I play Irish traditional music on blues harps and I hardly ever have to worry about what bends I can or can't do to get missing notes, and if I have a tune that needs an accidental that can't be achieved with a regular bend I reach for my chromatic. Lee Oskars or Special 20s, retuned to the Paddy Richter tuning (a single reed retune), are fantastic for ITM. In ITM, bending is better used for expression, not missing notes, most of the time. Like an awful lot of harmonica owners I know, I have XB40s and they stay in their cases.

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