[Harp-L] tongue blocking fifths on diatonic harmonicas

[Rick Dempster]

I'm a long time tongue-blocker/switcher. The active part of the tongue, for
me, is the under-side.
While I say to place the point of the tongue in the hole to be blocked
(when trying to play, say, holes 3 and 5)
my actual tongue placement ends up being the underside with the tip on the
front roof-of-mouth.
I learnt what I do from Gwen Foster. Sam Hinton, of course, is a master of
tongue technique. Good to see his name on harp-L.
RD

On 31 August 2016 at 22:26, Hannes Schneider <hannes.schneider.23 at xxxxx>
wrote:

> Thank you, Winslow, great stuff! A combination of your method of pointing
> the tip of the tongue upward and Michael's suggestion to go from octave to
> fifth has gotten me further than anything else I've tried over the past
> your or two ...
>
> hannes
>
> 2016-08-30 22:33 GMT+02:00 Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa at xxxxx>:
>
> > Everybody's tongue is different, and you may not be able to isolate a
> > single diatonic hole with the tip of your tongue (or especially with the
> > broad surface).
> >
> > What works for me individually to isolate a single hole is to point the
> > tip of my tongue upward and use the narrow cord-like muscle that runs
> along
> > the underside of the tongue to block that one hole.
> >
> > For really wide blocks, I use the top surface of the tongue as it's
> > pliable, moist, won't poke into the holes and cuase drag, and will easily
> > cover several holes.
> >
> > To block 2 holes, I find the tip of the tongue works fine. Any wider and
> > the tongue start pointing down. Any narrower and the tongue starts
> pointing
> > up.
> >
> > But that's just me.
> >
> > Winslow Yerxa
> > Producer, the Harmonica Collective
> > Author, Harmonica For Dummies, Second Edition: ISBN 978-1-118-88076-0
> >             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
> > President emeritus, SPAH, the Society for the Preservation and
> Advancement
> > of the Harmonica
> >
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: Sheltraw <macaroni9999 at xxxxx>
> > To: Rick Dempster <rickdempster33 at xxxxx>
> > Cc: harp-l <harp-l at xxxxx>; Hannes Schneider <
> > hannes.schneider.23 at xxxxx>
> > Sent: Monday, August 29, 2016 8:51 PM
> > Subject: Re: [Harp-L] tongue blocking fifths on diatonic harmonicas
> >
> >
> > Lately I have been working on tongue blocking for playing dyads too. I
> > usually play the two notes separately before attempting to play them
> > together. This way you clearly hear what your target sound is before
> > attempting to play it. I think Winslow may have taught me this. Winslow?
> >
> > Daniel
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> >
> > > On Aug 29, 2016, at 3:47 PM, Rick Dempster <rickdempster33 at xxxxx>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Make your tongue into a point and place it in the hole to be blocked.
> > > RD
> > >
> > > On 30 August 2016 at 02:32, Michael Rubin <michaelrubinharmonica at xxxxx
> > com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > >> Get a four hole spread octave on holes one and four by blocking 2 and
> 3.
> > >> Move your tongue slightly right and close the left side of your mouth
> by
> > >> one hole's width.
> > >>
> > >> That is the fifth in 2 draw and 4 draw.  Learn that shape.
> > >>
> > >> Hope that helps.
> > >> Michael Rubin
> > >> michaelrubinharmonica.com
> > >>
> > >> On Mon, Aug 29, 2016 at 10:26 AM, Hannes Schneider <
> > >> hannes.schneider.23 at xxxxx> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> Ever since I got Richard Hunter's solo harmonica CDs and listened to
> > Sam
> > >>> Hinton on Youtube I've been wanting to learn how to play like that.
> The
> > >> one
> > >>> thing that consistently eludes me is how to tongue block the middle
> > hole
> > >>> out of three to play (mostly) fifths. Any help in learning how to get
> > >> there
> > >>> would be greatly appreciated ...
> > >>>
> > >>> thanks
> > >>>
> > >>> hannes
> > >>
> >
>