Jerry,
I've heard some guys say that they play, exclusively with tongue blocking, while they hit single notes, and also, while they bend single notes, what is your take on this? Do you ever bend single notes, while tongue blocking? Have you ever heard from any of the big players, that they bent single notes like that?
Tony Hollywood
Thanks Iceman. Would you say it's done often? Is it something you use significantly, throughout your playing? Your right, when you say the more stuff in the harmonica arsenal the better. I'll give it some practice.
Tony Hollywood
One certainly can bend single notes while tongue blocking. I did it that way for many years when I almost exclusively tongue blocked. I still do it in certain situations though now I use mixed embouchers. I teach bending with "pursed lips" as I think it's easier to get the hang of it with this emboucher. However, once you have full command of bending with pursed lips, and also good tongue blocking technique, then it's certainly worthwhile to work on bending with your tongue on the harp.
I can predictably bend some of the draw notes from a TB position, and I can see the value of it with certain phrasings. I do, however, enjoy draw bending in the pursed lips embochure. I'm wondering about the blow bend end of things. I find that I can play the top end of the harp easier from a TBing position, particularly the 9 and 10 blow, but I can't imagine blow bending from a TB position. Any thoughts on this?
I have always used pursed lips to bend the high notes at the top of the harp.
Thanks Jerry and Iceman! I'm relieved to know that I don't have to learn to TB the blow bends. The irony is that I now realize that I have to switch embochures at the high end of the harp as well as at the low end because my unbent upper register blow notes sound better tongue blocked, and I usually bend draw notes from the lip pursed position. Would it be fair to say that one has to be able to move quickly back and forth between embochures all over the harp?
Yes, at least that's what I do. Lip pursing, tongue blocking, octaves etc. After a while it will become fluid.
Tony
I exclusively play tongue block. initially I had no choice I couldnt seem to get a single note lip purse method. Tongue block is completely natural to me so that was the way I had to go. Bending has been a chore but 3 years on things are easier
regards
Ed
Whaetever technique works for you is fine as long as you're producing the desired sound.
Not if it helps you perform the technique correctly. When you say you're "touching" the note, I don't quite understand. I assume you're lip pursing so that the hole out of which you're playing the note is clear and unblocked by lips or tongue.
First let me say thanks to you Jerry for shareing your insite and wisdom with us. I have played of and on for about 46 years and never even thought about toung blocking or any tech stuff for that matter don't even play by hole numbers. Do you Jerry know harp players who play by sound or feel I geuss you could call it.Most times I just play by what I think the harp should be sounding like for the music being played.Hope this makes sense Thanks Mik
Hi Mik,
Just about everybody plays by sound and feel. Having good technique, however, gives you the tools to more precisely translate what you hear in your head to what comes out of your instrument.
The current series of lessons by Dennis Gruenling features him playing in third position.
