Rustys26
8 posts
Jun 17, 2014
5:10 AM
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So I'm a half decent player..people think I'm "amazing"...but they don't really know what they are talking about, haha. I've averaged 15+ mins practice a day for the past 6 years though, so I'm certainly not bad. However, I don't get tongue blocking. I don't understand how to do it...I mean, I can play single notes with the technique, but can only play simple melodies (mary had a little lamb for example) so it is like going back to day one when I try. I find it extremely difficult. Also, I don't understand how you can bend while tongue blocking...seems impossible to me. Granted, I spend virtually NO time practicing the technique.
The more important question for me is "why?"
If I want to keep advancing..I need to learn this, right? But why? I don't understand what advantages this technique gives a player. All answers appreciated.
Cheers from Australia,
-Rusty
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SuperBee
2076 posts
Jun 17, 2014
5:37 AM
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Texture. For one. Split chords, flutter effects. And for me it's just more tactile. I have better bend control...but that's probably just because that's what I practice.
I don't purse very well anymore. Maybe I never did though...but I feel as though I used to be better at lipping than I am now, so I'm trying to get better at moving between embouchure.
The main thing about TB I think is don't try too hard. Think light touch
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Michael Rubin
890 posts
Jun 17, 2014
7:53 AM
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To bend while TBing I recommend pushing your tongue harder against the harp and closing your jaw some.
The main point of TB is the ability to quickly take your tongue on and off the harp. Therefore you alternate between chords and single notes.
There are many uses for this, but if you start with your tongue on and the pull it off in one breath it sounds like note/chord. That's called a tongue pull. If you start with your tongue off and put your tongue on in one breath that sounds like chord/note. It is called a tongue slap.
The more you listen to harmonica music after mastering the basics of these two ideas the more you realize it is pervasive.
The other important thing tongue blocking can do is enable your to play either out of the right and/or left side of the mouth. This enable quick jumps of large distances and two notes (or more) played at once while holes in between are not sounded.
I would also say getting good at tongue blocking suggests an entirely different method of creating licks than puckering does. Even when playing clean single notes, the riffs I come up with TB are different than when I pucker.
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rockmonkeyguitars
98 posts
Jun 17, 2014
10:14 AM
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I started lip pursing and slowly started tongue blocking as the years went by. Now I play almost everything tongue blocking but I don't think it's something that you need to learn. It works better for some people and not very good for others, it all depends on you.
What I would suggest is that you ignore any tutorial you have ever seen about tongue blocking for now. I watched Mel Bays masterclass video's and tried tongue blocking their way and couldn't play anything because when you put it into words it, all of a sudden, becomes too much info for the brain. Get a general feel for it in a way that seems comfortable to you and then try and use "proper technique."
If you can't get the hang of it then maybe it's just not for you. It is perfectly acceptable to NOT tongue block.
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BluesJacketman
148 posts
Jun 17, 2014
10:19 AM
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Please excuse me, I have very strong opinions on this subject.
First off, if your playing any style of Blues, you should know and be able to tongue block. Its the way the harp was designed to beplayed and the originators of the art; Sonny Boy Williamson I and II, Little Walter, Big Walter, George Smith, Carey Bell, James Cotton, etc. Tongue Blocking also gives you better tone, now I know some of you will argue that point but I can pick a Pucker player because their tone will always be more on the trebly side.
Bends are very possible via TBing, for me bends sound Fuller and sre easier to control. Try bending from the back of your throat, not by lowering jaw. Your jaw should always be as low as possible when playing.
I went from being a pure pucker player, I thought TB was not worth my time, thinking things like I'll never tongue block to playing only in a tongue blocked style.
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rockmonkeyguitars
100 posts
Jun 17, 2014
10:53 AM
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^although I do agree they sound different, I don't believe it's essential to TB. If something just doesn't work for you then it doesn't work for you. If you can't learn tongue blocking does that really mean you shouldn't be allowed to play blues?
