Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Tongue blocking and speed

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

fjm writes (in the tongue-blocking/pucker discussion):
 
"There's nothing wrong with playing all pucker and I don't 
think  that playing all tb makes you anything other than unique"
 
....well!  thank goodness for that statement!  Since I'm  unlikely to ever 
manage to get beyond pucker playing (and honestly don't  care much if I do, 
especially since it seems to work for what I  need....speed isn't my forte.) I've 
been made to feel decidedly  "second-class citizen" lately because my built-in 
physical problem (a TMJ  issue with my jaw) will probably preclude my ever 
mastering TB.   But why should it be made to seem as if ...without it, people 
who play  pucker as I do will never be quite "as good as" those who play TB?   
There was definitely quite a bit of THAT going on at SPAH.   

Surprisingly the person I heard voice it the most  vociferously wasn't a 
"blues-guy" at the teach-in, but someone I  would have considered an "older" more 
traditional player and who looked at  me askance when I begged to disagree.  
 
I quite understand when people who learned TB'ing from the  beginning, or who 
picked it up later and found it to be their particular  Holy Grail wish to 
convince others that it isn't all that difficult....and  gives one a bigger 
arsenal from which to choose, but they're forgetting  that life itself just isn't 
One Size Fits All.  There should be room  for people like me who can't do it 
due to physical issues, or perhaps  decide it just isn't their cup of tea...I 
shouldn't HAVE to be forced to  be a clone of everyone else, now should I?
 
Besides...as long as I can hold up Jason Ricci as an example.. what's  good 
enough for someone as completely phenomenal as Jason...is certainly  more than 
good enough for l'il old me..... :)
 
Elizabeth