Re: [Harp-L] Bending while tongue blocking?

[Roger Myerson <myerson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Winslow:
Thanks so much for this excellent advice!  I am amazed to find that I 
can actually do it as you advise.
As a habitual tongue-blocker, for decades I felt unable to bend at all.  
I only just learned to bend a few months ago, ironically after switching 
to the Newton fourkey tuning.

The bending technique that has worked for me is to tilt the tip of the 
tongue upward until it partly obstructs the bottom of the hole, and draw 
a bit harder through this narrowed entrance.  Perhaps this is considered 
bad form, making an inferior sound, but with some practice and care I 
have found that I can make it sound not so bad with this technique.

Bending still is a deep mystery to me.  In my limited experience, it 
seems to be not so much about making a resonant cavity as about making a 
narrow obstruction through which the air can be drawn under more 
pressure than usual.  It feels like your K-spot technique works by 
creating such an obstruction farther back in the mouth.
But on the Newton fourkey, I only have nothing like the Richter hole 3 
to manipulate, as there is only one simple bend-note (at most) to aim 
for in any hole.
-Roger

> Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2011 09:13:09 -0800 (PST)
> From: Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Bending while tongue blocking?
> To: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Message-ID: <620329.48188.qm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> Learn to bend with a tongue block.
>
> People who tell you to switch are people who can't do it.
>
> But you can if you work at it. So can many other players.
>
> You may have learned to bend by humping up your tongue to create an 
> activation point, then sliding this forward or back in your mouth to 
> create a larger or smaller resonant chamber to target lower or higher 
> notes.
>
> Tongue blocked bending can be accomplished in the same way.
>
> The main difference is that you can't move the tip of the tongue, 
> because it's touching the harmonica. But you don't need the tip of 
> your tongue to bend. And pointing the airflow up and down has 
> absolutely no effect on bending. It's just a byproduct.
>
> You can change the size of the resonant chamber in two ways:
> -- horizontally
> -- vertically
>
> Your ability to move horizontally (forward and back) is constrained by 
> the
> position of the tip of your tongue, though you can still do it some.
>
> However, you can drop the height of your tongue, and drop your jaw, to 
> create a larger or smaller space between your tongue and the roof of 
> your mouth.
>
> Try this:
>
> Play Draw 4 with  tongue block. Then, with the harp in your mouth and 
> your
> tongue on the harp, say "Guh." The place where you touch your tongue 
> to the roof of your mouth is also the place where you'll activate the 
> bend by narrowing the airflow. Try using this to bend Draw 4 down.
>
> Once you can bend Draw 4, try Draw 3. Much tougher at first. This is 
> where you need to experiment with your ability to move the K-spot and 
> with dropping your tongue/jaw.
>
> Winslow
> Winslow Yerxa
> Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
> Harmonica instructor, The Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance
> Resident expert, bluesharmonica.com
> Columnist, harmonicasessions.com

--
Roger B. Myerson, Glen A. Lloyd Distinguished Service Professor
Department of Economics, University of Chicago
1126 East 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
Phone: 773-834-9071, Fax: 773-702-8490
http://home.uchicago.edu/~rmyerson/