Re: [Harp-L] calling tongue block benders

["Rick Dempster" <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Just an added thought to Daniel's post; 'slapping' the tongue onto the holes below the hole one intends to bend may help initiate the bend, and pulling the tongue off returns the note to its natural pitch, sounding with the rest of the chord.
This slapping-on, pulling-off action is what the classic 'fox chases' 'Lost John' lick largely consists.
I suggest it as one of the many approaches to achieving a bent note that I suggest to my beginner-students, along with starting the bend with a staccato 'T' sound (T=tongue of course)
There are many ways to describethe various  techniques on a harmonica; it's more a case of which one works for a particular individual.
RD

>>> Daniel Gage <dan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 17/11/2008 14:13 >>>
I tongue block everything below hole six, including all the bends on hole 3, plus octaves/intervals all the way up. I pucker single notes above 6, and sometimes pucker for attack to free my tongue (ta ta ta ta) on all holes.

I basically "decided" one day that it would be a priority to become a TB'er.  I practiced TB'ing for a couple of years in order to become decent.  I then had to re-learn pucker, because that embouchure had weakened.  My  goal now is to be seamless between both approaches, always with rich tone.

What I learned (to echo Rick) was that front-of-the-mouth embouchure was less important for tone, and more important for percussion/attack.  The bend definitely lives in the mouth as a whole, not just by tongue motion.  I suggest upping the airflow a tad, dropping the jaw a bit, but also, try getting the full bend while pucker'd, then try to just move your tongue into your TB position.  You might find that the bend stays all the way down 1.5 steps.   

If that doesn't work, I say "keep practicing".  That tactic seems to solve most problems.  It may take longer than a year.  It's not a trivial thing to switch from pucker to TB.

Thanks,
Dan G.
"12gagedan" on youtube

Rick Dempster <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: Steve;
            Have you listened to players doing this? I learnt it off Palmer Mcabee's 'Lost Boy Blues' supplemented with Wayne Raney, Onie Wheeler & Lonnie Glosson.
            Keeping in mind that the tongue extends down into the throat, I always think of it as a 'throat' action more than tongue.
            Pulling the Adam's apple down is one way of thinking of it, but even that may be simply a personal piece of imagery
rather than a true explanation of what actually happens.
           Just keep at it, is all I can say!
Cheers,
RD
>>> "steve abercrombie"  16/11/2008 6:28 >>>
Is there anyone out there who regularly uses full bends on 2 and 3 draw while tongue block playing? I've bought instructional cd's and had many suggestions which I have tried and tried for more than a year now. I just cannot get lower than the 1/2 note bend on 2 and 3 holes. I get the same results with pucker method. I guess I am looking for a tongue block player who may have had similar problems but eventually had a ureka moment. 

Thanks in advance.

Steve.....bent out of shape
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Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org 
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http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l