Re: [Harp-L] Lip block (was "Any Help out there.")



Is the pucker style a valid style? can people get good tone that way?

A week ago I inquired about this subject. Well, I worked on it and found that I can indeed put the harp far enough into my mouth that my lips are out to the cover screw holes (even with my skinny lips) and play single notes just fine, though it takes more accuracy than puckering up for the straw hole thing (I still often miss hitting clean notes, and have to make a quick adjustment to clean it up).


Are there instances where puckering is better than lip blocking? for example on specific holes or bends?

Makes me want to ask about bending. I'm still struggling with the low notes. I need to use my tongue to bend. There are people who can bend while tongue blocking with the tip of their tongue touching the harp. I can't begin to do that, I need to move my tongue tip, for higher draw bends, that's all I need to do. Actually, blow bends came very easy (7-9, yes, the 7), except that the tongue tip movement must be so subtle to avoid squeaks. I've tried looking/listening to a bunch of people's stuff in my discouraging quest and observe that there must be several ways to do bends, including with the tip of the tongue touching the harp. I'm not giving up on that, but have had no success so far. Seems like it would be useful if I could ever control my throat/neck muscles. I'll try any advice, 2nd position isn't very useful if you can't bend well.


Peace and music,
Dave








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