Re: [Harp-L] Any Help out there.

["Steve Shaw" <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

> On Nov 14, 2004, at 4:17 PM, Pierre wrote:
> > One thing that should help is to make sure the hard is deep in your mouth, 
> > pucker like a chimpazee and set the harp deep in your mouth.
>
>  OK, here's where I am getting confused. On the one hand we have tongue 
> block players. These are guys who barely touch the harp to the lips and 
> work their sounds off of the right (and left) side of their tongue tip.  
> Then there is the pucker player who purses their lips like sipping through 
> a soda straw and directs the air to only the hole(s) they want.
>
>  Sooo, how DOES one stick a harp DEEP in their mouth and play pucker 
> style? OR, how DOES one place a harp deep in their mouth and play tongue 
> block style? I'm sure glad I tossed all of mine in the trash yesterday, as 
> the constant adjusting and re-adjusting embochure has already driven me 
> crazy.
>
> smokey-joe

"Tongue-block" is a very appropriate expression for the action in question.  
"Pucker" is the very opposite - it's a useless word that seems to cause 
nothing but confusion.  To me, "pucker" means the facial expression of 
George Bush as depicted by one of the UK's political cartoonists, for 
example:  
http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/0,7371,1286268,00.html  
(selected, I hasten to add, for pucker illustration only and NOT for any 
political allusions!).  As I don't tongue-block, and am presumably therefore 
a puckerer, I can categorically state that my mouth-shape is nothing like 
the one (exaggeratedly) depicted in the cartoon. The harp is deep in my 
mouth and my lips are relaxed.  My mouth-opening covers four to five holes 
(I use a mirror to observe this, having "frozen" in the middle of playing 
and removed the harp), yet I play a single note.  My tongue is down and out 
of the way.  I have no idea how the air is channelled down (or up) one hole 
only, but it is.  "Puckering" seems to imply some tension in the circular 
muscles around the mouth, which I think would be bad news for 
harmonica-playing.  I wish we had another word for it - even 
"non-tongue-blocking" would be better!

Steve

Ps.  WHAT did you throw in the trash???


http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/trad_irish_harmonica

Steve's CD of mostly traditional Irish,  "Blowing Through The Reeds,"  is 
now available!  Hear clips at http://www.gjk2.com/steveshaw/cd.htm

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