Re: [Harp-L] What would be your Desert Island "Embouchure" ?

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

joe leone wrote:

On Sep 9, 2010, at 11:52 AM, Frank Franze wrote:

>> Hypothetically speaking if I could only use one "embouchure"  on a  
>> desert island I would choose tongue block.

<...If I only open my lips enough to cover TWO holes  
<(instead of the 3 shown in the little waxed paper diagram), and then  
<block off ONE, would I still be considered a tongue blocker?

I would say yes, though I would recommend expanding the embouchure at some point.  I would consider any technique that involves closing off holes with the tongue to be tongue blocking, by definition.  Many players could stretch as far as a double octave on blow notes on a standard diatonic harp, if they practiced the stretch.  

More to the point, why are we debating a question that has no practical purpose?  Most serious players know and use more than one embouchure.  No one I know would want to restrict themselves to just one, any more than they'd want to restrict themselves to one kind of vibrato or tremolo.

The idea is to get more technique over time, not less...

Regards, Richard Hunter






















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