When I was in 4th grade I was left handed but my teacher believed writing with your left hand was the mark of the beast and wouldn't accept any paper I wrote with my left hand. My hand writing with my right hand is very sloppy and very slow. Because I had to spend my youth writing with my right hand it means that I didn't develop speed with my left hand but even now, my handwriting with my left hand is much neater than my with my right hand. If I were allowed to very from what was normal I would have been a more successful student.
In the same way, if you are allowed to do something that little Walter didn't do, you might be a better player for it. Telling people that cant seem to get the hang of TB is like telling somebody to write with the wrong hand.
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slaphappy
24 posts
Jun 17, 2014
11:37 AM
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if you practice it (I recommend to play scales and basslines with slaps and pulls) you will start to get it. just do it a little bit at least every day and you'll be surprised at how it stops feeling unnatural pretty quickly. At least that was my experience.
I also started pucker but now TB pretty much all the time.
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Harpaholic
461 posts
Jun 17, 2014
11:39 AM
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He said he spends virtually no time practicing TB'ing, not that he can't get the hang of it. It's not easy, but it's not like starting over.
I started as a pucker player, learned TB a few years ago, and it changed my life.
I agree with BluesJacketman, If you want to play traditional blues you need to learn TB. It will improve your tone and add a whole list of techniques to you bag of tricks.
There's a reason 99% of pro blues players TB in one form or another.
Jerry Portnoy's CD Harmonica Masterclass is a great source for beginner's learning TB'ing.
I learned rather quickly using this set.
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timeistight
1575 posts
Jun 17, 2014
11:48 AM
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It's too early to say Rusty26 can't get the hang of tongue-blocking; he hasn't spent any time practicing the technique.
What do your heroes do? Howard Levy, Carlos Del Junco, Stevie Wonder and Toots Thielemans lip-block most of the time. James Cotton, Sugar Blue, James Conway, Joe Filisko and Dennis Gruenling tongue-block virtually all the time. Kim Wilson, Peter "Madcat" Ruth, Charlie Musselwhite, Adam Gussow and (I think) Jason Ricci mix the two approaches as needed. Pick a player you like and follow their approach.
Last Edited by timeistight on Jun 17, 2014 11:50 AM
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Michael Rubin
891 posts
Jun 17, 2014
11:52 AM
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Inspired by this post!
Apparently this video did not fully upload. I will try again. Expect by tomorrow.
Last Edited by Michael Rubin on Jun 17, 2014 12:46 PM
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rockmonkeyguitars
101 posts
Jun 17, 2014
12:10 PM
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I'm not saying he can't do it, nore was I trying to insinuate that he shouldn't give it a good go and hrs of practice. I'm saying if he tries hard and practices and simply can't do it then it's not the end of the world. Being able to do both is ideal but not everybody can. We are all different.
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didjcripey
757 posts
Jun 17, 2014
1:26 PM
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Octaves, pulls and slaps.
Practice.
Plenty of good lessons available on the net.
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Lucky Lester
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Rubes
860 posts
Jun 17, 2014
2:08 PM
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Early forays into TB for me was easy two and three note chords.....and then a natural progression to split octaves which really 'beef' up your sound. I found the u shape gets you bending.......
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Old Man Rubes at Reverbnation
Dads in Space at Reverbnation
Benny and Rubes at Reverbnation
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Kingley
3604 posts
Jun 17, 2014
2:08 PM
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I think it's best to learn to play as fluently as you can with as many embouchures as you can. I'm mostly a tongue blocker, but I'd love to be able to lip purse or u-block as fluently as I can with tongue blocking.
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harpdude61
2017 posts
Jun 17, 2014
2:25 PM
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Ahhh gotta chime in
BluesJacketman ..THe harp was designed for TBing..yep 1st position oompa bands.
Tongue Blocking also gives you better tone and pucker tone will always be more on the trebly side. Ahhh!
Bends are fuller and easier to control TBing....This all BS...sorry.
You may have been a pucker/purser and had better success TBing. Great! This does not mean that you got the most out of your pucker days.
I am a lip blocker..no kissy pucker shape here. Jaw dropped, harp tilted and I ALWAYS bend from the throat...as well as overblow, overdraw, and the growl effect. My tone is big because I am loose, jaw dropped, open throat...In other words I have the maximum resonator my body will allow.
