Re: [Harp-L] Problems with tongue articulation

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

You have at least five places where you can articulate notes:

-- diaphragm (the farthest away)

-- glottal folds, where you speak and cough (sort of upper halfway)

-- Tongue Eng-spot (where you make the nggggg sound)*

-- Tongue T-spot and L-spot (where you say T and L, respectively)

-- At the opening in the lips (with lips, or with combined lips and tongue)

* I used to call this the K-spot, but in many languages, the K sound is made farther back in the oral cavity than in English.

I've listed the articulation spots starting with the one farthest away from the reed and progressing to the closest.

Articulation farthest from the reed moves the most air (and packs the biggest "oomph", but has the least definition. It's also least likely to change the tonal color of the note or to cause it to change pitch.

You'll have the best control over articulation if you can use all types of articulation through the entire range of the harmonica.

The T-spot and L-spot are close to the front and can deliver rapid, crisp articulation. However, they can drastically brighten the tone, and can involve other parts of the tongue with the result that some notes bend down, as you've discovered.
 
I'd suggest making the T sound or the L sound while yawning. This mouth formation keeps the air passages open. Once you've tried this a few times, try using it to play the high notes with a T articulation.


Winslow
 
Winslow Yerxa
President, SPAH, the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica
Producer, the Spring 2014 Harmonica Collective
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
            Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
            Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance


________________________________
 From: Eliza Doolittle <eliza.doolittle@xxxxxxxx>
To: "harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Tuesday, April 1, 2014 7:43 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] Problems with tongue articulation
 

I'm having some trouble learning to articulate notes correctly with my tongue. However, that's how I first started to play melodies with the harp (I'm only using the pucker embouchure so far). To me, saying 'ta-ta-ta-ta' seemed the most natural way to play a melody with notes with a definite beginning. This seemed to be all right, until I tried to play melodies in the high register. When I did so, they sounded terribly out of tune. After fiddling about for some time, I somehow -without being very conscious of how I did it- managed to get the notes in tune.

Now that I've learnt a little more, I suspect that what I was doing was bending the notes down; not so much as to produce the right bent notes, but enough to bring the blown notes out of tune. For some reason, I don't notice it in the middle and low octaves.

I have also realised that when I play these notes in tune it is not because I have solved the problem, but because I am using my diaphragm, not my tongue, to start  the notes. Therefore, I begin by using my diaphragm, take mental notes of how my mouth and lips are placed, and try to maintain that position, but at the moment I start ta-ta-ing, it's all over.

I think that being conscious of the problem is part of the solution, but I don't seem to be able to get the other part. Since bending is achieved by raising the middle or back of one's tongue upwards, I try to concentrate on maintaining it flat. But it doesn't work. I've also noticed that when I play using my diaphragm, my cheeks move outwards and inwards, whereas they remain still when I try to use my tongue (I don't know whether this is relevant or not, but I thought mentioning it might help).

Have you found this problem before, in yourselves or in a student? Can you give me any idea on how to get it sorted out? Thanks a lot in advance.

Eliza Doolittle