The Only Thing That Makes Harmonica Notes Bend

Richard Sleigh ( hotrodharmonicas.com ) makes it obvious that there is only one thing going on inside your mouth that causes harmonica notes to bend. He uses a slide whistle contraption connected to a key of F harmonica that shows what is going on inside your mouth that makes the reeds vibrate at different frequencies. If you teach harmonica, you can use this video to help you explain to your students what makes the notes bend...
Here is another video by Richard that goes into detail on note bending techniques-
How to Bend Notes on the Harmonica:
• How to bend notes on t...
Also - a free course on the fundamentals of playing the diatonic (blues) harmonica:
www.ultimateha...
And a very in depth course on bending notes on the blues harmonica:
www.ultimateha...
Plus articles and more resources at my website:
hotrodharmonica...

[@giusepperesponte8077]

If I would pay anyone for a harp lesson it would be this guy, he has a true understanding of the instrument, and how wind instruments and reeds work in general, as someone who likes to learn exactly what is happening, this guy is great.

[@tennisbum3686]

I totally agree with you

[@johndouma3407]

I really appreciate the fact that you built these tools to demonstrate this. Thank you very much.

[@ninocrudele]

best explanation ever in all KZbin, thank you!!!! subscribed!!!!

[@user-pv6nf2cr4k]

Wow! The sliding tube device was mind blowing!!!! This is the best demonstration of bending I have EVER seen. Thank you!

[@kulcharshock421]

That “Slide Tube” blew me away !!! What a teaching device…!!!…simplifying it… and now all you have to do is make your mouth do it….it’s not voodoo..!!…you don’t have to to go to the crossroads lol…that’s a relief !!!

[@timc3773]

Hands-down, THE best video on bending I've watched.

[@dinosilone7613]

This is the best explanation of bending I’ve ever heard.

[@terryford2195]

i am an amature chromatic this is the best explanation on bending i have heard i will save it cheers

[@uripmargono946]

Is that only it? I've been practising to bend the notes and no progress before I found this video for months. And today, it's getting better and easier to make it. Thank, good man. What a great lesson you give!

[@tommyharmonika]

This is by far the best and clearest explanation of bending physics. Awesome gadgets too!

[@richardroysleigh]

Thanks! It was an interesting process to come up with this gizmo... I'm glad you found it useful... If you want to do a deeper dive into bending, check out the Bending Course - www.ultimateharmonica.com/p/the-bending-course

[@triphenderson2341]

Richard provides clarity to one of the hardest things to explain to students for we harmonica instructors. This will be played tonight at both of my classes. Thanks Richard!!!

[@AdamWestUS]

Amen Henderson!

[@Harmonicacom]

Great vid! thanks Richard.👊🏼

[@mateopavolini]

I JUST LOVE THIS MAN, STILL NOT ABLE TO BEND BUT THIS REALLY MOTIVATED ME, NOW I KNOW WHAT IM TRYING TO DO!

[@tennisbum3686]

This is the most coherent and understandable explanation of learning to play this instrument. You have a new subscriber here, and thank you for your insightful explanation

[@bvandijk]

As a scientist I truly appreciate this: finally somebody that does not just says something but demonstrates it with experimentation! Very cool.

[@alfreddemuth6343]

Male 82 just bought hohner c big river m/s I'm glad I found you it's my first harmonica

[@medievalbox4395]

Pretty cool : )

[@gastelda]

Thanks Richard! About 20-25 years ago, I remember attending Joe Filisko's class at Augusta Heritage Blues Week. I expressed my own conclusion that that bending is caused by modifying the vocal tract to reinforce the intended pitch, analogous to changing pitch when humming or whistling. This is the first time I'm seeing this explained accurately. It's frustrating to see all he instructions of physical methods to bend notes, but not explaining the physics of why this works. I have just discovered your videos, and they are excellent! Thanks again!

[@MysteryMagee]

Excellent explanation and props the biggest thing that helped me was the kaaaa sound thank you

[@nicholaslittle2312]

What a great teacher! Thank you so much!

[@BlackuLaLa]

I love this! I still can't bend, but this is very helpful. Thank you!