Control of bends is a piece of cake.
I do TB octaves/splits with no trouble moving between those and single notes.
I play a lot of blues and do ok.
That said I love the masters of the TB style and enjoy hearing them.
For some reason lip blockers get thrown in with pucker/pursers.
I do agree on one thing. If you pucker into the kissy shape and shrink your resonator your tone might well be trebly.
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www.facebook.com/catfishfryeband
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yonderwall
70 posts
Jun 17, 2014
2:38 PM
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I also started LP, then switched to TB at a certain point. And I have to say that I've never looked back. It is true very good players (Adam, Jason, etc.) can do things with LP that can really nail the TB sound (most of the time… for splits and, and sometimes just an authentic TB sound, they too ultimately resort to TB) -- but if you're not a harp-god, perhaps just learning TB is an easier way to get the TB sound :)
I am actually strongly of the belief that, save for a very limited number of front-of-the-mouth staccato articulations, you can do everything TB that you can do LP. The reverse it not true. By a long shot.
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harpdude61
2018 posts
Jun 17, 2014
2:48 PM
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yonderwall...It has been said on here by many of the finer players that the fast runs using all 10 holes, bending overblows and overdraws, as well as the big tone of a good LP/LBer are not as good TBing. SOme say the double stops where you slightly bend both notes like 3/4 draw are easier. ALso, even some of the top TBers prefer high end single note blow bends pursed.
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www.facebook.com/catfishfryeband
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Cabbage
1 post
Jun 17, 2014
3:18 PM
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For single notes, I use exclusively pucker, and if you started as a pucker player that is probably the best way to do it. but I honestly think that there are advantages to both, and that a player who has mastery of both will always be able to create more diverse sounds than if they are stuck with only one technique. Here's a little video I made which uses a lot of tongue blocking, you can listen to it if you are interested in hearing how I can change the sound by wiggling my tongue around and making so cool octave sweeps. The tongue blocking starts about 1 minute in. Whenever you hear a special sounding chord, that's not just 123 456 or what-not, that's all due to the tongue blocking technique. This is a melodic minor harmonica so it might sound a little different than what you're used to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXwTqomaNIU#
Last Edited by Cabbage on Jun 17, 2014 3:20 PM
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yonderwall
71 posts
Jun 17, 2014
3:55 PM
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harpdude: It might be true that overblows/overdraws are easier LP, you are absolutely a better player than I am, so on that end I cannot argue definitively (though I suspect there is little difference, really, I can certainly overblow the "easy" notes w/o any trouble and don't see immediately why TB would be an impediment there -- perhaps people who gravitate to TB also gravitate to styles of music that don't require as much overblowing?? <-- actually I really like this theory now that I've typed it :)
I do dispute your comment on tone, though… most people actually argue the opposite of you… but I believe that both LP and TB, when played properly, achieve exactly the same "big tone". I just believe that it's easier for a beginner to get a big tone w/TB. You don't to have try so hard to open things up.
As for fast runs, there is absolutely nothing that prevents a TB player from playing just as fast as an LP player (other than a fast staccato run, as I mentioned earlier). It's just pulling the harp holes across an opening in your mouth… no difference at all there.
And also for the high-end blow bends, again, I'm not a great player, but I TB all blow bends. I just don't get the difference there (other than the fear to try :) it's just a matter of creating a bend constriction in the airway. I was just now playing quietly on my F harp blow bending the upper notes (and again, I suck, but hey, the notes seem to bend ok, even quietly).
But now I realize that I lie (stream of consciousness typing!). I realize that I almost always pucker hole 1 (when I'm not switching). So I guess ultimately I LP 8% of the holes anyway.
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Rustys26
9 posts
Jun 17, 2014
4:39 PM
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Thanks for all of the answers guys. Like many of you noticed, I DON'T practice TB...but I'm sure I could learn it if I put in the time. And I think that is exactly what I will start doing. It is just frustrating to TB and sound so horrible when I can LP and play so much better.
