[Harp-L] Embouchure: deja vue all over again

["John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx>]

Martin Oldsberg opines as follows concerning tongue blocking:

"But of course it is a bit annoying when you hear those blues guys  
going on and on with their own rhytm backing and realise you don´t  
have much to fetch in that compartment."

If one plays ET harps, the whole tongue lift chord thing doesn't  
sound as good anyway. For self accompaniment, that style of play  
certainly has its appeal.  However, I happen to think that the  
inability to "build" chords is more of a limiting factor than lack of  
a 12 tone chromatic scale if one is playing a Richyer tuned diatonic  
harmonica with other musicians.  The chords available on a Richter  
tuned diatonic harmonica are fairly primitive, only fit certain  
limited styles of music and, for the most part, don't work in  
positions above third.  So, in my experience, one can fit harp to a  
much wider variety of musical contexts and more sophisticated  
material if one does NOT play  a lot of chords.  I mean, for example,  
if you don't use tongue lifts playing Miles Davis or John Coletrane,  
your aesthetic presentation is not diminished.

Just my take on it, FWIW.

JP