Re: [Harp-L] teaching question

["samblancato" <samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

*       My question is this: should I try to teach him Toung blocking
straight
> away, or get him to a more advanced level (bending etc. ) before moving to
TBs?

 

I would hold off on the TB for a while.  Here are my reasons:

 

1.	Since he can now play single notes and bend he's in a position learn
some riffs and lines that will keep him interested in playing.  

 

2.	He'll also be able to pay attention to timing with what skill he now
has. 

 

3.	The skill he now has is enough to get him familiar with the harp on
the instinct level.  It's my contention that new students should be able to
sound out what they play by ear rather than by constantly referring to tabs.
Tabs are the death of spontaneity and improvisation.

 

4.	Only after a new player can play some neat riffs and get his way
around the harp does it make sense to learn TB.

 

5.	TB is really several things besides another way to play single
notes.  It's a way to "present" a given note (David Barret's expression) by
way of octaves. It's a way to access notes by jumping up and down the holes
more quickly.  It's a way to add texture and thickness by way of tongue
slaps and pull slaps and tongue trills.  So there's a lot to TB and what it
can do for a person's playing

 

6.	If your student isn't familiar with the harp and doesn't know any
real songs or riffs or how to go through a I-IV-V progression there isn't
going to be much payoff in struggling with TB at this point.

 

Having said all that, once your student does know his way around the harp
via puckering he should get into TB with a vengeance and in all its
applications so that he doesn't get "stuck" in the pucker mode.  

 

That's just *MY* opinion on it.  I'm sure others will differ on this.  You
didn't say if your teaching was Blues centered or not.  I'm with David
Barrett on the idea that blues harp is the richest style of playing in terms
of technique and, of course, no other genre of music has made such a welcome
place therein for harmonica.  

 

Sam Blancato, Pittsburgh