I think the "light touch" advice is good SuperBee, that helps. And I have just tried bending with the back of my throat and got it a little bit, but not quite. I don't like TBing at all to be honest...but the general consensus is that I should learn it, so I will start gradually dedicating more and more of my practice time towards the technique. Maybe this time next year I'll be a TB player? Any other advice is welcomed! Cheers guys!
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eebadeeb
54 posts
Jun 17, 2014
5:18 PM
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one half of TB is LB
Good chiming in harpdude61
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timeistight
1578 posts
Jun 17, 2014
5:23 PM
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"It is just frustrating to TB and sound so horrible when I can LP and play so much better.
[...]I don't like TBing at all to be honest...but the general consensus is that I should learn it, so I will start gradually dedicating more and more of my practice time towards the technique."
It's a waste of time to spend time on something just because a bunch of people say you should. Given how negative you feel about tongue blocking, I'd leave it alone for now.
Maybe someday you'll hear something you like that you'll need tongue blocking to play. Until then, spend your time on other techniques.
Suffering isn't required.
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jnorem
294 posts
Jun 17, 2014
5:29 PM
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I tongue-block to play octaves, and to play that tonic-flat 7 thing. Those are the only times, I think.
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Call me J
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Rustys26
10 posts
Jun 17, 2014
5:40 PM
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timeistight: well, i don't like tongue blocking probably just because it is so foreign to me at the moment...it's not that I feel negatively about it, it is just not comfortable to play. I dont think I would be "suffering" too much to try it for 5 mins a day. I'm willing to give it a shot.
harpdude: what is a "lip blocker"? Do you mean tongue blocker, or is this something different?
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Greg Heumann
2746 posts
Jun 17, 2014
5:43 PM
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I will add (again) that IF you want a really deep acoustic "WAH", or you want the big fat amplified tone of Kim Wilson/Rod Piazza/Rick Estrin/Mark Hummel/Gary Smith etc - then you HAVE to be able to seal off the unplayed holes on the FRONT of the harp as well as the rear when you close your cup. And the only way I know to do that is to have a lot of the harp in my mouth (which is part of TB embouchure) - which leaves less to seal with hands and face.
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***************************************************
/Greg
BlowsMeAway Productions
See my Customer Mics album on Facebook
Bluestate on iTunes
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Michael Rubin
897 posts
Jun 17, 2014
5:52 PM
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This time for sure!
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Moon Cat
418 posts
Jun 17, 2014
7:38 PM
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I strongly encourage any and all here to go to David Barrett's site and watch the interviews with Mark Hummel Kim Wilson and beyond on this subject.Mark states that Kim Wilson has only VERY recently started tongue blocking his bends and that much of his playing is pursed (Kim later confirms this).Almost all of the guys preach the importance of both. Mark also states that Rick Estrin has recently been lip pursing A lot more!
Most people think I am a 100% lip purser,the truth is there are many many single note phrases that include bend notes that I TB every time and have been doing for years.. The other truth that I have found is that there are certain things you can ONLY do tongue blocking and others that you can ONLY do lip pursing. Good tone is NOT one of those things as Kim Wilson and others point out in David's many interviews.The truth I have found is that lip pursing DOES lend itself to a thinner tone as it's very practice offers the temptation to back off the instrument/pucker and as it has been said the more of the harp in your mouth the better the tone…BUT that does NOT mean you can't resist the temptation and purse with a larger,drop jawed embouchure and get just as big of a tone which FINALLY a guy like Kim Wilson has come out and said! The temptation to play with big tone while TBing is of course natural to the embouchure itself. One of the things that you can ONLY do Tongue blocking, not pursing is getting those tongue slaps. They can be imitated almost identically on the first three holes but not after that the classic Sonny Boy 4 draw-4blow-3 draw-3 blow (repeat) lick on help me and other tunes is a prime example. No matter how much you try to double stop it/slur it/ slide into it from other notes it will never sound the same. ironically it is is this slapping habit that later creates many problems for devout TBers! The tendency to always slap,as a habit means that major 3rds and other non appropriate notes (depending on chords) may seep into the solo and result in you playing out of key,or major over minor. The other issue is although that slapping sound is SO cool and appropriate for Chicago Blues it is NOT always a great thing on ballads or other melodic parts or things played in unison with another player. OFCOURSE a tongue blocker with awareness can RESIST this temptation and play it smooth,it is not unlike the previous point about resisting bad tone lip pursing,both embouchures have temptations and good and bad habits that tend to attach themselves to the players who overly pursue one camp. Lip pursing smooth, vocal like melodic passages tends to be easier and more aligned with the music just as tongue blocking cool rhythmic things tends to be easier.
