Thanks folks for all of the replies! Your helpful feedback has been both inspirational and practical. Knowing what not to do is as important as knowing what I should be doing - given what I now need to "un-learn" :-) I am really looking forward to the day I can make a deep rich bend - without my lips!
Hi Jim I have to agree with Jim BcBride. You have to resist the temptation to practice bends by using your lips and the front of your mouth. The bends you get that way will not be the deep bends and will not have that rich "horn" tone to them. Jon is clear on this in his workshop, but it takes some practice to get the feel of what he is describing.
Jon's idea of going "kee" while drawing on a note is get you conscious of the airstream on a proper unbent note hitting the back of your throat up top. He then has you open your throat with the "koo" exercise to feel the airstream head straight down your open throat. That's where the deep bends and big fat tone come from.
In my case, you can hear me practice Jon's exercises on the Jamming Forum associated with this website. That recording came out of a phone consultation with Jon and I was simply doing the "kee Koo" stuff that he assigned me when I decided to make a song out of it. (Note that I was using an A harp. I think that lower harps are easier to bend.)
I sometimes find that a "goo" articulation works better for me than "koo", but it's the same idea.
Try a low harp as well. I really like practicing bends with a G or A harp and searching for that saxophone tone you can get with low harps.
No, constricting your lips is not what kee koo is all about. Its about changing the direction of the airstream and pulling it down your throat on the koo part (the bent note). Different noted have to be pulled down lower in your throat. Low notes go further down.
Constricting your ilps may give you a small bend on a higher note, but you'll never get the 2 draw full bend that way. Listen to Jon's descriptions on the bending and tone workshop CD. He describes it much better than I ever could.
I hate to give such a simplistic answer, but practice, practice, practice. I struggled with it and struggled with it and then one day I just got it. I am still working on getting the second and third bent note (step and step & a half) on hole three, but I can now hit all the others fairly reliably.
Holes 2 and 3 are more problematic than the others. Usually 2 gives people more fits than 3 but it was the reverse for me.
Keep at it and do not get discouraged. Faithfully practice the blues scale every time you pick up the harp even if you cannot hit the bends perfectly.
Why is it easier to bend hole 3? I want to constrict the hole size through the inner part of my lips to force a bend but I am am not sure that is what I am supposed to do. Just saying keee Kooo outloud makes my lips want to do this anyway but I can't reach the sustained low bend note on hole 2 using this approach. It's half way there at best. Thoughts?
I hate to sound . . . impatient but I am having problems with getting any glint of success with the new bending techniques I am learning about. I used to mess around as a teenager with the harmonica and thought I could bend notes and implement other techniques. I have always wanted to learn to play properly but never did. Over the years I have heard some people play the harp and make sounds I have always dreamed of being able to do but not knowing how to learn. After recently hearing an amazing Riff on TV my interest has been rekindled in learning to make that sound. So I found this site on the web and after listening to what Jon can do and buying his "bending and tone" workshop I am very exited about the possibility of finding a path forward.
Sorry for the long winded history but I am despirate to do this right and don't want to stuggle too long perhaps doing it the wrong way and never progressing. I have a new Special 20 Hohner C and I think I have it far enough in my mouth and doing the keee Kooo properly . . . well obviously not as I am not close to getting the sound required.
I have observed something that might help you folks advise me. The sound of Jon's single notes have a depth to them that is almost horn like - beautiful. Mine sound one dimensional in comparison. Clear, in tune but not the same. Is this indicative of part of the same problem where I am not doing something fundamentally correct? How long does it usually take someone to begin to get success with Jon's bending technique - hours, days, weeks, months? Is my stuggle normal and it will just "happen" at some point. I am willing to put in the time I would just like to make sure I don't have a fundamental technique flaw that will stop me from progressing.
Any help you can suggest would be very much appreciated.
