TB in 30 min/day...(was IICDIAO)

[Glenn Weiser <glennw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

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>Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 01:54:26 +1000
>From: Mark Crowley <Mark.Crowley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Re: Fwd:  TB in 30 min/day...(was IICDIAO)
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>surely tongue blocking is a pretty basic technique - 
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>how can anybody play the blues of little walter with no tongue slaps?
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Mark-

Ah, embouchure. One of my favorite things.
You can't play LW, or Big Walter, or Sonny Boy I & II without slaps, 
really. You can play blues harp, yes, but not, IMO, Chicago blues.

>if anybody says they can tell a purse tone from a tb tone i say they are talking bs - pure and refined - to my hearing it is only the lack of tongue slaps that distinguishes between the two.
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I've sat in front of my students and played the same riff both ways, and 
some have said they could tell the difference. I wouldn't bet the farm 
on being able to tell consistently, though-there are too many variables.

>and there are tbers who don't like using tongue slaps anyway so I would be mistaken in assuming that the absence of slaps meant the player was a  purser.
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Yeah, but if you play TB you're usually going to slap. The temptation is 
just too much :-)

>I could say that my lack of success in achieveing obs is due to my tb technique but i don't believe that is correct. I believe i don't know enough about correct gapping and that my embouchure and intonation for obs still need lots of work.
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>i guess i am puzzled as why somebody would think they need to learn tbing after so many yrs of pursing for reasons other than slapping?
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Fast lo-hi or hi-lo jumps are one reason. Also, if you can bend in TB it 
makes certain riffs easier to do. Well, for me at least.

>if i was teaching somebody i would urge them to go with whichever was the easiest for them - though pointing out that slaps would be beyond them (though I am astounded that pursers can easily octave but not slap or block - if yu can slap yu are blocking)
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I make everyone learn both pucker and TB. I love the tone I get on the 
3-draw with U-block, too. In fact, I like pucker on 2d, UB on 3d, and TB 
on 4 draw and up. I work on riffs that go through all 3 positions.

>my impression is that slapping has gone largely out of fashion - little walter was a keen advocate of them 
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Nah. You haven't been travelling in the right circles. Portnoy, Wilson, 
De Lay, Estrin, Musselwhite, lots of guys use it.

>its all swings and roundabouts surely..
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>I never rec'd an answer from my previous question about where did obs go if they had been recorded since the 1930s and only reared their head again in the last twenty yrs.
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It could have been discovered, forgotten, and rediscovered. Who knows?

>is tongue blocking experiencing a shift into being categorised as an "exotic" technique?
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Hell, no. It's a standard technique. For exotic techniques, read the 
Kama Sutra.

>thats crackers if it is.
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Fear not.

>if yu ask me to purse a single note it sounds like a cat choking thru a drainpipe - surely there's more pressing issues demanding of time - like learning music theory for me.
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Sonny Terry got great tone with pucker. Open up the back of your throat 
as if yawning. A master of the instrument will shine with any embouchure.

Glenn Weiser
http://www.celticguitarmusic.com/harppage.htm

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