If you go hang out with old guys at SPAH,the fellas who are in their 80's and up to late 90's many of them have written on their sheet music(under said passage):"This passage lip pursed","This passage Tongue Blocked".To me this is a glaring example of players who have been "at" our instrument for 50 plus years KNOWING that both embouchures have their place and uses!I'm not saying that some of them do not have a default embouchure or some believe one superior, but their numbers are not as divided as the internet loving, pontificating blues diatonic players that so frequently rave on this subject like religion or politics. James Cotton says Little Walter did both.The amazing thing that I have seen happen over the years is good players actually NOT being able to hear the difference due to their intellectual and philosophical convictions. Their brains are in the way of their ears.This happens to everyone at some time.One thing you CANNOT do TBing is play triple tonguing patterns as pointed to on the Rollercoaster thread, the other is playing very fast bend notes in the bottom octave(16th and 32nd).Its all good!
Last Edited by Moon Cat on Jun 17, 2014 10:47 PM
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Rustys26
11 posts
Jun 17, 2014
8:10 PM
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Michael: Great video, thanks for that! Really helpful, especially about putting my teeth on the cover plates...feels a bit more comfortable this way.
MoonCat: That is interesting, if Kim Wilson only just started tongue blocking...I guess you don't really NEED to know this, but I want to learn regardless
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jnorem
295 posts
Jun 17, 2014
8:19 PM
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Jason, that is a truly fantastic post. You do know your stuff, mate.
I'm going to have to go back and read that again.
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Call me J
Last Edited by jnorem on Jun 17, 2014 8:20 PM
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Harpaholic
463 posts
Jun 17, 2014
8:28 PM
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Rusty, Kim just started TBing bends, not TBing altogether. TBing has always been a major part of his playing.
A lot of players do that including me. Very few TB'ers have mastered the high end TB blow bends like Mitch Kasmar has, so they resort to pucker style. Learn both!
Last Edited by Harpaholic on Jun 17, 2014 8:29 PM
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Greg Heumann
2748 posts
Jun 17, 2014
9:00 PM
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I TB but can only TB bend the 3 and 4 - I can't do the 2 - or the high notes. My buddy Aki Kumar, and Mark Ford (as seen on his interview on blues harmonica.com) - TB everything and can bend everywhere in TB position. Mark goes a step beyond and U-blocks. I wish I could, but agree that being able to do BOTH gives one the most choices.
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***************************************************
/Greg
BlowsMeAway Productions
See my Customer Mics album on Facebook
Bluestate on iTunes
Last Edited by Greg Heumann on Jun 18, 2014 7:57 AM
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12gagedan
302 posts
Jun 17, 2014
9:56 PM
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My primary is TB, even for fast low- hole bends. I switch embochure frequently, though. I'm currently working on tongue switching. Embochure is a means to an end. The end is making the music that makes you happy. Those who would speak in absolutes are easily challenged.
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12gagedan's YouTube Channel
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Frank
4546 posts
Jun 18, 2014
4:12 AM
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Here is a great song to practice your low end bends tongue blocked...skip to 2 min and 40 secs into the tune if you want to hear what a 2 draw TB bend can sound like?
My preference is to do this whole song TB.
Each player is free to attack a song anyway that will make them feel good, happy and satisfied :)
As to the "why" to do it...If you believe that it will help you express yourself better as a musician - that's a pretty good reason :)
Last Edited by Frank on Jun 18, 2014 4:25 AM
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isaacullah
2813 posts
Jun 18, 2014
6:01 AM
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@GregHeuman:
"I will add (again) that IF you want a really deep acoustic "WAH", or you want the big fat amplified tone of Kim Wilson/Rod Piazza/Rick Estrin/Mark Hummel/Gary Smith etc - then you HAVE to be able to seal off the unplayed holes on the FRONT of the harp as well as the rear when you close your cup. And the only way I know to do that is to have a lot of the harp in my mouth (which is part of TB embouchure) - which leaves less to seal with hands and face."
