[Harp-L] re: Tongue curl (was tongue blocking)

["Jason Pos \(JG\)" <POSJG@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

-----Original Message-----

From: "Richard Bush"
 Tom, harp-l is where I learned that there were actually folks other
than myself that used this method. Some of those guys are still
lurking out there.

Richard, about 1970 my dad gave me a Hohner Chrometta 12, my first
harp ever.  I used the tip of my tongue to count the holes up to C
and, with the tip still on the hole, blew - a single note.  It was
just natural to blow single notes from the start.  My second harp was
a "Little Lady" and that too was very simple to play single notes on.
Many years later I progressed onto the diatonic and still used the
same single note method.  Then, still years later, I started to look
into harp theory and just could not understand HOW I could play the
note that my tongue was sticking into and should be blocking.  Then on
Harp-L et. al. I saw mention of U-blocking and finally the penny
dropped - without even being able to feel it the tip of my tongue was
tightly curled and directing the air into the hole it was on.  Boy, I
could always curl my tongue but had no idea that this was happening
when I played.
Now the big problem is that I am trying to learn tongue blocking and
am very uneasy about pushing the harp deeper in my mouth and
slobbering all over it with my tongue pressed against all those holes.
Maybe this is why all my harps have lasted so long up to now.

Regards,
Jason G.
Gauteng, South Africa

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