Another Tongue Switch Question
Thu, 05/08/2014 - 06:47
There have been lots of questions in the past about tongue switching and I've got one I can't find an answer to by searching. My personal issue is I pucker hole one so I'm starting to work on tongue blocking out of the left side of my mouth as instructed on Level 1. My question is more about when to use this left side open embouchure. Is it only to play hole one? Or is it to go to any hole from anywhere on the harmonica to a lower hole? For instance, should I use my regular right side open tongue block embouchure to go from 6+ to 2 or should I be using a left side open embouchure to minimize movement when going lower on the harmonica? My search indicated that Winslow says classical players might do that type of thing routinely. Thanks!
Good morning SmokeJS.
As a default, keep your tongue to the left for all holes except for hole 1, where it goes to the right.
YOU (and so do I for the most part, since I first learned in a pucker) will most likely use pucker for hole 1 most of the time, expect when playing in Bar 9 where it's common to play something like 4 1 4 4+ and a tongue switch makes sense, over jumping down to pucker 1 and then jump back up to 4. Though I commonly pucker the 1, I would say I tongue switch 1/6th of the time, so my body is pretty comfortable with it and context dictates when I tongue switch. For new players it's best to just do tongue switch all the time, but it doesn't bother me to use both embouchures (I like the sound of a hole 1 tongue block better, but the difference is pretty small and not worth aggravating over).
In regards to tongue switching in other areas, though generally rare, it doesn't need to be. Let's say you're playing this Paul deLay lick, 8+ 8 4, 7+ 7 6 6+ 6 7 it makes perfect sense to tongue switch for the 4.
So, for an exact answer... it's up to you... it's kind of fun, and sometimes very helpful, but most players have not developed it much.
By the way, Curtis Salgado brings this up in his interview with me and plays this a little bit, it sounds pretty cool.