today I did.thanks Ronnie.keep it up
@waabladeeble It is actually tongue position and breathing...make sure when you go for a clean draw note that your tongue is resting on the bottom of your mouth flat and the tip of tongue behind bottom teeth...breathe from your diaphragm nice and easy and you'll get it.
Well that helped a lot ..Thanks for that mate..I had been drawing my 3 half step too hard and producing a full step, now I realise it's a gentler inhale
absolutely. some out of the box harps are not airtight so the bends are leaky however. yes that's a Suzuki Manji..should not be harder to play in my experience
"This particular hole is very troublesome for a lot of people" "Our... precision has to be dead on... to get the whole to cooperate" "I was trying to come back to that hole and attack it from many different angles" ".... and different directions, I came from on top, down into the hole I started on the hole" "There are different ways you can come at this hole" Great video. I'm going to go at the hole from different angles or even head on and just attack that hole, can't wait!
Great lesson. I have been trying to get this half step bend for weeks, and just tried the "teeth" suggestion and got it! I have a long way to go to keep it, but at least I finally got it. I thought my harps were broke :-)
Thank you for the great video, I did have an appifany (sorry can’t spell that) and what you said resonated with me. Seems so with the other commenters as well. I think the video is blessed haha Here’s my takeaway: like you said this hole draw is particularly difficult, and you said it’s because there’s multiple bends. The big thing I learned is that, the 4 draw has always been so easy to be because it’s just one bend, and it’s really fun so i over-exaggerate the motion and use my jaw but with no problems. But then with this 3 draw, my muscles think it’s the same deal.. so my jaw drops and I suck in and it’s like a dead duck, not even able to get the flat 3rd but instead a rough sounding, meek, and frustrating 2nd. Now I realize since there’s so many bends you have to be careful and do less to just get the flat 3rd. Boy it’s so simple now. Thanks so much!!!
Same here Richard. I've seen some guys on youtube tinkering around with their harmonica which makes it easier to bend. I'm planning on doing that for my harmonica.
Thanks for the lesson Ronnie. That A harp sure is mournful bluesy sound. Very difficult to get the correct bend on 3 draw,accuracy takes heaps of practice. Sounds airy still but working on relaxation. Great post.
Oh and I am using a chromatic tuner and one I was pointed to on the net that is pretty cool, called Bendometer PS. It is specifically for harmonica and is a great visual tool as well.
Ronnie you're good teacher in all things you know. You good dude for the help. I've got a G Hohner and C Warehouse Blues Which one be better to practice bends for beginner to bends. Uno easiest and maybe easy for my what my ears hearing so I know I'm working in right direction? Thanks dude you help us who just otherwise be to much self teaching! That can be depressing when no knowledge of key techniques or tricks.
Has anyone tried loading a chromatic tuner app on their phone or just using a chromatic tuner. Play the bends whilst observing the tuner. Its a good feedback loop and lets you see directly what the results of making minor variations in your embouchure tongue and throat make. I found it helped immensely to get a half step bend on 2 and 3 draw and hold it on the note. It gives you time to notice what your doing with your mouth etc.
@MrMelodiousThunk More of a pucker player for bends but i can bend while tongue blocking. Otherwise, outside of bending, I'd say I am a 60/40 pucker/tongue block player
Exellent video Ronnie!!. I'm a beginner. been playing for a month and a half and I'm going through your beginner blues licks CD (great stuff as well). The teeth closed technique allowed me to get a finer control on the 3 hole draw bends instantly, amasing!... Would you agree with Adam Gussow that the blue third is a quarter step bend instead of a half step on the 3 hole as everyone else says? Thanks for this lessons, greets from Chile
I have both standard, Out the box manji's and marine band crossover's. I personaly find the crossover's "easier" to play, meaning that they require less force to bend them down and to hold them there... But again this is a personal thing, you'll have to try a few harps to find which one suits you best. Also I have bought basic customised crossovers but they don't require much alteration in my opinion. Maybe the best out the box harp???
I'm having a lot of trouble bending on the 1st and 2nd draw holes. 2nd hole, I can kind of do half step without tilting, but no further, no matter what. I can bend every other hole but 789, but I'm not worried about that yet..
Is there a reason why you choose to give this lesson on an A harp? Maybe it's just coincidence but I find these bends easier on an A harp than for ex. on a C harp....
Are these bends possible on an out of the box harp, or are mods required. Also is that a Suzuki? I just got a C Suzuki and find it harder to play than the Marine band or the Lee oskar.Its a Manji and sound great but requires a harder draw.
Hey man, forgetting about blues harp for a sec, I play a lot of simple folk melodies and the whole step bend on the 3 draw hole (so in the key of C for example the note I want to play is A) is the one i really want to hit. Don't get me wrong, I can bend my notes like a champ a love playing a bit of cross harp etc, but I really have trouble hitting this note when I'm trying to stick to basic melodies. The fact they left this note out of the major scale on the diatonic harp really annoys me sometimes (although I understand the logic behind it as it works great for blues playing etc.) I'll keep trying and thanks for the advice, but if you demonstrated this in a video that wasn't focussed on blues playing that would be awesome!! Cheers big fella.
Jimmy Cyclone Buy a Seydel session steel paddy richter tuned harp 3hole is raised by 2semi tones this will give you the A note that’s missing in standard tuned. You will be able to play all those tunes that give you trouble now I’m sure you will be happy. I had the same problem as you but now I can nearly play most melodies. Grab the C then a G you should be right with those. I hope this helps you Regards Norm Western Australia Will give you a like then you might find this post
Nate Reeves Yeah me too when i try to get that full bend, like its going through a pipe haha. Ican do the half step but having problems with other bends. I noticed that this sound appears when you are sort of in the middle of two bends like the pitch kinda resonates. You fix it by learning how to bend the note hehe. Trust me it's not the harp, i get similar results on more than one harp. I can't help you much, but you can check out Lee Sankey on youtube. He has some very detailed lessons on how to bend properly with tongue block and lip pursing.
Either I'm not understanding what you're talking about or I can't see how putting your teeth together and drawing in, or even more difficult, to me impossible, bending while drawing in and putting your teeth together? How is this technique possible or accomplish? Did I miss something? Please fill me in.
What I really dont get is why no one really explains how to adjust the reed to achieve a easier bending note. I have a really crappy Hering free blues and I can easily bend 1-2-3-4 notes with the slight inhale of air. Then yesterday I bought a Suzuki Fire Breath in D, and a Hohner Crossover in Db, which cost me around 70-80 usd each. I read so many reviews about how the Fire Breath can get bends easier, and what I got it is a much hard harmonica to bend compared to my crap 10 usd Hering ! The Crossover responds really well, but the Fire Breath, I just keep sucking air and is not my technique fault, cos I although i am not perfect at bend, I am bending on a Hering C, on a Hering F, on a Suzuki ProMaster 350 in C, on a Hohner Crossover Bb, and the Fire Breath is just not working ! I mean, I can reach 2 bends but i really need to pull a lot of air, and I already tried to fix the reed gapping several and several times, then I open all my harmonicas and compared the 3 draw reed gap in all of time, and is pretty much all the same, and the Fire Breath it is...quiet disapointing. Need help.
+Uyan Tien Nermind what I wrote, I just fixed and the Fire Breath sounds great now. The whole secret was gapping the BLOWING reed to make the DRAWING more sensitive. I just this on a forum and decide to give it a try. It worked.
Beautiful playing Ronnie, I was wondering if you have jam tracks for sale? If you do hit me up on facebook Rusty Bergandine! Thanks for the great lesson!
