Re: [Harp-L] TB bending

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Try this.

Place the tip of your tongue between your lips, with an opening to the right (similar to actually playing a note with tongue block) 

Say, Ungggg. Notice how your tongue rises to touch the roof of your mouth. Say it a few times: Unggg, Unggg, Unggg, etc.

The point of contact is where you can begin to activate bends.

Now try it with your nose closed. The sound will be more like "Guh" or "Kuh." 

Notice that as you lower your tongue from the roof of your mouth while saying this syllable, air pushes through the space that opens up between your tongue and your palate (roof of he mouth). This is what I call the "K spot."

Try slowing down the process so that you can extend and sustain the air pushing through the K-spot.

Now try the same thing inhaling.

Now try sliding the K-spot forward and back in your mouth WHILE you keep the tip of your tongue between your lips. The range of forward-backward motion will not be as great as when the tip of your tongue is free to move, but you will still have a range of motion.

Now try using these motions to get Draw 4 to bend on a middle range harmonica.

I find - and I have to caution that everyone si different in mouth geometry, so my solution may not work precisely for someone else - that I can vary the size of the chamber to bend notes in different ranges by raising or lowering the surface of my tongue between the tip and the K-spot.

--  For lower notes, I lower the surface of the tongue to create a bigger chamber.

-- For the highest notes, I may have the forward part of my tongue placed in contact with the roof of my mouth just behind the front teeth.

Winslow
 
Winslow Yerxa
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 Harmonica Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance


________________________________
 From: Tony Stephens <tnysteph@xxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2014 8:58 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] TB bending
 

I am trying to move from u blocking to TB. Any advice on bending with TB. Hard to get Eeee-ooooo with TB. 
Ronnie Shellist does a mix of pucker & TB. Does anyone mix UB & TB? I think I have asked that question before. 
Thanks

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