Re: [Harp-L] Tongue blocking and speed

well.. since you play harp.. and apparently for quite sometime..
you should be able to tell that tbing @ lower register notes with the
same speed and dexterity presents physical problems.

No, it doesn't. I can tongue block equally well out of either side of my mouth. I learned the "wrong" way first, so that's part of it, but the technique really is no different depending on the side. Further, I can tongue-block all the notes out of the right side if I wanted to. I rarely want to as I find it uncomfortable blocking no holes and just comb when playing the first hole this way, but that's a personal issue and has no relationship to the effectiveness of the technique. If those are the "physical problems" then I don't see that as valid, as I can do it and I'm not a special case talent or technique wise.

...note that sugar blue doesn't spend a lot of time down there except for
more melodic reasons..

Which has to do with his speed playing how? Almost all the ultra- fast players do so at the upper ranges of the instrument. That has little to do with the embouchure and much to do with the speed of reeds engaging relative to pitch and size.


... i'm not calling him a liar..

Actually, you did. He said that he tongue-blockes everything. You say that's impossible. If you are right that means he was lying.

i have met him,, right around when that 95 article came
out actually... don't know him well enough to call him a liar.. booked him at my club,,
he's definitely on the crazy side..

All of which has nothing to do with whether or not you claim he's lying in that interview, as I said in my previous statement.

all i'm saying is,, that just because he says it,, it's not in stone, and should be taken as such.

So, what is your argument that he can't? I haven't heard it except the "physical problems" part, which is vague and undefined. I can imagine what that might be (as I wrote), but really, what reason do you have for thinking that one can't play fast tongue-blocking? Specific, not vague. It is obvious from listening that Sugar Blue uses tongue-slaps, splits, octaves and other tongue-block effects. Why do you think that he does not use tongue-blocking when he plays fast, then.

i'm not disputing the advantages of tbing,, but i think we can agree on it's limitations
before everybody in the harp-l world converts to "toungeblockism"

Every embouchure has limitations. That's not the issue. The assumption was stated that one of the limitations for tongue-blocking is that it's not as fast as puckering. That assumption was stated with little evidence. It was suggested that certain fast players pucker and therefore it must be faster because of that. When examples of other fast players (not just Sugar Blue, but as he's known for speed he is easy to focus on) who use tongue-blocking were given it seems you still want to maintain the assumption by refuting the example of fast tb players. So let's get away from that (ignoring for the moment Sugar Blue's own words).

Now, please be as specific as possible, because I don't a priori believe such to exist and so can't imagine them up for myself, especially because in my own (not particularly fast) playing I don't find any such speed based limitations. So again, I ask what is it that you think physically makes tongue-blocking slower than puckering?



 ()()    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()  ()   & Snuffy, too:)
`----'





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