[Harp-L] Did Sonny Terry Do It Upsidedown

[Mike Holcomb <mholcomb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

There's a set of DVD's from the American Folk Blues Festivals in Europe
that show Sonny Terry playing.	Yes, he definitely played upside down.

So did Doc Ross, who was left handed.  He played right-handed guitar
upside down and put the harp upside down in his harp rack.  It's like
watching someone play in a mirror.

I've been told that Popper plays upside down too, but have never seen any
evidence either way on this.

The only issue of advantage or disadvantage I can think of is that you
would probably also need to change the "handedness" of your
tongue-blocking.  Usually you want the lead note on top of the chord, so
with the harp upside down, you want to have your tongue to the right and
the opening to the left of your mouth.	On the other hand, playing tongue
block on the low notes would be quite easy for, um, right-handed tongue
blockers like me.

--
Best regards,
Mike Holcomb