Harmonica Techniques - Bending and Other Techniques

Bending and Other Techniques

In addition to the 20 notes readily available on the diatonic harmonica, players can play other notes by adjusting their embouchure and forcing the reed to resonate at a different pitch. Although it is notoriously difficult and can be frustrating for beginners, one does this by relaxing and coordinating muscles in the throat, mouth, and lips. This technique is called "bending", a term borrowed from guitarists, who literally "bend" a string in order to create subtle changes in pitch. Using bending, a player can reach all the notes on the chromatic scale. "Bending" also creates the glissando characteristic of much blues harp and country harmonica playing. Bending on a guitar bends the pitch upward. However, typically "bending" on a harmonica means the pitch falls downward. Bends are essential for most blues and rock harmonica due to the soulful sounds the instrument can bring out. The famous "wail" of the blues harp typically required bending.

|D |F |A♯| |B |D♯|F♯|B | hole: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ----------------------------- blow: |C |E |G |C |E |G |C |E |G |C | draw: |D |G |B |D |F |A |B |D |F |A | ----------------------------- |C♯|F♯|A♯|C♯|E |G♯| |F |A | |G♯|

The physics of bending are quite complex, but amount to this: a player can bend the pitch of the higher-tuned reed down toward the pitch of the lower-tuned reed in any given hole. In other words, on holes 1 through 6, the draw notes can be bent and on holes 7 through 10 the blow notes can be bent. Hole 3 allows for the most dramatic bending: in C, it is possible to bend 3 draw from a B down to a G♯, or anywhere in between.