Fwd: RE: [Harp-L] Tongue blocking and speed

["Winslow Yerxa" <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

WHy not play the first three holes at speed with a tongue block? 

The only reason that tongue blocking *might* be awkward is that:

IF you tongue block exclusively with a right-side opening, there is
not enough harp at the left to rest your tongue on.

But so what? You don't need it. Your tongue and lips can maintain the
seal  without touching anything else - I sometimes call it "air
blocking". This allows you to maintain a full tongue block without
needing to switch from the right to left side or toswitch to a pucker.

Of course you can also simple swithc from the right to the left side,
which means you can get at the low notes even faster - no need to move
the whole harp (or mouth or head) - just flick your tongue a tiny bit
to the right - plenty of inherent speed there.

Bending in the lower holes with a tongue block is not a problem,
either, out of the right or the left side. PLenty of players can do it.

--- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Eric Garcia" <ericgar85@...>
wrote:

you honestly think he's tb-ing 100% at the lower register also with
the same 
speed and dexterity??
think about it and try it.

eric


>From: Jonathan Ross <jross38@...>
>To: harp-l@...
>Subject: [Harp-L] Tongue blocking and speed
>Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 23:14:17 -0400
>
>This is a continuation of a thread from last week.
>
>A friend forwarded me the following from the February 1995 issue of  AHN 
>from an interview with Sugar Blue, by Steve Harvell:
>
>Steve: Do you use the pucker or tongue blocking method?
>
>Sugar Blue: I use tongue blocking only, you have more power that way
 and 
>better tone. It makes a larger chamber in your mouth this  way,giving
you 
>that big tone with warmer and better notes.
>
>Leaving aside his reasoning, I think this indicates pretty decently 
that 
>Sugar Blue tongue-blocks for everything he does.  Which should 
pretty well 
>be the nail in the coffin of the idea that pucker is  somehow inherently 
>faster than tb, not that others weren't already  good examples of
that, but 
>Sugar Blue is amongst the fastest of the  fast, and if he does it all
with 
>tb, well, that's pretty good evidence.
>
>
>
>
>  ()()    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
>()  ()   & Snuffy, too:)
>`----'
>
>
>
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--- End forwarded message ---