70 Sing Out! • Vol. 50 #1 • Spring 2006

TEACH-IN: HARMONICAHelpful hints & suggestions from instrumental masters

by Glenn Weiser

NOTE-BENDING IN FIDDLE TUNES

One of the major differences be-tween playing blues and fiddle

tunes on the harmonica is how oftennotes are “bent,” or lowered in pitch bycompressing the air stream within themouth. In blues, note bends are usedfrequently for playing the “blue” notesof the African vocal scale, but in fiddletunes, they are used rarely. Nonetheless,this technique is still useful for gettingcertain notes in the scale otherwise un-obtainable on the harmonica or in mim-icking the way a fiddler can slide up toa note. For this issue, then, we’ll re-view note-bending techniques and thentry a couple of old-time fiddle chest-nuts that require this essential skill.

On the harmonica, holes 1-6 can bebent on the draw, or in-notes, and holes7 through 10 can be bent on the blow,or out-notes. On 1, 4, 5 and 6-draw, thenote can be lowered by a half-step. On2-draw, and on 3-draw, the note can belowered by a half-step, a whole step,or a minor third (a step and a half). 7-9-blow can be bent by a half-step, and10-blow can be bent by a half-step or awhole step.

To bend a draw note in pucker posi-tion, lower the part of the tongue be-hind the tip as you raise the middle partup towards the roof of your mouth asyou sound a reed. Pull the tongue backas you do this. The note should thenlower in pitch. To bend a blow note,raise the tip of your tongue towards theroof of your mouth above your frontteeth. Also, to bend notes, the flow ofair through the nasal passages must betemporarily stopped.

Note-bending is also possible intongue-blocking position, even thoughmany people find puckered bends easierbecause of the tongue’s greater freedomof movement in this position. I bendnotes either way depending on the situ-ation, finding puckering easier forbends requiring speed.

To bend a tongue-blocked note, keepthe tongue flat and raise it towards theroof of the mouth as you narrow yourthroat. Male players should feel theirAdam’s apple moving downwards.Even if you can already bend with lipblocking, you should try learning tobend in tongue blocking position any-way – I find some riffs feel more natu-ral this way.

Note-bends are indicated in thetablature by an arrow below a hole num-ber for a half-step bend, an arrow witha crossbar for a whole step bend, andan arrow with a double crossbar a mi-nor third bend.

The two tunes featured here werefirst recorded during the fledgling yearsof the country music record businesswhen string bands dominated the mar-ket. The first, “Mississippi Sawyer,”was recorded by the Hill Billies duringthe period 1925-6. Try using puckertechnique for this one. The note-bendoccurs in the fourth measure of the Bpart, where you have to hit the 3-draw(B) as a whole step bend and allow itto rise to its normal pitch (C#). Usingthe note-bend allows you to play thetune an octave lower than usual. Forcomparison, the tab to the upper-octaveversion has been included below thelow-octave tab.

The second tune, “Fly Around MyPretty Little Miss,” was waxed by

Samantha Bumgarner in 1924. I’ve ar-ranged it for tongue-blocking. Thetongue slaps are indicated by the per-cussion line that appears below themelody and tab. The note-bends occuron the 8-blow in the pickup measures.For the note-bends, switch to puckerposition, and then switch back to tongueblocking position the rest of the time.

A common note-bending techniqueis the grace note bend. This occurs twoways: first, a bent note may be allowedto rise up to the unbent pitch of the reedas fast as possible, and second, an un-bent note may be bent as fast as pos-sible. These are termed “releasing” and“applying bends” respectively, and inboth situations, a grace note indicatesthese bends. In the third and fifth mea-sures of the B part of “Fly Around MyPretty Little Miss,” the grace notes areused as releasing bends.

Spring 2006 • Vol. 50 #1 • Sing Out! 71

21 & 22Mississippi SMississippi SMississippi SMississippi SMississippi Sawyawyawyawyawyererererer

Traditional

(TURN THE PAGE FOR “FLY AROUND MY PRETTY LITTLE MISS” ☞☞☞☞☞ )

72 Sing Out! • Vol. 50 #1 • Spring 2006

TRACK 23Fly ArFly ArFly ArFly ArFly Around My Pound My Pound My Pound My Pound My Prrrrretty Little Missetty Little Missetty Little Missetty Little Missetty Little MissTraditional