[@Meddlmoe]

I also experimented with 3d printing extensions that unfortunately change the volume before the reeds. You need to do two things: 1. Control the volume (as you said) 2. Create a narrow bottleneck in the back of your mouth that decouples your lung volume from your mouth volume. With a tube between your mouth and the harmonica at the right length, you can also create this bottleneck with your lipps, by creating a trumpet playing like lip-slot.

[@kenzieprice6745]

Did you share any of your project on the web anywhere?

[@ernestturchi3954]

Was very interesting and helpful, thanks

[@NiekEdeling]

Sir Richard, I think you could explain to me everything I never understood in my entire life; incredibly clear!

[@张泰-d7o]

Thank you! I am so glad to see this video after just beginning to learn how to play harmonica

[@johnmusicman7056]

Awesome thank you Richard!

[@robinmuller2881]

Thank you so much, never befor did i understand this concept!

[@rodneyange1046]

That was educational. Thank you

[@stevepethel6843]

Wow that is GENIUS contraption of the slide whistle harmonica demonstration.You really think deeply about harmonicas and out of the NORM..I love these ideas Richard great video.God continued Blessings on your life and music ministry...

[@lizryan5848]

And he thinks deeply about a lot of things and brings it all together so beautifully! Subscribing to his newsletter is a MUST!

[@tomconwell9575]

Fascinating. Charming. Brilliant.

[@krishnanRan]

Excellent but simple to understand explanation for a difficult to achieve part of harmonica playing. Will start trying to bend notes with this concept in mind. Thank you.

[@TheRemyRomano]

That’s the first explanation I have heard that makes sense

[@tyrellmiller778]

Breaking down the process of note bending in it's most rudimentary components. EXCELLENT

[@fabriziotraballoni5460]

thank you so much sir, the best explanation of ever, about harmonica bending notes

[@mickramsay5002]

Hey Richard, thank you for this interesting insight. I‘m gone give a try. I hope it will be the key to a full scale. Greetings from Hamburg/Germany

[@qualudia1]

You are absolutely right on! I’ve have been trying to bend the lower scale#2 on a diatonic C harmonica and your right it’s a factor of mouth/tongue relationship. I haven’t found the right sound but once I do it’s a matter of doing exercises to strengthen that mouth memory. Basically doing exercises to make playing more automatic.. Great piece, I look forward to your channel.

[@garyn9704]

To me you've given the most understandable and helpful explanation of how to-thanks!

[@jensvide777]

The K technique made it click for me. Thanks!

[@MichaelTseCK]

Thanks! I got my first bend after seeing your video!

[@arcidiavolo]

just great concepts

[@seannakasone4316]

that plunger really proved the point, great job. but the question i still have is, does changing the size of the mouth cause the opposite reed to vibrate?

[@rickpalmer3340]

Hello Richard, an excellent video on the theory behind bending. As a beginner I’m working on it. I get the bends 1, 2 and 1 on holes 1, 2 and 6 respectively, but struggle to get anything on hole 3. I’ll keep trying, in the meantime please do continue to make the videos. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

[@BrendanPowerMusic]

Cool demo Richard!

[@MultiXarlie]

thank you so much for sharing your knowledge sir. And greetings from Brazil!

[@sachinkapatkar]

Thanks a lot for sharing u knowledge related to this great intrument like harmonica.

[@garfieldnate]

Wonderful explanation! As someone who whistles a lot, this makes good intuitive sense. Essentially the reed is your lips, and you can change the pitch with your tongue just the same (though the reed is less-flexibly tuned to a single note). Follow-up questions: how do the different types of bends work, then, if they all operate on the same principle? Also, I thought the harmonica was constructed so that the draw and blow reeds would be activated on draw and blow. Physicallyl, how is the air making it to the opposite reed when you bend? How are the air chambers connected?

[@thewiz8895422]

I understand that some use the back of the throat to create bends of which I cannot do. While lip pursing, I use the tip of my tongue to create draw bends on the low draw notes and the same for when I am blow bending on the high register . While tongue blocking, I use the same technique yet use the side of my tongue for draw bends , yet for high register blow bends I do go back to lip pursing. Thing is, there is more than one way to bend notes. I have used a tuner to check my bends, as well as using my ears and have them quite dialed in. Great video though

[@LeRequinBlue]

Hi Richard, i appreciate the way you have explained.

