[Harp-L] Puckering [(An aside: U-Blocking is a rather limiting technique(?)]

[Robert Coble <robertpcoble@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

For puckering, open your mouth and insert the harp, letting your lips slide out on to the harp
covers as far as they will go without forcing them. Gently "squeeze" the lips together (but
still out as far as you can leave them on the covers) until you can play a single note. Once 
you can play a single note, begin working on your speed. Play exercises such as scales up 
and down the harp, holding the pucker embouchure. A good exercise for speed purposes is
to play the tonic note and then alternate the tonic note with every other note in the scale. That
will increase your ability to find every note. It probably won't take you long to get the hang of it.

An aside: no offense to anyone intended, BUT...


I wonder if U-blocking was the reason Norton Buffalo was NOT able to play that cool set of licks 
on "Runaway". Oh, he DID play it AND he was a U-blocker! I'd certainly consider THAT song a success!

I use U-blocking and have had some "success" using it. I play chords (that would be a triple stop), 
vamp, and tongue switch when needed. For the purpose of full disclosure, I also play Circular
Tuned harps exclusively. If I chose to do so, I could also play using a pucker or using tongue blocking.

The problem is that there is considerable misinformation about U-blocking that gets repeated
uncritically. The first and foremost WRONG information is that you have to have a genetic
predisposition (or is that predispensation?) to curl or roll the tip of the tongue into a tight little
circle that wraps around a single hole. That is NOT required because U-blocking doesn't require
it. (In the same way that puckering does NOT require you to make fish lips and pooch out your
"pucker" until you just touch the harp, kind of like kissing your great Aunt Matilda.) You actually
put the front part of the tongue UNDER the front edge of the harp. The "U" is formed by the two
outside edges of the tongue; the air travels down the center of the tongue, in a natural "groove".
If you want to experience that for yourself, say the word "H-A-A-A-H" while pressing the outside
edges of your tongue up against your upper teeth (or dental plate), with the end of the tongue
down (as it would be under the harp). You can then put the harp in your mouth as deeply as you 
want and get really good sound. Let the end of the tongue slip UNDER the harp as you place it into 
your mouth. The center part of the tongue has a "U" channel or natural "groove" that let's you 
"groove" on harp!

Regards,
Crazy (about U-blocking and Circular Tuned harps) Bob