Uncle Charles Ho Down!

Here's a very, very short clip of me at the Winter Park Art Festival....It's pretty funny. We went into this space jam in the middle of a song and I just started wailing...really fast. You can hear Colleen at the end wondering if she was even recording it or not. I think I used almost every note on the harmonica... and then some!

Good stuff Charles! Jam out baby!!!

Very nice - you tore it up!

Very nice charles. I wasn't even aware the harmonica could hit some of those notes lol

Nice charles

Initially, overbends were used to play the 'missing' notes on the harmonica or notes not available through blow, draw and standard bending. However, through bending the overbends, other pitches may be played. In other words, it is possible to play the first overbend that is produced and then bend the note sharper to create more pitches. Diagrammed below again is the complete overbend chart (C major diatonic harmonica) for your reference.

Blow, draw and notes achieved through standard bending are in white boxes. The notes achieved through overbending are in the colored boxes. It is possible to play a full chromatic scale on just holes 4 and 5 of the harmonica!

That's pretty cool stuff UC. What's the general technique behind overbending? It seems like hitting Bb - E on hole 6 would require a whole lot of practice to be able to get the notes right on.

WOW! epic Jam! ROCK OUT with YOUR COCK OUT!

AtrumX wrote:That's pretty cool stuff UC. What's the general technique behind overbending? It seems like hitting Bb - E on hole 6 would require a whole lot of practice to be able to get the notes right on.

The general technique is pretty bizarre....overbends are obtained through altering the embouchure, redirecting the air stream, and providing more support or pressure from the diaphragm to play the note. When overbending, the process is different than when playing standard bends. Only one reed works when the overblow is played. The 6 blow is G and the 6 draw is A. The A is higher in pitch than the G. When overblowing on the 6 blow, the pitch doesn't go down, it goes up. The note that sounds is the pitch of the draw reed, but a half step higher to B-flat.

Ahh, that makes sense as far as getting it to overbend, still seems pretty hard getting more than one overbend per hole. I suppose that's a mix of angle, force, bend, etc on that hole?

AtrumX wrote:Ahh, that makes sense as far as getting it to overbend, still seems pretty hard getting more than one overbend per hole. I suppose that's a mix of angle, force, bend, etc on that hole?

Try whistling a high note and then slowly slide the pitch down to the lowest note you are able to whistle. Your tongue should start near your upper set of teeth and then, as your whistle descends in pitch, the tongue moves back and lower in the mouth. The tongue and shape of the mouth move in a similar way when bending notes on the harmonica.
At least thats "Kind of" the way I do it. It does take a lot of practice and a "fine crafted" instrument. You can buy a good harmonica, off the shelf, for about 30 bucks. I spend anywhere form 90 to 145 for each harmonica depending on how I want them configured. Take a look at the link on where I buy my harmonicas and all the configurations (you should find it interesting)...after I order them they are sent to North Carolina where a guy tweeks them out even more. when you go to the link hit continue a couple of times and you'll see some weird stuff going on....LOL
http://www.seydel1847.de/epages/Seydel.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/Seydel/Products/16301(sp)&ViewAction=ViewHarpConfigurator

Lol those are ridiculously customizable. I remember you showing me that harmonica collection of yours. I customed one for D harmonic minor. That makes sense then for the overbends.

Cool stuff. We need more of these videos!

~mrmiller

You are THE MAN!!
Hope you put that on your website.
For those that don't know...
http://www.unclecharlesmusic.com/