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Tony Stephens asked:
Any advice on getting bend with u- blocking. I know Norton Buffalo did it.
Thanks
Since nobody's jumped in yet (Michael Rubin, where are you?), I'll take
a stab to get you started.
First, the short story. For me, when I U-Block, my tongue doesn't
actually roll into perfect round tube, it sort of folds in half and
closes at the top. Understanding that, my U-B bending occurs in two
ways. One, I can reduce the dimension of that air channel by bringing
the two halves closer together. For me, that is sort of the "fine"
adjustment, particularly effective on the high note blow bends. The more
coarse adjustment occurs in the degree to which I arch my tongue towards
the roof of my mouth in combination with lowering the position of my jaw.
But the bending story doesn't stop at the mouth by any means. With U-B,
just as with Tongue-Blocking (and proper Lip-Pursing for that matter),
the tip of your tongue is anchored at the front of your mouth. That
means that the rest of your tongue and mouth as well as your airways
(soft palate, yawning muscles and diaphragm) are the anatomic parts
where any bending action must take place. Seasoned players learn to use
their jaw, the middle and back of their tongue, their back-of-the-throat
yawn muscles and size of their airways via control of their diaphragm
(which, taken together comprise the human equivalent of the guitar's
"resonant box") to effect their bends.
Of course, most of this is accomplished only with lots of practice.
Learning to gain conscious control over muscle groups that are typically
"automatic" by nature is not an easy proposition. These muscle groups
need to be repetitively exercised just like any others to gain the
strength, control and muscle memory to do what they need to do to help
you play the harmonica well. What does that mean? You guessed it --
practice, practice, practice.
Tony, with U-B you have chosen a learning path that is far less
well-traveled than the other embouchures. I suggest that you contact
Michael Rubin for some Skype lessons. He's the only accomplished teacher
that I know of who teaches how to U-Block.