[Harp-L] u-blocker??? or toe wiggler?

[David Fertig <drfertig@xxxxxxxxx>]

"they gave up 
trying to play harmonica because they couldn't roll their tongue"  Amazing, it's so terrible when orthodoxy creeps into any endeavor and needlessly squelches hope.  

It's like kissing. There's no one way.   Did you ask, "am I doing it right?" Not since 7th grade, anyway, I hope!   You know when it feels right, and everyone's mouth and tongue is shaped differently, every one's gotta feel their own way.  

Thus when I "teach" beginners (at harp, not kissing!), I show 'em the tongue block, pucker and u-block, tho I don't use u-block myself, but some people's mouths just work better with it.   

Butter probly used 'em all and rarely self-consciously.   Maybe he showed newbies (Levon!?) u-block too, that first clean note is a tough get for some, but I bet Butter was ecumenical and showed - and used - all the approaches.

More importantly, from what I see on stages these days, is: Did Butterfield wear shoes that were 3 inches longer than his feet?   Why do blues players do that?  Don't they know women know better, and Bozo didn't? 

Dave "sandals" Fertig


--- On Thu, 12/13/12, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx <harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
[Harp-L] u-blocker???
        	Thursday, December 13, 2012 11:47 AM
        	
            
            
            From: 
            "James D Hoskins" <jameshoskinz@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
            	
            	
            	
        	To: 
        	harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
 I had a couple of off line emails with Winslow yesterday. I told him I 
wasn't certain where I had heard LW had used the tongue rolling 
technique, but that in the back of my mind I kept thinking either a 
Louis Meyers or Joe Lee Bush interview.

Winslow came back with a quote that was at least one thing I recall reading:

Joe Lee Bush on Little Walter:

 
  He had an interest in how I was playing. In addition to the usual tongue blocking, 
I
 also curled my tongue inside the mouth to get an air channel directly 
into the holes, making for a much more powerful attack. He was doing the
 same thing and asked me "did you 
work that out yourself" and I said "yes, I was so little when I started 
playing that my tongue was too small to do the usual tongue blocking" and he 
said he did the same thing too. After 1955, I never saw Little Walter 
again."
  

Winslow pointed out that this could be interpreted more than one way so:

I
 emailed Joe Lee yesterday, so far no word back. He may very well not 
respond. He may even view it as a silly question, I confess, I pretty 
much do. To me what he says seems clear. I can't imagine rolling my own 
tongue and holding it far enough back in my mouth to keep it off the 
harmonica. It's very uncomfortable.

I don't think of "U-blocking" as a primary technique, it's just another 
facet of tongue blocking. single note on left, single note in the middle, 
single note on right.

I don't see what the big deal is either way. I had always thought many 
players do it. At least several I've known, and known of, have used the technique.
I
 actually remember hearing a friend comment once that they gave up 
trying to play harmonica because they couldn't roll their tongue