RE: [Harp-L] Technique u blocking

[chicago bluesman <chicagobluesman@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is a perennial issue on the list--the relative merits of various ways to achieve a single note.  Some of us (like me) never got comfortable with traditional tongue blocking and those genetically predisposed to u-blocking (like me) came to rely upon this strategy for fast runs or when you really want to nail a note precisely with confidence.  I do traditional tongue blocking only for octave chords.  I can achieve reasonable bends while u-blocking but tend to use puckering for deeper, longer-held or more precise bending and, of course, I like the sharpness of the attack and power achievable through puckering.  I go back and forth quickly and constantly between the two embouchures--u-blocking and puckering--almost all the time, almost on every tune I play.  Traditional tongue blocking, for me, only happens when I'm incorporating an octave chord.

There is one aspect of the u-blocking technique that hasn't come up yet in this discussion.  To my ear, one of the distinguishing sounds that comes out of traditional tongue blocking is that quick, slight, subtle chord slur you can hear while the player is approaching a single note. You sort of slide into the single note from a brief passing chord, which introduces a hesitation, before hitting the single note.   You incorporate this into your phrasing when playing certain tunes--not all the time, just when it seems to fit best.  Sometimes it's really prominent, sometimes it's implied, sometimes it's not there at all, depending on the tune.  I'm a Chicago guy and am fortunate to have heard Big Walter quite a bit before his death--Walter's playing often has this brief chord slur as he initiates a single note.  I hear it in Kim Wilson's playing and other players who carry forward traditional playing styles.  More modern players don't incorporate it into their playing much and it's not at all available if all you do is pucker.  Many years ago, when I was first picking up harp, this was something my harp pals and I talked about--could you get the tongue blocking chord slurring sound with a u-blocking technique?  I like to think that you can and it's something that I have in mind when I u-block my way through tunes, at least some of the time, depending on the tune.  The effect is lost if you're playing in a too-loud band with screaming guitars coming out of cranked-up Twin Reverbs...but it's definitely something to incorporate into your playing at softer volumes, whether amplified or acoustic.  The chord slur thing seems a natural consequence/benefit of tongue blocking but you have to think about it and do it deliberately when u-blocking.  But it's there if you think about it and develop it.

I even have a personal theory about the origins of the classic blues harp playing style where a brief chord slur sometimes precedes a single note.  I wonder if its origins are related to playing broken, uncooperative, neglected reed-sticking harps which are in need of repair.  I've noticed that when I have a harp where there is a problem with a sticking reed--usually meaning  that it's gapped improperly--I encounter a stuck reed problem more often with a hard, sharp, forceful attack.  If I sneak up on the reed, perhaps with a softer attack or by slurring my way in with a brief passing chord, the reed is more likely to cooperate and voila! I get the note I'm reaching for.  The real remedy is to adjust the gapping but I'm not so sure the older traditional guys did much of that.  I certainly never saw Big Walter treat his harps with much TLC--they were in various pockets, usually not in cases, probably gunked up with all kinds of pocket gook.  MB cover plates are secured with tacks and when you take them off they may not fit securely again and I can't quite picture Walter doing fine adjustment of his harps.  No...I think the older players would've accommodated a temperamental, sticking, poorly-gapped harp through adjusting their attack by sneaking up on a single note.  I don't think the production standards of Marine Bands in the 1950's were at today's tolerances and I bet gapping was all over the place.  I know that production harps today have much higher OOB quality than when I started playing in the mid-'70's.  Lots of things we appreciate now for a unique, defining feature actually have their roots in necessity (corned beef, sauerkraut, pickles, fruit preserves etc, etc)--maybe it's the same with the chord slur before single note playing style.  Necessity becomes traditional virtue.  Just a thought.

Cheers,

John

> Date: Sun, 14 Apr 2013 11:55:47 +0100
> From: markwjburness@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Technique u blocking
> To: larry.marks@xxxxxxxxxxxx; harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> CC: 
> 
> Hi Larry,
>  tl
> At times I think I have done what you explain, other players have descibed a similar embouchure ("I put my tongue on the hole")...a sort of halfway house between a pucker and a U block, the main difference being the tongue sitting atop your bottom teeth, level with the lip line, rather than resting behind the bottom teeth? In my experience (not to be taken as any kind of edict) I have found rolling the tongue into a U shape deepens the cavity at the front of the mouth, pushing the lower jaw down and gives a slightly fuller tone, especially on the lower holes & bends, compared to not - you may have a fuller tone than me to start with, so which gives the best result from player to player may be somewhat moot.
>  
> There are often little tell tales that may give away certain techniques (and maybe certain techniques you do well to master if aiming for a particular vibe), but I don't believe you can group players by embouchure, relative to the sound they make...different people sound different when doing the same thing. If it sounds good, is comfortable and allows you to play good music...really, what more can you ask for? ;-)
>  
> Regards, Mark.
>  
>  
>  
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Larry Marks <larry.marks@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> 
> Sent: Sunday, 14 April 2013, 0:03
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Technique u blocking
> 
> 
> I need to figure out what I actually do. Perhaps someone in this discussion can help me. I block using the center of my tongue to allow the passage of air. I do NOT curl my tongue in any way. The center of my tongue has a crease in it (I think everybody's does.)
> 
> So what is it that I am doing? I call it center tongue blocking because I do not make a "U" with my tongue and so don't think of it as U blocking. What do you think.
> 
> Being quintessentially lazy, I do not use side tongue blocking or pursing at all, ever, and I play only chromatical diatonical harmonica (both OB and valves.)
> 
> BTW, I have noticed another conversation about articulation with U blocking. As I say, I don't consider what I do to be U-blocking, but I have no problem with articulation using it. I am a trombone player, so I have practiced rapid articulation with fore-tongue, mid-tongue and back tongue (makes a big difference in sound - the degree of articulation.) I am as fast or faster on the harmonica as the trombone. You just have to get used to it.
> 
>   -LM
> BTW, this is not by any means to disparage anyone else. Just what I do. Technique can be reasonably fast too. I can play Donna Lee error free at 180.