Re: [Harp-L] Three Standard Embouchures

[Mike Wilbur <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here we go again.....my question would be.
How would a person play a harmonica ( well )  with out a Tongue ?
It would be difficult to hit a single note/ hole...sure it could happen but without regularity
and would resemble drinking a thick Shake through a straw.
Basically " Kissing " the  harmonica, the way new students might try to play.

My guess is that we all use Tongue Block, Pucker, U-Block to some degree and we are only 
Arguing the terms used and percentage of use.

But like throwing snow at a fence.....some of it sticks !


Mike Wilbur


> On Aug 24, 2014, at 4:38 AM, Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> Again, I agree with Michael.
> 
> Others use the technique Larry described, and they called their embouchure U-blocking. John Thaden comes to mind, a past contributor to harp-l. John was also careful to note that the tongue was not curled into a strongly defined U, but rather gently creased down the middle.
> 
> Looking back on what I wrote the other day, I wasn't as careful as I had intended to be in describing U-blocking so as to include the tongue shaping that Larry and John both describe.
> 
> 
> 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
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Michael Rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: Larry Marks <larry.marks@xxxxxxxxxxxx> 
> Cc: Harp-l Harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> 
> Sent: 
> Subject: Re: Fw: [Harp-L] Three Standard Embouchures
> 
> 
> 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 andAgain, I agree with Michael.
> 
> Others use the technique Larry described, and they called their embouchure U-blocking. John Thaden comes to mind, a past contributor to harp-l. John was also careful to note that the tongue was not curled into a strongly defined U, but rather gently creased down the middle.
> 
> Looking back on what I wrote the other day, I wasn't as careful as I had intended to be in describing U-blocking so as to include the tongue shaping that Larry and John both describe.
> 
> 
> 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
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Michael Rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: Larry Marks <larry.marks@xxxxxxxxxxxx> 
> Cc: Harp-l Harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> 
> Sent: 
> Subject: Re: Fw: [Harp-L] Three Standard Embouchures
> 
> 
> 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
>>