Solo Harmonica Study 1
Hi David,
I've really been enjoying the site so far. Particularly tongue-blocking which I never learned to do previously. I'm pretty proficient at using tongue-blocking and slapping for "Walk With Me" and "Temperature."
Right now, I'm working on Solo Harmonica Study 1 and am trying to work out how to use my tongue with all the chords.
For example, I play most of Excercise 1.4 with my tongue off of the harmonica (for the 3 hole chords I just shape my mouth so that it covers three holes instead of the usual 4). The exception is that for the (1 2) chords, I sometimes use my tongue to cover the 3 hole so I don't have to move my mouth or the harmonica.
I do something similar in Excercise 1.5 but I use my tongue to isolate one hole for the triplet and then just move the harmonica to get the three notes.
It sounds OK but I don't want to get into a bad habit.
Thank you,
Andrew
Thanks very much! That's reassuring. I tried what you said and it's working well. Now I just need to practice it many times.
Thanks again.
Hello Andrew, I'm glad you're enjoying your studies.
Yes, having your tongue off of the harmonica to play 1 2 3 is correct. When playing the 1 2 you could block hole 3 by tongue switching, but most players simply shift the harmonica right so the lips that were over three holes are just over 2 (and some comb to the left). Your option is fine if you want though, it's kind of slick.
For the 2+ 3+ 2+ in example place your lips over holes 1 and 2, blocking the 1 with your tongue. Slide the harmonica left so that you lips are over holes 1 2 and 3 and the tongue over holes 1 and 2. So, just like before, it's just about shifting your embouchure (or your harmonica sliding in front of your embouchure... a different perspective I guess).
Is that clear? The general rule of thumb is to have your tongue to the left for everything except for hole 1, where it switches to the right. With this said, knowing this, you can still experiment with other ideas... it's always good to explore ideas.