Actually, there IS another way to do this. It's a hand technique, and I learned it from Dan Kaplan, who has THE biggest Wah that I've ever heard from any player (living or dead). The technique is "simple", but it's awkward at first: You simply cup your right hand around your mouth like a "megaphone" (just like you are yelling "Echo-o-o-o" across the Alps). Make sure that your thumb comes under your lips and above the chin. This will feel weird because your wrist is turned way inward (your palm should be facing outward, away from your mouth). Then, bring the harp in with your left hand. The left side of the harp should be "cupped" in the palm of your hand, sort of held in place by the "meat" at the base of your thumb. Your thumb should be parallel with your fingers, and lay along the top of the harp. Your left hand should completely seal off the back of the harp, and your right hand should completely seal off the front of the harp. It will feel weird at first, but it actually becomes quite natural.
For what it's worth, you can use this technique both Tongue Blocking and Lip Blocking (or puckering and u-blocking, if that's the way you roll). Dan is a 100% Tongue Blocker. I'm about 80% LB and 20% TB. Either way, with this technique you get HUGE wah sounds, and can really vary the tone from very muted to huge wide open and very trumpet-like. I highly recommend anyone interested in acoustic tone to listen to Dan's music, and to attempt this acoustic cupping technique. It's really worth it.
EDIT: I just picked up a harp and held it this way and saw that the "U" between the thumb and forefinger of my right hand goes right across the tip of my chin, not between my lower lip and chin as I wrote above. This is probably worth making a video about, as a picture is certainly worth a thousand words, and in this case, an example of the super strong wah, and variety of tones that can be produced is worth another thousand.
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YouTube! Soundcloud!
Last Edited by isaacullah on Jun 18, 2014 6:43 AM
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isaacullah
2814 posts
Jun 18, 2014
8:42 AM
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BTW, Jason's post is GREAT! That's one for the archives, for sure!
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YouTube! Soundcloud!
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Frank
4548 posts
Jun 18, 2014
8:58 AM
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Kim surrounded by the enemy and a shit load of amps :)
Last Edited by Frank on Jun 18, 2014 9:01 AM
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Milsson
133 posts
Jun 18, 2014
10:01 AM
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Well i wasn´t going to get in to the debate but.... Michael Rubin wrote:
"To bend while TBing I recommend pushing your tongue harder against the harp and closing your jaw some."
That is in my opinion totaly wrong(or it´s my personal prefrence). You should be very gentle when the toungue touches the harmonica. To practice this you can hold the harmonica between the indexfingers as you play.
I will ad a snippet of video were i do this just to put the money were my.....
I mess up a little in the video AND it looks like i am holding the harp with more fingers but i am realy holding it with my index fingers. I´m playing a LF just to make it harder on my self :)
Last Edited by Milsson on Jun 18, 2014 1:46 PM
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tmf714
2576 posts
Jun 18, 2014
10:13 AM
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Dennis explained tongue blocking to me using the tip of the tongue-he said to me,"think about the size of the holes on the harmonica-then think about how large the tip of your tongue is in comparison to the holes-you are only blocking two or three holes most of the time-the tip of the tongue can cover those easily."
I tongue block everything I play except blow bends on the upper register-I played pucker for 20 years-once I started tongue blocking,I learned how to play everything that way-bends and all.
Last Edited by tmf714 on Jun 18, 2014 10:15 AM
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timeistight
1579 posts
Jun 18, 2014
10:28 AM
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"You should be very gentle when the toungue touches the harmonica."
I agree. A light touch makes it easier to bend, IMO.
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barbequebob
2602 posts
Jun 18, 2014
11:00 AM
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I started out tongue blocking and then later learning pucker mainly for the upper register blow reed bends, and I use both methods, quite often changing in mid phrase and can bend either way with ease, even in the upper register.