[@Harpdog.TonyWatson]

I had already learned what is covered in this video before viewing it, but still want to say that this video does a great job of making these concepts clear with good explanations, and clever useful demos. Good contribution to harmonica players.

[@richardroysleigh]

I've pondered this for many years and this is an attempt to make it as clear as I possibly can. Thanks for your kind words...

[@АлександрБелоруссов-у7м]

Brilliant explanation. Thank you very much.

[@michaelc.6927]

Very informative! I am recently toying with the idea of playing. This video sheds light on some helpful knowledge. Thanks !

[@edwardjamesbutler]

You sir are a musical scientist. Salute!

[@TheBigMclargehuge]

Thank you, this video demystifies the whole concept to me.

[@stevebuckerfield3868]

Excellent and clear explanation.

[@howardbent5437]

I wish I could like this video 5 times

[@starckwest6358]

Excellent

[@pablocuello52]

Gracias por your Time and Ideas Greetings desde Chile

[@MrSpanky2001]

That reed prop was super cool.

[@justinmeurer949]

Dang I wish I could have all of the KZbin creators explain this so well

[@LanceNelsonPorter]

Thank you for this!

[@hamishwatson2864]

Excellent explanation, thank you so much for sharing!

[@therealdoctorstrings]

This is a very useful tutorial! I subbed to your channel! Look forward to learning more from you! Greetings from India- Ranjani

[@richardroysleigh]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@chaz6645]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I’m currently working on this.

[@robertnester13]

Fantastic demonstration! Thank you!

[@DanDoucet101]

Great explanation and really appreciated the info about the effect going TOO far using the slide whistle example! Not I’ll stop trying to push my tongue out the back of my throat 😂

[@Jonathan-L]

The thing that bends note is the change in velocity of air flow, which is controlled by the player.

[@frankofdk]

Great demonstration Richard. But I think you got a detail wrong. I believe that you are cancelling a note, when you bend or play overblow (or use slidewhistle) . I'm thinking on a helmholtz resonator or a muffer on a car's exhaust system.

[@johnrogers2253]

That was brilliant, I understand so in the morning I'm going to get it at last...

[@samuelteh9421]

Thank you sir for your great efforts to demonstrate d method for bending.

[@therusfosterson238]

Nice video Richard. Thanks for being clear and concise. I'm subscribing.

[@dippingbird]

Wow, best harp lesson ever!

[@Audiomonkscollective]

Thanks for the excellent tutorial. Love you Sir

[@RuckusOutfitters]

It’s all based off of Bernoulli’s principle. Any restriction in the air flow, for example shrinking the size of the resonate cavity (your mouth), increases the “velocity” of the air. The pitch is directly related to the velocity of the air. By opening your mouth cavity your’e slowing the velocity of the air thus, lowering the pitch, when you close your mouth cavity you increase the velocity of the air, increasing the pitch. This guy explains it pretty well. We teach this same concept in playing duck and goose calls 😊

[@tenochramos4775]

Thanks so much!!!! Congrat for your videos!! Saludos desde Mexico City.

[@catoninetails789]

Excellent video! I have a couple of questions. 1. When you bend a note, let's say a draw bend, why does the other reed (in this case, the blow reed) also vibrate? 2. If you play a clean draw or blow note without bending, does the other reed vibrate as well or does this happen only when you bend? 3. On low notes (e.g. +1, -1, +2, -2 on an A harmonica), I feel like I do something different to make them sound strong compared to higher notes. I suspect that what I do is I make them bend just a tiny bit. So, anyway, the question is - when you play a low notes such as these, do both reeds vibrate or only one reed?

[@terrorbirds9835]

This guy should be named Richard Slay 🤘✨

[@rapidwav5669]

Brilliant explanation

[@FilipPandrc]

ok that giant reed got me 😂😂

[@barryl9743]

That was great, made alot of sense, thanks!

[@richardroysleigh]

Thanks for letting me know!

[@Erreerreti]

Thank you, very useful explanation

[@richardroysleigh]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ooDriveoo]

Video: The harmonica reed starts vibrating Me: insta sub

[@saltwatersalmon798]

This guy's a legend

[@skiddrowe9104]

i TOTALLY AGREE WITH THE GENTLEMAN WHO WROTE HIS COMENTS IN THE SPACE BELOW. HE IS ABSOLUTELY "ON TARGET" WITH HIS OBSERVATION AND CHOICE OF THE TEACHER HE'D PAY FOR HARP LESSONS!!!!!!! I'D ALSO PAY MONEY FOR HIS TEACHING ME THE HARMONICA!!!!

