Fwd: [Harp-L] Speaking of split intervals...

["Winslow Yerxa" <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Tim Moyer" <wmharps@xxxx> 
wrote:

Winslow Yerxa wrote:
> You could even leave Hole 8 open while you do this - like going to 
> a split interval, buth with 2 notes open on the left instead of 
> just one.

Anyone have any suggestions on techniques to practice split 
intervals, blocking only one hole while leaving the sides open.  
I've heard folks like Richard Hunter do it with great facility.  Do 
I just need to keep after it until I figure it out for myself?  I 
can do two- and three-hole blocks (such as for blow and draw 
octaves), but for me it's, well, out of reach.

================Winslow writes:

When I managed to achieve a one-hole block - after hearing one of the 
Walters do it on a Muddy Waters record - I looked in the mirror and 
found that my tongue was doing something quite different from when I 
played a two-hole or larger block.

With a two-hole block, the tip of my tongue was pointed downwward so 
that the front part of the top of the tongue was doing the blocking. 
But when I did a one hole block, the little cord-like muscle (or 
tendon or whatever it is) that runs along the length of the BOTTOM of 
the tongue was what I was using. It was narrow enough to block just 
one hole on a standard diatonic.

On bigger instruments like XB-40, tremolo, and chromatic I can use 
the more usual kinds of tongue block for a one-hole split. And of 
course, everyone's anatmoy is different and some may find they can 
point the tip or even the top of the tongue enough for a one hole 
split.

Winslow