timeistight
818 posts
Sep 05, 2012
11:27 AM
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Is anyone here able to do tongue-blocked blow bends or tongue-blocked overblows? Care to share any tips? I can't seem to pull the trigger on them.
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Michael Rubin
653 posts
Sep 05, 2012
12:13 PM
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Personally I cannot tongue block overblows, although I have had many students and friends who could just fine. When I try the standard 3 holes to the left blocked TB, I struggle with blow bends. Dennis Gruenling told me (Or I think he told me) to just block one hole to the left for the high notes. Works great for me.
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belfast_harper
319 posts
Sep 05, 2012
12:37 PM
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I have been working on my tongue-blocked blow bends lately.
I would suggest starting on a low f harp, moving from bending draw 6 to blow bending 7. For me it seems to be a similar mouth/tongue position for those two bends.
Once you unlock the blow bend 7 on the low f harp you can start working on higher harps and holes 8, 9 and 10.
On the higher harps it helps if you just use the tip of your tongue.
Joe Filisko confirmed to me that he tongue blocks all his overblows aswell.
Last Edited by on Sep 05, 2012 1:02 PM
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528hemi
300 posts
Sep 05, 2012
3:56 PM
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I can tongue block blow bend. It is hard to describe for me but I feel like my tongue is coming forward and humping up abit and the middle part of my tongue maybe dropping abit. The chamber of your mouth seems to be more frontal. As you bend higher it is the same but everything gets smaller and more forward.
Wow hope this helps. The way I learned was just ecperimenting for days and adjusting. After awhile the action will be automatic. Also make sure the blow bends work if you can pucker blow bend then you can TB blow bend. For Overblows....I made sure I could pucker overblow and then practiced alot until I could do it TB'ed 6th hole first. IT is still tough for me. I decided not to work on overblows until I master other techniques.
528hemi
Last Edited by on Sep 05, 2012 3:57 PM
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chadwalker
22 posts
Sep 05, 2012
4:23 PM
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First, make sure you have got your lower octave tongue blocking and tongue slapping down. When you TB, you narrow in on a hole with the right (or left) side of your mouth. The more you play with this technique, the quicker you can zero in on the hole you intend to hit.
That being said, I began doing TB'd blow bends before overblows. Once you get comfortable zeroing in on whatever hole you are looking for, you will become aware of the particular inflections associated with each technique (blow-bend, OB, etc..) on each hole.
For blow bending, start on a lower harp like stated above. There is more leeway with the higher holes on lower tuned harps than on higher pitched harps. Learning on a lower harp will allow you to explore the subtleties associated with TBing a blow bend.
OB's on the other hand, you can start just about anywhere you are comfortable. If you can OB using a lip-purse embouchure, then it's only a matter of time before you can replicate the pressure necessary in your mouth chamber while TBing.
Practice, practice, practice. Play everything TB'ed that you can lip purse, and then play some more. Basically you can never play enough.
Ok I'm done. Hope that helps.
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Chad Walker
Crescent City Harmonica Club
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