This is sort of a spinoff of of SB throwdown day. I don't want to throw-down because I swore off trying to copy Sonny Boy long long ago . Technique aside - it's so much about what comes through - from him, from who he is - in each "shakin like jelly on a plate" note - that just slays me, and still makes me weak in the knees. Can not be copied and shouldn't be.
Of course you'll do as you damn well please - regardless.
Back to the thread topic. Though I've loved and listened to him for years , - it's only more recently I have been able to watch him on old tapes and film.
The most mysterious hand 'technique' he uses is a touch / tickle / caress with the middle finger of his right hand, reaching in to either the back of the comb or more likely -to block off the opening and air flow just a tad. If it has an effect on the sound of the note or vibrato it is so subtle - that unlike his hand cup vibrato/wah, I could never tell just by listening that he was doing it.
I started thinkin perhaps it was something he did to entice the ladies. Good hands go a long way toward maken em happy (if you didn't know). If I had a love button myself, - watching that big finger harp tickle might just get me a bit hot and bothered.
I'm a little twisted - you don't have to tell me. What ya'll think? Here's a few snippets I cut and put up as examples - just for you !
...still laughing. I can't imagine what running his finger across the back of the comb is about. His tone is so obviously mirrored in his voice, amazing.
I had a thread where I asked about this. I wondered if he was actually touching the reeds. I've tried it and I can't get my fingers in there, but moving the finger around the edge can change the sound you get a little bit.
I don't think that made that any less dirty, although I really was talking about the harmonica.
@bonedog569 a little concerned about your intensive study of the Big Finger. Sounds like you have done a lot of research on the subject. I can safely tell you that no woman picks a man based upon his Big Finger....! Only guys are obsessed with that subject... some more than others.
Women usually run away from anyone who employs that line of thinking! Usually any man who is looking to others for technique... lacks confidence in their own talent.
Chances are SB started doing this just to drive other harpers crazy... as was the style of the day.
Stick to blowing your harps fellas, develop your own technique, and if you are NICE enough... you will have to fight off the girls! ----------
SB's “fingering” looks to me like a very intentioned and ingrained part of his hand technique. Thus I suspect SB developed this approach to achieve a particular “sound”.
Below is an interesting video that focuses on acoustic hand technique. In it, Tom (Tom Ball, pro-musician, HarpL'r) mentions that he has large hands, as does SB.
Greg Heumann has often mentioned the importance of covering ALL the holes on the harp. Tom illustrates this and its effect.
PS To reduce the size of the video, I changed the copy/pasted YouTube embed code from:
width="480" height="385"
to
width="240" height="180"
in the two instances that it appears. Makes the forum page look a bit neater to me. To watch in full size, click/2xclick on the icon in the lower right of the embedded video frame and it will fill up your screen or double click on the video/link and it will take you to YouTube to watch it. FWIW
Last Edited by on Aug 15, 2010 9:34 PM
JohnnieHarp, that looks pretty similar to the professor. I call it the goalpost thumb grip. I use the other grip he shows first, but yeah, it's important no matter what grip you have to get a tight cup on the back, and if you can block the front too there are neat tricks you can do, like playing the 1 blow at the same time as the 10 draw. ---------- Nate Facebook Thread Organizer
