Tounge-blocking
Hey this is my first time. Instead of tounge-blocking, can we just enclose the hole with our lips?
Hey Dave! Glad to be starting my Blues Harp journey with you.
I have a question about the Filisko Tongue Block Trainer. In your introduction, you recommend that students obtain and train with the device. I followed the link to the Filisko site and I see that the Trainer is no longer available. While DIY instructions are provided for making a homemade version, I was hoping to get the real deal.. Also, while the DIY instructions show how to make a Trainer, it's not made clear how it should be used. Can you shed any light on this for me?
Browsing the forum is a great source of information... I wondered if there is a way to search the forum for specific topics.
Thanks for putting together such a comprehensive site for Harmonica education..
Steve Waller
Hello Steve, welcome to the site.
I visited the site and it doesn't look like it's out of production... the site says that it's currently out of stock. This of course doesn't help you right now.
I show you how to use the TBT in each tongue blocking lesson. There is also a dedicated lesson here https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/tongue_blocking_study_25
Though the TBT is a useful tool, it's not a necessity to learn tongue blocking... go ahead and dig into the lessons.
Sorry for the lack of a search. We are working on a site redesign and the search function will be in the new site.
David,
I am trying to work on a faster more staccato attack as an exclusive tongue blocker. Think Little Walter's solo on ACT LIKE YOU LOVE ME.
How is the best way to develop the technique and what are the finer points of the proper tongue position?
Thanks,
Sandy
Hello Sandy. I'm hearing standard tongue block articulation (K for the draw notes) throughout the song, though at 1:06, through 1:10, he's using articulation commonly played in a pucker. At 1:06 you hear a bend and then some non-bent notes. The bend is commonly YA (the Y being the raised tongue for the bend, and the A being the release of the bend) and the non-bent articulations could be DA DA, giving you YA DA DA, or it could be YA DA GA, or it could be YA DL LA. DA GA DA GA (and it's more articulate version of TA KA TA KA) is known as double-tonguing, and is employed by all wind instruments as a common way to play notes fast, and LA DL LA DL is an often-used articulation employed by harmonica players that's a little different (think Junior Wells' solo to "Messin' with the Kid"). Experiment with these and see which one works best for you, and sounds the closest to what Walter is playing.
Thanks David!
David:
I've been playing just a few weeks and I'm loving the sounds I'm getting. Particularly the draw bends. However, I started doing the draw bends before I realized how much you promote tongue blocking. I can bend pretty well by just puckering, but when I add in the Tongue Blocking, everything falls apart. I imagine that this is not an uncommon issue. How should I approach this problem? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Steve
David:
I've been playing just a few weeks and I'm loving the sounds I'm getting. