Re: [Harp-L] U-blocking

[Robert Coble <robertpcoble@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Robert Hale asks:

Is U-blocking genetic? Can all humans do it, if willing?
(Like tongue-curling, eyebrow lifting, and mid-digital hair) LOL

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IMHO, there is more misinformation about U-blocking than about either
puckering or tongue blocking.

U-blocking is N-O-T genetic. I believe the vast majority of humans CAN do it, IFF 
they are willing to try some simple things. I'm unwilling to state categorically that
ALL humans can do it; somebody will always come up with an exception.

For those who are convinced that it cannot be done without special genetics: 
you are RIGHT, because you don't have special genetics and never will. (Nobody
else has special genetics either.)

Here's a previous post of mine from Harp-L, covering U-blocking and how to do it.

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I've often read that U-blocking requires a genetic capability to curl the tip of
     the 
tongue into a tight little roll, and that only 50% (or some other irrelevant
     statistical 
value made up on the spur of the moment) of the general population
     can do it. 
That's not what I use - the TIP of the tongue is NEVER curled around
     a hole. 
(Maybe I have a different genetic "mutation" of the tongue from other
     U-blockers!) 
It's also stated (by a lot of the "experts") that U-blocking cannot
     be "taught"; 
I disagree (obviously).Here's a little experiment that you can do to try the U-blocking 
embouchure.
  
  

     Open your mouth wide (like you would do for a dentist who is about to insert
     his 
hand and a dental drill into your mouth). Keeping the mouth open, relax your
     tongue 
as much as possible, and at the same time, stick out your tongue just a
     little so that 
the bottom of your tongue (NOT the tip of the tongue) is at least
     touching your 
bottom lip. Lay your index finger down the middle of your tongue
     (without inserting 
it too far and invoking the gag reflex) and press down slightly
     (as if using a tongue 
depressor). Now open the back of your throat while taking a
     deep breath, which will 
cause your tongue to move lower down into the lower jaw.
     You should feel a slight 
suction pressure on your finger. Pop your finger loose
     from the suction (leaving it in 
your mouth, lightly touching your tongue). You
     should feel a slight "groove" running 
down the middle of your tongue. That
     "groove" forms the "U" or channel for U-blocking.
  
  
     Now remove your finger from the mouth, and stick a harp in your mouth as deep
     as 
you can get it. The harp sits on top of the tongue, not at the tip of the tongue.
     Your 
tongue will naturally form a "U"-shaped channel around a single hole (with a
     little practice). 
A trick that might help a little initially is to tilt the front of the harp
     (the part outside your 
mouth) upward a little to start with - no more than 30
     degrees. I learned that trick from 
David Barrett, who uses the curve of the lower lip
     to form a seal around a single hole. It 
really doesn't matter where the "curve" is
     located that surrounds a single hole - mouth, 
lip, tongue; the important thing is to
     place the harp so that the "curve" naturally wraps 
around a single hole on the harp.

  
  
     The nice thing with this embouchure is that you can get the harp really deep
     into the 
mouth, which helps tone. I've found it's really simple to learn how to
     bend using it, by 
simply moving the base (back) of the tongue toward the back of
     the throat while 
articulating from "EEEEEEE" to "OOOOOO". It also allows for tongue
     slaps, pulls and chords, 
although not necessarily the same chord position (root,
     first inversion, second inversion) as 
when tongue blocking. Octaves (double stops)
     also seem to be doable without much 
trouble, although it would be technically
     correct to call that technique "tongue blocking". 
If the tongue is wrapped around
     a hole or two (not really wrapped around it, but you get 
the idea), it's relatively
     simple to just push the tongue forward to close the "U"-channel 
without filling
     the lips and Voila! you have the octave.

  
  
    I tried teaching this embouchure as an experiment at our local harmonica club.
    We have 
one member who has been learning harp playing for about 2-3 months,
    and one new 
member who visited for the first time. Neither of them could play a
    single hole cleanly. I 
spent some time with them, describing in detail the 3 major
    forms of embouchure (pucker, 
tongue block, U-block). When I discussed U-block,
    I described the supposedly genetic 
requirement to curl the end of the tongue into
    a tight little tube to wrap around a single 
hole note. Guess what?!? Neither of them
    could curl their tongue. However, I used the 
same description given above,
    demonstrating how to do the "tongue depression" of the 
tongue with my mouth
    open wide. I asked them to try it, and both of them were playing 
clear single notes
    in less than 1 minute. Neither of them were able to blow clear single 
notes using
    either of the other two embouchures.
 
  
  
     "One or two swallows do not a summer make", but I think it at least shows that
     just about 
ANY embouchure can be learned, if taught properly. It will be interesting
     to see if either 
(or both) of them are playing single notes using U-block or one of
     the other embouchures 
at next month's meeting. (They both did!)


  
Try it - you might like it!

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Crazy ('bout harp!) Bob