Re: Fw: [Harp-L] Three Standard Embouchures

[Michael Rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>]

Larry,
When I U block I use the method you are describing, to me it falls under
the U block category.  I find it very useful for many things, but I like
puckering and TBing as well.
Michael Rubin
michaelrubinharmonica.com


On Sun, Aug 24, 2014 at 2:31 AM, Larry Marks <larry.marks@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

> I beg to differ with what has been written so far on this subject. From
> the discussion, the way I play is either impossible or just doesn't exist.
> I do not recognize it in any of the descriptions I have seen in this
> discussion.
>
> What I use (and I know there are others on this list who do as well) is a
> form of tongue blocking I call center blocking.
>
> I use tongue blocking with the air flowing down the center of my tongue.
> This is NOT U blocking. My tongue is not curled into a U shape. It is, in
> fact, perfectly flat and completely relaxed.
>
> The tongue exhibits bilateral symmetry. In the middle is the dividing line
> between the two halves. That line is a depression so that if you place the
> tip of the tongue under the instrument air will flow down that line.
> Relaxing the tongue causes it to fill in and block the holes on either side
> of the one that receives the air that flows down the line. Of course, if I
> want to play a note at either end of the instrument or do a split, what I
> play fits the definition of tongue blocking that Winslow wrote.
>
> Using this center tongue blocking technique, I can play any music I
> desire. That includes blues, bluegrass, jazz, J. P. Sousa marches, etc.
>
> I can do overbends (isn't reverse bend a better terminology?), valved
> bends and any other bends I want. I can hit bent notes on the head and not
> slide into them (unless I intend to.)
>
> I can do staccato and legato tonguing, and all sorts of rapid, complex
> tonguing patterns (such as the ones I use when I play the trombone.) I do
> not slide from one hole to the next. I always employ tonguing so that what
> I play sounds clean - like notes rather than a series of mouth-farts.
>
> And I am damned good at what I do.
>
> To me, center blocking is a form of tongue blocking. It is what I play and
> what I teach. For completeness, I offer the following list of limitations I
> have encountered using this technique:
>
>   -LM
>