I just read a wikipedia document on tongue blocking which states the following:
"Don’t use the tip of your tongue to block the holes - instead, press it to your lower front teeth and gently push the tongue forward so that the top of your tongue contacts the harmonica. This will allow smooth transitions as you move from hole to hole."
Question for you really advanced tongue blockers: is this information accurate?
Ive been doing more of it on the lower register and find that i hardly ever use the very tip of my tongue... its nearly impossible for me to "slap" the harmonica unless its the meaty part of it doing it.. it just feels natural that way. ---------- Kyzer's Travels Kyzer's Artwork "Music in the soul can be heard by the universe." - Lao Tzu
I use the underside of my tongue for octaves/splits (tip behind the top teeth) and mostly the side and front for slaps and everything else. ---------- Lucky Lester
I don't use the tip of my tongue, i kinda use the middle. Dave Barrett explains it well on his website, thats a haven for tongue blockers:o) ----------
I do both. I use the tip of my tongue, but sometimes--and especially when I want to flutter my tongue side to side while TB--I curl the tongue a bit, so that either the top or bottom of my tongue is sliding across the harp.
So the answer, Little Cricket, is Yes! Always Yes!
I use the underside of the tongue, either tip, or side. Contact with the harp is very light, on a tongue warble (side to side) it barely touches at all.
/Question for you really advanced tongue blockers: is this information accurate?/
My not-so-advanced thoughts would be:
1. Don't gloss (ho ho) over what the back of your tongue's doing. The more the back's down (as in say "ahh" down), the rounder + richer the sound seems to be.
2. Tongue/mouth dimensions probably vary a lot from player to player. What's comfortable and what sounds good probably vary correspondingly.
3. Experiment and find sounds you want to make again!
xxx
EDITED *must correct spelling, must correct spelling, must correct spelling*
Last Edited by on Mar 22, 2011 6:46 AM
Wikipedia is ok for general info-not so much for harmonica. I use the tip as taught by master harp player Dennis Gruenling-. Think about how big the tip really is-it's bigger than one hole on the harp-you should be able to block with just the tip. Stopping the harp at the lower front teeth is stopping way short of how deep I get the harp in my mouth. I disagree with the wiki statement. Tom Fiacco. Full time tongue blocker.
My thinking is... your embouchure, how you hold your harp, how much the harp is tipped or slanted up or down, all make a difference on the part of your tongue that you use for tongue blocking and tonguing effects. That might be the main reason why different players differ in how they tongue block.
I am mainly a lip blocker, as that's how I started playing and played that way for years... but after being on the internet, Harp-L, getting Jerry Portnoy's Masterclass CD's, and just listening to more blues harp players and the sounds they make, I decided to learn to tongue block too.
I'm still learning and probably always be learning as that's always been a big part of playing harmonica, learning new things.
I am most comfortable using the front underside of my tongue... I hold my harp pretty much the standard way (in my left hand between my index finger and thumb... the back is tipped down a bit, making the front tipped up. To me this is a natural hold and comfortable for playing amplified while holding a mic.
I believe Gary Primich used the underside of his tongue this way, as does John Nemeth... so I'm in pretty good company.
I always think of it as the tip of my tongue, because I "feel" for the posts, but after reading this, and sticking a harp in my mouth, my tongue flattens out and it's effectively the top part that's in contact with the harmonica. I TB everything from 6 down and octaves. I'm still working on TB'ing the 6OB. I lip purse for blow bends.
im new to tounge blocking, im getting a little better at it but im kind of confused about one thing. it sounds like people only tounge block from the one side of their mouth, so like when they are plying the one hole they would have their tounge on the hole-less bit of wood (or plastic or whatever) on the left side of the harp. what is the point of that? why not change the position of your toung so on low holes we are toung blocking the holes to the right of it?
Changing colors: The point is that tongue blocking often emplys pulling your tongue away while continuing to breathe to creat a chord. By keeping your tongue on the left, you create a bass chord, on the right a treble chord. Most prefer the bass chord, some employ both.
As you know I am not an advanced tongue blocker, but..
I was unable to move quickly across the harp and do trills while TB until I started pressing the top side of my tongue on the harp surface as 12gagedan describes.
Unlike the wiki article I don't think I press it against my front teeth, the harp is a little too far in. I just press it against the harp.
Last Edited by on Mar 23, 2011 7:41 PM
"By keeping your tongue on the left, you create a bass chord, on the right a treble chord. Most prefer the bass chord, some employ both."
Ha! Yes!.........I feel so stupid! :)
Not once did I think about that. I just keep my tongue on the left. When I could be employing a higher "inbetween note inflection". ---------- ---Go Chicago Bears!!!---
michael rubin, okay but i mean if your playing the one hole you cant get a chord on the left side of it. you cant get anything. wouldnt it be better to have a treble chord then nothing? and i mean if you are on the two hole you wouldnt be able to release for a chord either, you would just have the diad.
if i was toung blocking and playing the one hole i think i would put my tounge over the two and three holes so i could use a chord. it doesnt make sense to stick your tounge on a holeless piece of wood. unless maybe its just for ease of sliding up to the other holes w/o having to worry about changing toung position, but it seems like it wouldnt be to hard with practice...
To play the 1st hole tongue blocking, I tongue switch and use my tongue to cover the 2nd and 3rd holes. If you keep having trouble with tongue blocking, I would suggest signing up to David Barrett's BluesHarmonica.com. He does a great job of explaining t-blocking through video lessons. ----------
Everyone IS different. When I TB, the harp is much further in my mouth - I do use that portion of the tongue - i.e, NOT the tip - but the tip, pointing down, is a long way back from my lower front teeth ---------- /Greg
I use various parts of the tongue depending on what I'm blocking and what I'm playing when I'm blocking. For instance when I'm playing single notes I tend to use the tip. When I'm playing octaves I tend to curl my tongue slightly and use a little of the upper part of the tongue in conjunction with the tip. When I'm playing a chord with a heavy vibrato (Think George Smith "Telephone Blues") I tend to curl the tongue and use the a little of the bottom of the tongue in conjunction with the tip. Generally speaking though It's all based around the tip of the tongue.
Last Edited by on Mar 22, 2011 2:01 AM
