Tongue-Block Bending (Esp. on the 3-draw dip bend)
Howdy David,
I was wondering, any your series on tongue-blocking on the site, do you go over tongue-block bending? I ask because I'm studying "Accompaniment Playing Study 2" and the song "I Want You With Me." I want to get that 3-draw dip bend really nice and tight. Maybe you went over with since this solo is from "Temperature" in Tongue Block Study 2). Just thought I'd ask.
Thanks.
Dutch
Bending Study 1, huh? Okay, thanks.
David,
Actually, I realize that I can actually do the tongue-block bend from holes 1-4 pretty well; it's just the high end (holes 5 and 6) that I have to work on. No problem.
Focus on using more of the front of the tongue (like "SH"), more forward in the mouth. It's also helpful at first to make your mouth a little smaller... you can open up after time. Best wishes on this.
Thanks, brother! Cheers!
I'm listening to your video clip, "Working on Your First Bend: Part 1," in Bending Study 1. You're absolutely right in that you really have to experiment, experiment, experiment to find that "sweet spot" of where your tongue needs to be to get that tongue-blocked bend, especially on the 6 draw. Little by little I'm getting closer to that "sweet spot." This is something I'm going to work on for the next few days, so that before long I'll be nailing it. Specifically, I want to be able to "slap-dip-bend into it like you do in the song "Temperature."
Cheers!
Cool. It took me about six months to dial in my tongue block bending (so it was as good as my pucker bending)... a year before I was proud of what I was playing. It's a process, but we're not in a hurry :-)
I DID IT!!! I'm dealing into that "sweet spot" regarding the 6-draw tongue-block bend. That's exactly what I'm trying to do: make my tongue-blocked bends sounds as crisp and clean as my puckered bends. After working on it while driving home from work last night, I nailed it while driving in to work this morning. I'm still going to work on really perfecting it, but MAN what a great feeling!
Fantastic!
David,
I'm working on the song "Temperature," and my tongue-block bending is coming along beautifully (holes 2-6). Regarding "FILLS," would you happen to have some examples of fills that I could study? Let me know.
Thanks!
5th Chorus of Temperature... middle of bar 3 and bar 7... those are fills. Gary's Blues (Tongue Block Study 3), 3rd Chorus, same bars... those are good fills. You'll notice that they are small licks... 3 beats commonly... something small to fit in the space. With this in mind, you can use any lick found on the one chord that is small... or take a lick and use just a portion of it. Experiment, it's quite fun.
Cool! Thanks!
Hey Dutch. The material on the site assumes you're tongue blocking all the time. All the bending lessons on the site teach it with this perspective as well. So, if you go to Bending Study 1 you are learning to tongue block bend.