One of the things most players don't learn is how to manipulate the embouchure as well as the inside shape of their mouths to get the most out of each.
The one embouchure I still haven't managed to get a handle on is the U-block, which still feels uncomfortable and I know Norton Buffalo used this method and was able to get amazing chord voicings on a chromatic using this method.
Being able to do both methods gives you many different ways to approach things.
For TB'ing, the tongue needs to resst VERY LIGHTLY on the harp or you just wind up slobbering all over it plus it slows you down considerably as well as prevents you from making changes to your embouchure so that you will always have difficulty in adapting to different areas of the instrument in different keys. On top of that, many times players who first started out puckering often don't have their embouchure open enough to make any and all adjustments when they're learning to TB.
There are a number of things I'm in absolute agreement with Moon Cat's post and one thing, to put it in a nutshell, where he says what's cool for a Chicago blues but not always cool for others comes down to one thing that many harp players too often can't wrap their minds around and that's one size does NOT fit all and you do have to adapt and too many players have a tendency to be what I refer to as a being a One Way Harry, meaning just do one thing and one thing only and fail miserably to adapt to anything and that attitude has so many players doing nothing but shooting themselves in the foot 24/7 with a really hard headed attitude like that.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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Michael Rubin
898 posts
Jun 18, 2014
11:07 AM
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Millson,
How can I be totally wrong if it works for me? Everyone does things differently. I think you are misreading how hard I push my tongue against the harp when I bend, anyway. It is a very light touch, but harder than when I don't bend. I'll try another video today.
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Milsson
134 posts
Jun 18, 2014
1:49 PM
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Totaly wrong was myabe harsh... BUT i belive it´s the best way. I dont realy know what´s going on inside your mouth.. Maybe we are doing the same thing but i can´t feel how i do it.
Last Edited by Milsson on Jun 18, 2014 1:50 PM
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The Iceman
1742 posts
Jun 18, 2014
2:09 PM
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I've found great success at bending while TB'ing if I allow the back two thirds of my tongue to instigate the bends, as outlined in many previous posts I've made on this subject.
Since it this area (arching up to redirect the air flow up and over the "lump") that allows me to bend to precision, it's not hard to do the exact same motion whether the tip of my tongue is disengaged or resting on the comb of the harmonica.
As usual, it makes sense to minimize all tension and/or pressing in excess of what is minimally needed to create whatever effect you are trying to achieve.
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The Iceman
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WinslowYerxa
623 posts
Jun 18, 2014
2:26 PM
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I agree with the light touch folks.
Tongue pressure on the holes has no relation to bending (unless you're bending by crowding the hole, and I'm sure you're not using such an ineffective technique).
Any effect of narrowing the jaw or increasing tongue pressure on the holes while bending is purely psychological. It's linked with whatever you're doing that's actually effective.
Rather than wasting time and energy by something unrelated as a cue, why not focus on what is actually effecting the bend and giving your energy and attention to that instead?
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Winslow
Plunge into the SPAH Experience, August 5-9, 2014
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BluesJacketman
149 posts
Jun 18, 2014
3:56 PM
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I'd really like to know what harp players you listen to, who you want to sound, nd what/who's songs are you playing?
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Michael Rubin
899 posts
Jun 18, 2014
4:34 PM
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Winslow, If my way is psychological, what's your belief on how to TB bend?
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tmf714
2577 posts
Jun 18, 2014
4:41 PM
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I found it quite humorous that Mark Ford thought Cotton was lip pursing-Dave Barrett quickly corrects him.
Last Edited by tmf714 on Jun 18, 2014 4:42 PM
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Michael Rubin
900 posts
Jun 18, 2014
4:52 PM
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Interestingly enough Larry might have given me a clue. When I feel like I am pushing my tongue against the harp, the middle to back of my tongue is raising up. The push of the tongue is probably an effect of the cause of lifting the tongue.
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tmf714
2578 posts
Jun 18, 2014
5:03 PM
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tmf714
2579 posts
Jun 18, 2014
5:05 PM
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Here you go Rusty-many videos by Lee-you've got homework to do my man!!
Last Edited by tmf714 on Jun 18, 2014 5:06 PM
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