Re: tongue blocking

[<gmayhew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I've been tougue blocking on my harp for a little while now and have got as
> far as being able to bend most of the draw notes satisfactorally. What I
> don't understand, however, is how to deal with the last note on the left
> i.e. the bottom note. My tongue is blocking the holes to the left usually, but
> for this note there is not enough of the harmonica left, so I have to remove
 my
> tongue completely to play the note. Is this the correct way to play? It
> seems unlikely to me because I find it tricky to put my tongue back with
> any sort of speed.
>
I use lip pursing, rather than tongue blocking, most of the time--especially
when bending notes.  I tongue block when playing 2 non-adjacent holes at once,
when jumpingfrom a low hole to a high one quickly, or when tongue blocking
gives the tone I want.  Your problem with the 1 hole is a shortcoming of the
tongue-blocking technique.  Difficult bending is another.

> I'd be grateful for any advice anyone has. I'd also be grateful for any riffs.
> Nobody ever seems to send any in! I'm not asking for whole pieces, just a
> few blues riffs.
>
> Cheers,
>         Rob.
>
Sharing riffs was one of the original aims of the list.  The problem is
ascii text.  Several people, including me, tried to come up with systems of
tablature notation in ascii.  None of the proposed systems met with any
enthusiasm.  Maybe you can come up with something.

In my opinion, ascii harp tablature should
	1.  provide all of the essential musical info, including hole
	    number, blow or draw, bend, and duration.
	2.  be intuitive enough that lengthy instructions are not
	    necessary to interpret the tab.
	3.  be fairly simple and efficient to write.  If it takes 30
	    minutes to write out 12 bars, there won't be many submissions.
	4.  not hog resources.

Does anybody have fresh ideas for notation?

Personally, I'm not sure it's worth the effort, considering the many other
sources of music that are readily available:  records, cds, tapes, radio,
published books, harmonica periodicals, etc.

George