I just got my first Chromatic harmonica the other day Loving the Little Walter cuts like Blue Light.
But a Very weird thing happened to me when I put the harmonica in my mouth....
......I did NOT lip purse. I tongue blocked Everything.
I DON'T tongue block diatonic (except for split octaves). I have only tried to tongue block single notes a few times on diatonic. I'm not sure why I tongue blocked it. I just picked it up, put it in my mouth and tried some octaves and then just kept my tongue on the harmonica.
Now when I try to lip purse chromatic, it feels strange. I still feel natural lip pursing on diatonic though. -----------------------
Can't tongue block diatonic. Only lip purse. and Can't lip purse chromatic. Only tongue block.
----------------------- Does this seem strange to anyone else?
Actually, you probably can tongue block the diatonic, with some practice. And you probably can purse the chromatic. I am not exclusive to either technique now, but I did have to learn to block. Pursing came naturally, as I initially had no instruction, nor any notion of tongue blocking.
Blocking may seem more accessible on the chromatic as it is bigger, and not so easy for the tongue to just plain get in the way like when you first begin learning on the diatonic.
If you learn, with a little persistence, and practice to perform either technique at will, it gives you a lot of versatility, I think. I'm more comfortable with pursing, but use blocking at least as much, and more as the years go by.
You won't regret the time put in to become comfortable with both techniques, especially if you play out, and in a variety of musical styles.
My next "job", as I see it, is to get a handle on overbending. That, I can only do as a lip purser. Some others can tongue block overblows.
i'm with robbert on the purse or tongue block thing. i do both but i wish i'd learned tb from the start. i think it gives a much better control over tone, which to me is square one in playing harp well. i recall the early harps i bought, or maybe it was an old instruction book, specifically leading me to purse the lips and play that way, so it was how i developed. old habits are hard to break and i have become pretty dang good at pursing over many years, but still, esp with 3rd position, tongue block gives so many more options, and it has also bled into my 2nd position as well. i'm curious miles- what brand and type of chromatic did you get? i started with hohner 270, wnet to the chrometta models, and then to hering 5148s. next i plan to try a suzuki scx model. one thing i noticed on different models is how much the mouthpiece makes a difference to ease of play- at least for me. the 270's have square holes. the chromettas have big square holes. the herings have round holes as do the suzuki scx. i find the round holes are easier to play with.
Miles, I had the same exact reaction. I've played almost all pucker on diatonic until one day I picked up the chromatic. Instantly I was playing tongue blocked without thinking about it. This lended to me playing diatonic tongue blocked more often. Though I still switch between tongue blocked and pucker, I think they have different advantages/disadvantages over each other. I should add as soon as I started running scales on the chromatic I went to pucker, lol.
----------
~Ryan
"I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window." - Stephen Wright
Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
Wow! I didn't know Gruenling used overblows tongue blocked. Don't listen to him much, I'll have to check some stuff out where he does. Have any recommendations?
Now that you mention it, I think I tongue block more on my chromatic than I do on diatonic. I don't play the chromatic very often. My bet would be on the size too.
"Who can tongue block overblow? Haven't heard of Anyone." Dennis Gruenling can and does on chromatic and diatonic.
I reckon you'd have to remove the draw reed windsaver to do this on chromatic. Cos when you blow it shuts off the draw reed. Its the draw reed that sounds during an overblow.
Other thing is there is no need to OB on a chromatic. All the notes are there.Via the slide. ---------- The Pentatonics Myspace Youtube
"Why don't you leave some holes when you play, and maybe some music will fall out".
I play LP on diatonic around 70%, TB around 30%, while I 100% tongue blocker on chromatic. I control bends and overbends better with LP much better, while I don't need overbends and controllable bends on chromatic. ---------- Excuse my bad English. Click on my photo or my username for my music.
I know of plenty of chromatic players who don't TB and one of them is jazz great Toots Thielemans. I feel quite comfortable doing it both ways. Larry Adler also used both ways and often mentioned he was able to play with more force puckered rather than TB'd. One really should learn both. Classical chromatic teachers all teach TB as THE method for playing chromatic. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
