Re: Re: Learn Bends

["Winslow Yerxa" <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

- --- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Jude Stensland" <judes@xxxx> 
wrote:
 
 
> Strangely enough, the over blow is 
> something I learned before I knew 
> there was a name for it, just fooling 
> around in first position.  
  <snip> 
> Blow bend and overblow, I hope they 
> are the same thing.

Blow bends are the bendable blow notes in Holes 7 through 10 of a 
standard 10-hole diatonic. These go down in pitch smoothly from the 
blow note

Overblows are the notes you get in Holes 1 through 6. They pop up to 
a note that is higher than the draw note. Being able to do blow bends 
helps prepare you to learn overblows.

> Also tongue blocking, as my genetics 
> allow curling my tongue.  

Do you mean that you curl your tongue into a U-sharp and channel the 
air through it? The usual name for that is U-blocking. Tongue 
blocking refers to a different technique where your mouth covers 
several holes (usually between 3 and 5 holes). You don't curl your 
tongue into a U, though you may curve it up or down so that the tip 
is not poked into the holes. You place your tongue on all the holes 
within your lips, except for the one hole in the right or left 
corner . This isolates a single note. There are several additional 
techniques associated with tongue blocking:

- - lifting or slapping down the tongue to alternate full chords with 
single notes either percussively or rhythmically

- - Blocking out the holes in the middle and playing the notes in the 
corners of your mouth to produce octaves and other blocked intervals 
(sometimes called split intervals)

- - playing a blocked interval and alternating the two notes by 
wiggling the sides of your tongue, while keeping the blocked holes 
blocked.

- - alternating a high chord and a low chord by moving the tongue from 
side to side, alternately blocking two groups of notes

- - raking your tongue from side to side rhytmically the create 
a "textured" chord

- - various combinations of the above.

Winslow