Tongue is bleeding when tongue blocking
Hi there, is it normal for my tongue to bleed when im toungue blocking? if so, will my tongue get used to it after time? im on my new marine band quite a lot and i dont want this to hold me back. thanks for any help.
Mark
Mark in my humble opinion the answer is no it's not normal. But what do I know having only played for three years. If you look at David's lessons he teaches a very light touch. I personally can barely feel my tongue on the harp. So I would suggest there are a couple of potential causes. 1 Your embouchure is a problem Use a very light touch. 2. Your harp is the problem. Change harp brand. I practice a minimum of 2 hours a day with no problem but playing a lot more than that I couldn't comment.
Pressing too hard can not only abrade the tongue and cause bleeding or soreness, it can also slow you down moving from hole to hole. As Davi says, light touch.
On some harps, such as the classic Marine Band, the tines of the comb are sharp edged. You can take a small file and smooth the edges. You can even do it by dragging a sharp-ish metal tool along the sharp wood edge to dull it. The MB Deluxe and Crossover come with this smoothing already done.
Thanks for your help guys, my tongues got used to my Marine band now.
Generally, wood comb harps are harder on the tongue, especially classic Marine Bands. I have one and barely play it. However, I learned to play on Special 20s and now use a Rockets. They both use plastic combs so are a lot easier on the tonfue.