Re: [Harp-L] RE: Juke Joint tricks

[Colin Fulton <justcolin@xxxxxxxxx>]

Actually I have read about this technique and tried it to little
avail, but I know it's possible. It is a neat trick if you have one of
those 4 hole harmonicas. You use the u-tongue technique so you can
have a bunch of hole in your mouth, and then by moving you tongue back
and forth you can blow or draw anyone of them. You can't bend notes or
do really fancy stuff, but you can pull off a simple melody or harmony
with it. A nice "show offy" "look at what I can do" "look Ma, no
hands" technique.
>
>
> On 12/11/05, John Kally <jkally3@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> > There is some great video of SBII doing just what you describe from
> > one of the European blues festival videos (or maybe it's on a bootleg
> > but I think that material is now in official release).  He starts out
> > playing normally, then finishes the tune with the harp in the side of
> > his mouth while snapping his fingers.  Basically he's just chording
> > at that point as you'd expect off the low end of the harp.
> >   Back in the 70s I did see 50s  Sun recording artist Harmonica Frank
> > Floyd play most of a set with a harp stuck in the side of his mouth
> > while playing guitar and singing.  Pretty primitive but it worked for
> > his rough old-timey style, and I guess it was cheaper than buying a
> > rack.  He also would pull out a second harp and play one with his
> > nose while the other one was in his jaw.  Not sophisticated  but it
> > was a crowd pleaser, for sure.
> > For other  showmanship, I remember seeing Paul Oscher with Muddy
> > Waters  circa 1971 doing  an instrumental with the band and at one
> > point in the tune punctuating a phrase by either throwing a cap  (as
> > in cap gun, not capacitor) or a little firecracker down during the tune.
> > Cathal Mog wrote:
> >
> > I remember reading that Sonny Boy (II) used to play the harp without
> > hands,
> > by sticking it in his mouth like a cigar. How he did this with any
> > success
> > eludes me. Can anyone do it?
> > also I read in The Land Where the Blues Began about a harmonica
> > player who
> > played with his nose and mouth. Anybody know how to do this without
> > sounding
> > and looking silly?
> > Thanks in advance,
> >
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>