Re: [Harp-L] Re: a question for all you toungue blockers outthere...

["Bob Maglinte" <bbqbob917@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Paparozzi" <chromboy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "backbender1" <backbender1@xxxxxxxxx>; <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 12:54 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Re: a question for all you toungue blockers 
outthere...


> Good point Dennis,
>
>    I'd probably put the Chicago Style (Walter, Smith, Horton..et all) TB 
> on equal importance to the "Legit" Classical music TB approach ....It's 
> pretty much a necessity if your going for that "Classic" Chicago sound.
> best,
> rob

Hi,
When I first started out, I strictly TB'd, then learned pucker, which was 
easier for me for the blow note bends on the top register, and stuff like 
the Sonny Terry technique of beating the tongue against the palette, and for 
the past 20 years I've used both, often switching right during the phrase, 
and IMO, it is extremely advantageous to know both because each brings many 
different things to the table the other doesn't. With the TB, you need to 
keep the embouchure steady, but create a larger air cavity in your mouth, 
but the thing that harp players tend to do that gives them tons of problems 
is that:

a.) most players tend play extremely uptight and unknowingly restricting 
their airflow and then they wind up using too much air pressure to do 
anything;
b.) beginners of the TB technique tend to "slam" their tongues very rigidly 
and excessively hard on the instrument, and then they cause themselves the 
classic problem of playing with a wet mouth 24/7.

The TB technique, just like vocals, requires that the body MUST be relaxed 
and NEVER uptight in order for it to work properly or else all you do is 
constantly working against yourself, or basically being your own worst enemy 
in the process. Puckering requires a bit less open jaw space, but in either 
case, the ENTIRE body from head to toe MUST be relaxed so that you don't 
impede the airflow or need an excessive amount of air pressure to do 
anything.

TB is the method of choice for classical, and Cham-Ber Huang's old 
instructional sets usually preached the TB technique and to get around, you 
move the harp in an arc, and NOT your head, especially when playing some 
really quick phrasings, and I've found this to be very true and handy, and 
stuff that requires more speed like country, this method works very well.

Some of the Chicago stuff can be done either way as long as you make some 
adjustments. With Big Walter, the beginning part of the solo on Jimmy 
Rogers' "Walking By Myself" can only be done as a TB in order to get the 
articulation and the accenting of the very first 4 bars correctly. Sonny 
Terry was a pucker player, so in the end, from my experience, it is to your 
ADVANTAGE to learn both. To get good at anything, love it or hate, 
frustration is a BIG part of the learning process that we ALL go thru with 
ANYTHING in life, and though it drives you nuts, but once you begin to get 
the hang of something, it all pays off in the end.

Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
MP3's: http://music.mp3lizard.com/barbequebob/