Here’s a simple two-part exercise to help strengthen your 4 draw bend. We’ll assume you have already found your draw bend, but haven’t perfected playing it in isolation without scooping down from the clean draw. If you have already perfected them, you may still find this exercise useful in sustaining your bending muscles and add it to you ‘harp gym’ regime. Hitting a bend accurately and without scooping is known as direct bending – a skill which is central to controlled playing. If you haven’t yet attempted any bends, why not take a look at the draw bend page from my Harp Skills menu here.
Stage One
We start by moving from the draw note down to the draw bend as slowly as possible. The objectives are to maintain a good tone (no loose air), a respectable amount of volume and to control the descent. Now do this again, but saving enough lung capacity to hold the bend as long as possible. Remember to descend as slowly as possible first. (more…)
The engineer blown the whistle, the fireman he rang the bell
I remember seeing R.L. Burnside in Brighton in the late 1990’s. The gig was above a pub (the Flying Pig I think) on Queens Road, just down from the main railway station. My enduring memory will always be of Cedric, his grandson, silhouetted behind the drum kit, thumping out the most mesmeric blues rhythms. It was just the two of them, but it was utterly compelling. I’d never experienced blues of this kind before; far removed from standard Chicago 12 bar romps. It took us, the audience, somewhere humid and remote. Down in Mississippi, but back up in the hills.
Who’s blowing the harp?
So who’s responsible for all that raw harpooning on It’s Bad You Know? Only Lester Butler of The Red Devils! I believe recorded scraps were sequenced and engineered by Tom Rothrock and the track was released into the underground dance scene in 1998. Where it flourished. The message was then adopted by the likes of Moby, Little Axe and now Alabama 3. More recently by Son of Dave. If it’s any testament to quality, this track and, of course, Alabama 3’s Woke Up This Morning have been used in the TV series The Sopranos.
The Mighty Ship seems to crop up on a regular basis on TV, Radio, at training seminars and on line, the same way that Groovin’ With Mr. Bloe does. It is a rare ‘good time’ harmonica instrumental. As a resident Brightonian, nay Hovite, the fact that The Housemartins‘ bassman (Norman Cook alias Fat Boy Slim) is an extremely close neighbour geographically, and former sponsor of The Albion through Skint Records, makes this tune all the more poignant.
At the Harp Surgery, we will forever remain convinced that The Mighty Ship is a secret Groovin’ With Mr. Bloe derivative, principally because of the common ‘sweet notes’ produced in the scooped 4 draw bend and straight 4 blow. The decision, as they say, is yours…. (more…)
‘…Who shall tempt with wandering feet, The dark unbottomed infinite abyss, And through the palpable obscure find out, His uncouth way.’ Paradise Lost (Milton)
As a journeyman blues harp player, there comes a point when we start to explore blues in different positions. We learn that in theory the number of positions available on any one harp is exponential. In reality however, most of the top guys we listen to use only 1st, 2nd or 3rd position – straight, cross and slant harp respectively. Put simply, they can get the most effective results from these positions. We will look at 3rd position playing another time, but for now I want to focus on 1st position or straight harp.
I would bet any money that you learnt to play Amazing Grace, Camptown Races, When The Saints or Oh Susanna when you first picked up the harp! These are folk tunes we all know. They can be readily navigated in the key of the harmonica – normally starting from, or ending on, blow 4. That’s traditional straight harp. It’s what the diatonic harmonica was built for.
I’ll put another wager on the fact that, having cracked these pedestrian folk melodies, you then hurried off to cross harp blues playing on a mission to find all the funky bends necessary to sound like Little Walter, Big Walter, James (more…)
All my friends know the low rider
Few students ever arrive at the Harp Surgery knowing exactly how many bends there are or where they’re all located. Some think they do, but on closer inspection find there are gaps in their knowledge or ability. Some can draw bend but not blow bend. Some are unable to bend at all. This is a skill area that almost always needs attention. I firmly believe players of any ability should spend time working on the accuracy of their direct bends. No matter how good you are, those 3 hole draw bends can never be taken for granted.
When you start bending, it always pays to remember the Harp Surgery’s golden rule – it’s ok to make mistakes. That’s why they put erasers on the end of pencils. Perfecting your bends will involve an amount of trial and error. You will learn from your mistakes. And remember this is one of the most significant points of any harp player’s development. Be patient and persevere. You’re breaking into the big time!
The low rider is a little higher
In another article, we spoke about monitoring the accuracy of bends – How do I know I’m bending in tune? My conclusion was that all the electronic paraphernalia in the world is no substitute for using your own ears. Furthermore, instead of learning each individual bend in isolation with an electronic tuning device to determine your accuracy, what better than to pick a fun tune and learn to play the bends in context. You’re a musician after all; if the bend ain’t right, the tune won’t work. (more…)
In cross-harp (2nd position) it is easy to limit your playing to blues patterns between holes 1 and 6. Accepted, some songs require this, focusing on the wealth of ‘low end’ bends, moods and tones. But what do we do with the ‘top end’ of the harp? It’s banjo country and it’s scary – you just don’t want to go there! This is because the tuning sequence changes in holes 7 to 10 and cross-harp patterns have to change with it. Those favoured low end formulae are rendered useless as everything seems to reverse or shift. Remember how mysterious the low end was when you first picked up the harp? Time, determination, experiment and the sense of adventure all spurred you on to greater things. Breaking into the top end is no different. So it’s back to school…
Stick with it – there’s fun and satisfaction to be had. In due course, 3rd position will have you skipping across the divide like a spring lamb, oblivious to worldly perils. For now, the first steps in linking the bottom and top ends are what we call ‘crossing the bridge’ exercises. Try out these helpful 2nd position licks:
Here’s a simple two-part exercise to help strengthen your 4 draw bend. We’ll assume you have already found your draw bend, but haven’t perfected playing it in isolation without scooping down from the clean draw. If you have already perfected them, you may still find this exercise useful in sustaining your bending muscles and add it to you ‘harp gym’ regime. Hitting a bend accurately and without scooping is known as direct bending – a skill which is central to controlled playing. If you haven’t yet attempted any bends, why not take a look at the draw bend page from my Harp Skills menu here.
