Re: [Harp-L] Tongue blocking and tone

[binomine <binomine@xxxxxxxxx>]

> As a beginner, I pucker for everything, and find tongue blocking to be very difficult. Is it true that the great Chicago blues tone can only come from tongue blocking? I think I read that Little Walter and others tongue blocked most of the time. Is anyone getting "that" tone while puckering?
>

We can argue that the harp is more in the mouth with a tongue block,
and therefore blocking airflow to more reeds, but that in itself is
not a good reason to learn TB.  Tone between TB and pucker is
virtually indistinguishable, while breath, how you're physically
holding the harp, genetic factors and equipment are way more important
to tone.

The real reason to learn TB is that there are many tricks in a
harpist's bag that can only be pulled off correctly with a TB, such as
the tongue slap.   If you're unable to do them, you'll be less able to
mimic the greats.