Soft Around the Edges
Dave
I notice your playing is nice and crisp and staccato. Do you tongue block all the time? You taught me to tongue block and I love it. My biggest complaint with my playing is that it is soft around the edges. Like lazier than Lazy Lester. And this despite focus on ga ga in the throat. I lip block on select moments, to Ta Ta. But I really don't like it. I get lost easily.
I really don't want to develop a hybrid style. Any advice?
Thank you. Does the ka on the draw affect the quality or pitch? I ask because in other lessons you advise to yawn, leaving the back of the tongue lying flat on the bottom of mouth.
It may be tricky at first to use KA and not have it bend the note, due to that being the area commonly associated with bending. With practice you'll be able to raise the tongue and not have it bend, it just takes experimentation over time.
I do tongue block all of the time. The most common articulation for draw is Ka (tongue touching the roof of the mouth) and for blow, your vocal chords (the slight cough you use for your tremolo). Work with those for a bit and see if they make a difference for you.