Re: [Harp-L] Three Standard Embouchures

[Michael Rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>]

And yet the problem becomes that even on this forum, people are disagreeing
with you.  As I've said, imo, puckering and lip blocking are the same.
Tough to create a standard vernacular with disagreements at every turn.

Just try and define warble.
Michael Rubin
michaelrubinharmonica.com


On Sat, Aug 23, 2014 at 8:31 AM, Harmonicology [Neil Ashby] <
harmonicology@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> (Winslow Yerxa)->"U-blocking uses a curled tongue to create an air trough,
> By applying the tip of the curled tongue to the face of the harmonica, you
> can isolate a single note and move the tongue laterally to isolate
> different holes, all of which are in the player's mouth and accessible to
> the air stream ... This definition of U-blocking (with some variations) is
> the standard one and has been for as long as I have been familiar with the
> term".
>
> In that case then there are indeed the Four Standard Embouchures with
> "U-Block" being the fourth.
>
> (Winslow Yerxa)->"The most common that I know of are puckering (my
> habitual term), lip pursing, and lip blocking (which seems to be a
> back-formation from the term tongue blocking)".
>
> The vernacular problem here is that two of the three ("puckering" and
> "pursing") are synonymous but the "lip-block" is clearly focused on the
> lower-lip and is sufficiently different to effect the method of instruction.
>
> (Winslow Yerxa)->"In my own playing I move fluidly among various
> embouchures, according to what's needed to deliver the music".
>
> That is correct and there is nothing in the definitions would inhibit
> smoothly moving even in the same measure from one embouchure to another.
>
> (Winslow Yerxa)->"In my instructional writing I've taken to simply
> discussing playing with your tongue on the harp and with your tongue off
> the harp".
>
> My point is that more instructors (on-line in particular) seem to agree
> with starting students with the "Lip-Block" (upward angle) and-then moving
> onto the other embouchures in sequence of difficulty; the next embouchure
> being the "Pucker" (also referenced as "Pursing") and-then the
> "Tongue-Block" followed (apparently) by the "U-Block"; having such
> standardized vernacular would definitely promote "preservation and
> advancement" of the harmonica.
>
> /Neil
>
>