RE: [Harp-L] TB & Lip Pursing: What about Sonny Terry?

["Bradford Trainham" <bradford.trainham@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

As one who has recently anguished over aspects of this very question, I say
that some of what Sonny Terry did has to be lip-driven. 
The song Lost John is the most extreme example of what I'm talking about but
I hear what might best be phonetically represented as a "fom" when he's
sounding the 1, 2 and 3 draw notes and then apparently moving the harp just
a tiny bit away from his mouth to give it the opportunity to resonate a
little. 
 He forms a percussive construct with something that (again phonetically)
sounds like
"fup-puh-fom-fom".
I brought this question/observation/half-baked-notion to Michael Rubin.  He
got a sound closer than what I can get to what Sonny Terry sounds like and
he said that Sonny is "kissing the harp". 
I was trying to get the "fom" sound by actually using my teeth, but I've
practiced a quick, tight pucker on the first three draw notes (works better
with f or lower) and pulled the harp just a little away and I'm slowly
getting a sound pretty close to Sonny Terry.
I'm ot really sure how much tongue blocking Sonny Terry uses, but so far,
I'd say the lips seem to prevail.
Brad (Sonny Terry wasn't kidding about white boys being lost in the Blues!!)
Trainham


-----Original Message-----
From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Rick Davis
Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2009 3:40 PM
To: harp-l
Subject: [Harp-L] TB & Lip Pursing: What about Sonny Terry?

A question for Gary Onofrio:  Was Sonny Terry a total TBer or did he also
lip purse at times?

-Rick Davis
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