[Harp-L] Re: tongue roll

[tom ball <havaball@xxxxxxx>]

> Gary wrote:
> I hope Mr.Kinsella can help you, but I know Tom Ball and Paul Lamb will back
> me up on this: Sonny Terry used the tongue trill exclusively, where the tip of
> the tongue is tilted up slightly, and the tongue moves from side to side,
> between the two notes, rapidly. The tongue is a muscle that can be 
> trained if it starts out too slowly. One can also do it with 
> straight tongue side to side, I prefer the tilt up. Tom, you agree?

__________________

Indeed it's true Sonny often trilled the tip of his tongue against 
the face of the harp.  But to be honest, I could never ascertain 
whether he was doing so strictly from side to side, or whether he was 
just bouncing it very quickly up and down (i.e. north and south) over 
two holes.... or possibly he was using a sort-of circular combination 
of both?  In any event, he certainly used tongue rolls to great 
effect!

cheers,
Tom