Tongue Blocking and Puckering from 4 hole down
Hi David.....I have and read some of your lesson books and you have said that you only pucker to bend notes from the 4 hole down. Then you mentioned in your videos that you tongue block everything on the harmonic, incuding bends(except hole one). I want to continue the Tongue Block Method because of the different textures that are available. I can pucker and TB(except hole one)the bends from the 4hole down which sound pretty much the same. The question I have is.....which method would you say to mainly use as my GOTO DEFAULT method (TB or Pucker)to bend notes from the 4 hole down to get the most milage from(considering nice clean bends, articulations, dip bends etc.)? Thx. JT
Good morning David.....Thx for the response! For instance, when I listen to you play the first bend on the 3 draw (half step bend) it sounds so clean, sharp and crisp when bent. I thought you might be puckering it. I have the feeling that my pucker bends sound much better than the TB in the lower end (1-4)of the harp. i guess with practice one can achieve clean, crisp bends on the lower end of harmonica regardless if you TB or Pucker, right? Thx for what do! JT
That's right JT, either embouchure will create the same bend control and tone quality. The advantage of staying in a TB is that you don't have to switch embouchures...stay in the embouchure that offers the most options of sound (TB), and the embouchure most commonly used by the great players that we celebrate and study.
Well said, Thx. JT
Hi Jayatee72,
I have some of the same issues. On hole #2, with a pucker, I can do the half and full step bends. With the tongue block on hole #2, I cannot achieve teh whole note bend. I've tried everything and can not budge the tone past the half-step bend. Have you had any success?
Thanks.
PRSNRS
Experiment with dropping your jaw for your 2" prsnrs.
Well I've made significant progress as now I can tongue block bend. I've dropped my jaw to the point of near dislocation but still have not yet budged beyond the half-step bend on hole #2. I'm trying!
PRSNRS
That's good, we're narrowing it down... that jaw didn't work. I'm getting the impression that you were moving your tongue too far back... working "too hard" to bend that 2. So, lowering your jaw was going the wrong direction (tuning your mouth cavity even lower). You're most likely going past the sweet spot of the bend. Experiment with using more of the front-middle of your tongue, following the curvature of the roof of your mouth. Watch Bending Study 1 again and really pay attention to the She-Key-Koo exercise... focusing on the She and Key part, not going to the Koo.
Hello JT. Use TB as your default embouchure. Puckering hole 1 is common and fine. The website is newer than my books and represents my current recommended approach to playing.