Tips for moving from pucker to tongue block?
i have been fiddling with the harmonica on and off for 30 years. During that time I have developed some terrible technique. I have been a pucker player this whole time. I just joined the site this past week and I am learning so much! What tips do you have on breaking my pucker habit and developing a good tongue block? I am really struggling with tongue blocking, but I really want to do this right. Any extra tips?
Thanks David! Its not the "change" or the "newness" that is giving me trouble, it's the "feel". I can pucker bend and know that sound and feel well. The challenge for me is the feel of dragging my tongue against the harmonica when I move. I am having a rough time placing the harmonica to get the blocked sound and when I do, moving just feels unnatural. Is this just a practice thing? Or am I doing something wrong? I went on Joe Filisko"s site to get a tongue block trainer, but saw he was out of stock. He did have a PDF on how to make my own, so I might give that a shot. It's really hard to do a technique that you cannot see.
I puckered for 25 years before I started tongue blocking last year. You'll get used to it much more quickly than you think. If you have a light touch on the harmonica, you won't even notice that your tongue is "dragging" across the comb.
After a while, the fact that I have four holes in my mouth all the time made it easier for me to know exactly where I am on the harmonica. I always know when I'm on 7. I never accidentally draw for the higher note when I'm supposed to blow. Puckering there was always the feeling that I was unsure exactly where I was physically on the harmonica, even if I could tell for the most part by the notes I was hearing.
SFJorge has it... a light touch is key. It's hard to say "relax" when you're trying hard to do something that's new, but you'll get it. It takes time, don't expect great sounds in your first couple months of this new technique.
Thanks! The "light touch" was an "Aha" moment for me there. That helps alot! Thank you both!!
i have to tank you both again. Today I started to have a breakthrough where I can almost consistently go from the chord to +4. I even moved it a couple times. I'm so excited!
on a side note...the reccomended listening is really lighting a fire for me! I had never listened to Little Walter before this.
Fantastic
Empty your cup and enjoy learning something new. Most students who've been playing for a while pucker holes 1-3 (where they commonly bend a lot) and tongue block holes 4 and above (where there is less bending and tongue blocking is more common... octaves, slaps, pulls, flutters, etc.). Think of tongue blocking as unleashing another set of sounds to you as a performer. If you prefer to play classic Chicago blues, it was a tongue block style, so the more you tongue block, the more you can emulate what they played. Enjoy your studies.