Re: [Harp-L] U blocking

[Larry Marks <larry.marks@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tony Stephens wrote:
> Just two questions on this subject. First does anyone here play  100% u blocking?
I play 100% what some would call U-Blocking. What I do is I place the 
tip of my tongue under the harmonica. If I relax my tongue, the hole in 
the center gets air from the natural divide in my tongue. If I tighten 
some muscles, I can play more than one note or block the center and play 
a split. The tip of my tongue remains under the harmonica at all times.

I am a horn player (trombone) so I have practiced lots of rapid tonguing 
patterns. I can perform all of them using this technique. Amazing how 
many muscles there are in the tongue...

I have seen most of the players you cited in your item 2, but I forgot 
my x-ray machine at home. I have never really asked. To be honest, if I 
didn't teach harmonica, I probably wouldn't have been able to answer. 
But in order to teach, I figured that I should at least be able to 
describe accurately what I do.

  -LM