Block 1

[Winslow Yerxa <76450.3230@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

TO: internet:harp-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Harv Andruss writes

       this alternating bird chip thing that Kim and Winslow
       brought up -- I just can't seem to get my tongue to place
       ~small enough~ over the holes with any consistency.

A couple of points here.

When you're quickly alternating two holes separate by only a hole
- like 2 and 4, for instance, you're actually blocking 2 holes
with your tongue, just like you do with octaves. The total width
of your embouchure is just one hole narrower.

Let's say you're playing an octave with Holes 1 and 4. You're
covering the entire range from 1 to 4 with your mouth and
blocking out 2 and 3. If you move the left corner of your mouth
oin toward the tongue, you can close Hole 1. Now you're playing
Hole 4, with 2 and 3 blocked off.

At this point, you can simply move your tongue to the right. This
will cover up Hole 4 and open Hole 2, as long as you don't change
the shape of your tongue tip.

By contrast, playing a 2-note split chord of 2 and 4 would
actually require a 1-hole block. When I do this in front of a
mirror and pull the harp away, the tip of my tongue sure looks
wider than a single hole. If I look at the underside of the
tongue, there is a crease in the middle with the two sides
plumped up on both sides, like a pair of buttocks. And the two
"cheeks" are also narrowed in from the outer sides, like they
were being pinched in by invisible fingers.

Maybe this stuff is genetic like tongue curling. I don't know if
you can do specific exercises to cultivate it. I found it took an
effot to learn, but I did it without ever looking at my tongue
until last week.

Winslow Yerxa
Harmonica Information Press
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