[@stevenfairless4931]

OK .. i had to pause the video and laugh awhile when that giant reed suddenly appeared ... now I'm configuring a giant harmonica and realized you need giant slide whistle at each hole to bend notes ... and I'm late for this party, being 5years ago 😁

[@guitzanin]

Fantastic! Thanks!

[@HoneyboyDes]

No one else has ever put it that way before...

[@lenmcwilliams1058]

Wonderful explanation and demo! I notice you avoid using the term "resonance". It's the term usually used when describing sympathetic vibrations between an air column and an initiating vibration e.g., a reed or fipple. Perhaps you're trying to avoid sounding too technical. In voice lessons, a singer is taught to use body cavity resonance to enhance the sound quality and power of the vibrations produced by their vocal chords.

[@z1522]

This seems simple, yet I don't think it is nearly this simple; for one thing, the blow and draw reeds in each chamber affect whether a bend is even feasible. This changes relative to which key harp is used, and the same pitch note on one harp may be an easy draw bend, the exact same note on a different key, still draw, may be trickier. I feel it is a complex interaction of yes, the mouth acoustics, but also the constriction/"contortion" of the air at the area of the mouth just behind the harmonica that makes for a pressure change. Players like Sonny Boy Williamson made the same bent note sound shallow and tinny, or deep and resonant, depending on constricting or opening the mouth and throat - which by the slide whistle analogy should have forced a pitch change as the mouth acoustics were opened or closed.

[@JB-rw9xt]

This is the place where science and harmonica meet.

[@earthworm7346]

Sleigh Queeen!!! 💅🙌

[@jullev6709]

Why I bend changing the angualation of airflow and the size of the holes, not increasing or decreasing mouhchamber ?

[@spinnerone105]

Excellent! Really helped!!

[@richardroysleigh]

Great - I am glad you found it useful...

[@juanmariavive]

excelent !

[@michaelkral]

Would it be possible to make a harmonica with reeds that can bend all notes like a trombone?

[@just_ryan_no_b]

took me a whole minute to notice the giant harmonica behind him

[@timothypham2330]

Genius!

[@paulcundy4703]

Genius!

[@otothej]

Great video! But I think there is still something missing. You can bend notes on melodica and accordion. What might be physics in note bending behind those instruments?🤔

[@richardroysleigh]

I don't know - I have never heard an accordion player or a melodica player bend notes. Do you have any urls of videos of someone bending notes on these instruments? If I could see and hear someone doing this I would hazard a guess, or better yet, ask them what they are doing...

[@otothej]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpS3emaXmrWHitE On melodica or on accordion you press a key (a valve) half way and same time blow more air. I'm guessing that air pressure has something to do with bends in all reed instruments.

[@richardroysleigh]

@@otothej I checked out the video - thanks - I left him a question about what is going on inside of his mouth when he blows harder... It will be interesting to see what comes of that inquiry. Yes you can bend notes by blowing harder, but you can't control them nearly as well as you can with lighter air pressure and the technique I describe in my video. You need a certain level of air pressure to bend notes, but it is not very much. I can bend notes with extremely light air pressure...

[@otothej]

@@richardroysleigh and here is the same with an accordion kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5rCi6SLabGbf5Y I'm guessing what happens in mouth has nothing (or very little) to do with the bend. Because the same technique works with an accordion. You just build more air pressure.

[@richardroysleigh]

​@@otothej Very interesting! It is cool to see an accordion player do this... I know that if I take an air compressor and blow into holes 7 - 10 on a blues harp they instantly go into a bend. Air pressure is a variable for sure, but my area of interest is creating musical bends on the harmonica. Maybe it would be more accurate to title this video "The only thing that makes harmonica reeds bend in a way that you can control predictably that sounds musical" - or something like that... But if I had a title like that I would probably have 37 views... Using the technique I describe in this video you can rapidly play a series of pitches as bent notes in the draw notes of hole #3 with very little air pressure and match the corresponding notes on a piano. If you tried to do that by only increasing the air pressure to create bends, I don't know what would happen, but I don't think it would sound very good... Both of the videos that you sent me show the player starting a note and then bending it. On the blues harp you can hit the note already bent with great accuracy using the principle I show in this video. If you can find a video of an accordion player hitting bent notes cold and on pitch (as opposed to starting a pitch and then bending down), then we really have something to compare.

