[Harp-L] I Don't Pucker

[Rick In Davis <rickindavis@xxxxxxxxx>]

I don't pucker, and the only times I tongue-block are when I want an octave split or an occasional rhythmic tongue slap, but I never pucker.
   
  To "pucker" is to purse ones lips as if whistling or drinking through a straw.  I never do that when playing harp.  I think one of the problems with this Pucker vs. TB debate is that the word pucker does not accurately describe the technique I and others use, and it is a silly sounding word that is easy to dismiss.
   
  I play what I think of as a "single-hole" embouchure, not a pucker.  My lips do not form the barriers that delineate the hole or holes I am playing.  Rather, it is the tissues inside the lips nearer the base if the teeth; The harp is nearly touching my teeth.  My lips rest on the plate covers, never touching the comb.  When I hit those high bends there may be something on my body that is puckered, but it ain't my lips.
   
  TB does not work for me as a regular technique because I use the tip of my tongue to start and stop many notes, by flicking the tongue against the palate right behind my upper teeth.  I have three methods for attacking notes:  using the diaphragm, using the rear of the tongue (make the KOO sound), and using the tip of the tongue (make the TOO sound).   My style includes a fast staccato thing that I get by rapidly moving my tongue from front to back (say "Tucka Tucka Tucka" as fast as you can).  It just would not be possible if the tip of my tongue was always glued to the harp.  
   
  Some of my students do indeed start out by puckering, but I break them of that habit early on.  No serious harp player truly puckers when he plays, and everybody on Harp-L is a serious harp player. 
   
  I offer a simple change in nomenclature:  It's not pucker;  it's "Single-Hole."

 		
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