Re: [Harp-L] Original Reason for Tongue-Blocking

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

I use tongue blocking on bass harmonicas without any problem. It's very useful for the back-and-forth leaps that are common in bass lines. Chord players also use it for the various splitting, articulation, and texture techniques I described earlier.

And bending with a tongue block requires adaptation of the technique if you come to it from puckering. But the difference in difficulty is pretty small.

Winslow
 
Winslow Yerxa
President, SPAH, the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica
Producer, the 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 Community Music School


----- Original Message -----
From: Vern <jevern@xxxxxxx>
To: Larry Sandy <slyou65@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>; Harmonicology [Neil Ashby] <harmonicology@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2014 10:40 AM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Original Reason for Tongue-Blocking




<snip>Because it requires you to put the harp in your mouth, TB becomes more difficult as the harp gets thicker.  I cannot imagine anyone using TB on a big, thick bass harmonica. With pucker, you make a nozzle of your lips that can be placed against the front of the thickest harp.