[@kenzieprice6745]

Hey Richard. Do you think this concept still works and applies to a completely isolated reed? (Only one reed in one channel)

[@edmorgan6598]

Spectometer and Bending _ I was asked to provide a video of a spectrometer I used as part of this argument, perhaps as an attempt to discredit me, but I am responding as if the request was more generous. I cannot provide the video as I don't have the equipment, but you can easily see and use the same spectrometer I use for free, and quickly see the same result. Get the free app for your phone called PitchLab Lite (I have Android phone). There are several spectrometer choices in the app, but the one you want has horizontal bars with all the notes in an octave displayed from top to bottom of the screen, and in the absence of you making any noise has a multicolor squiggle of many lines scrolling left to right filling the screen from top to bottom, which is a representation of white noise that you may not actually be able to hear. The pitch of any singing or harmonica sound you make immediately overwhelms the white noise and is represented by a single line showing the pitch, in real time, with no noticeable delay, and with a short period of history due to the scrolling. Some information on tone is also visible as wavering of the line. This is by far the best and easiest app to monitor and train harmonica bending or voice pitch I have ever seen, and I have always thought that if harmonica instructors are not using it for their students, they are handicapping their students, A LOT. It works with complex sounds - even motorcycle screams are rendered as one or two pitches, depending on how many cylinders and whether they have, for example, a 270 degree firing order (which produces a nice I-iV two note chord due to the mathematical offset in firing,) with pitch dependent on rpm. While tone is largely subjective to humans, pitch is not, and the spectrometer records pitch, your ear interprets tone. A C reed blows a C if blown by a little kid to an adult, and mouth volume and any shape differences I can manage make some but very little difference on pitch. While I don't know what causes bending, whatever it is needs to explain why lower pitched harmonicas are so much easier to bend. I have wandered through this problem intellectually for quite a while, and there is some kind of wave interaction/resonance, but if it is your organ pipe/pennywhistle standing wave hypothesis or a resonance with vocal chords or another idea (see below) I can't figure out with certainty. From other people's usual "hypothesis" based on narrowing air passages and my own bending attempts, I suspect it is the dramatic creation of standing waves of the sort so familiar to canoeists when they encounter waves when a river narrows through a rapids. I do not know the math for this phenomena, and therefore do not understand it. My simple attempts to prove it using a spectrometer been promising but a little less conclusive than I like due to the fact the hiss of narrowing air passages during the inhale is weak and seems to be loudest in the throat, and I can't see my phone against my throat, my eyes being where they are and all and this not being a professional investigation with enslaved graduate students to help ,and I have to use mirrors. However, this hiss does seem to have a distinct and changeable frequency embedded in a lot of white noise, indicating that it MIGHT be involved in bending. Lots of experience with standing waves in areas of increasing flow and restricted passage in many situations leave no doubt that the hiss MUST have distinct wavelengths alterable by flow and channel characteristics - all fluids behave like that. Also, interestingly, if I really push it I can on an inhale get a faint single frequency from my vocal chords during an inhale, if the phone is against my throat, indicating some kind of resonance might be involved there. Dang, it's a sad fact that most new hypothesis prove wrong or oversimplifications, I've suffered through that fact my whole life, and I am looking for confirmation and consensus as always before looking for my Nobel. I suggest you take a similar dim view of proof.

[@selfactualizer2099]

bought a harmonica last night, watche4d tons of videos but couldnt bend, this is the video i was looikiing for, i was wanting to know *how* the bend is accomplished (in terms of physics) the flute example helped anyways, I did it. i did A bend, the next morning after buying first harmonica, i cant do it again and im getting frustrateD (but staying relaxed) but I just wanted to say pffft hahaha i knew i could do it immediately if i try hard enough B)

[@jkyoft78]

Interesting. So both reeds are playing on a blow and draw? What little bend I can achieve sounds like I am making a vowel sound, like talk thru the harp, and not really just dropping the pitch.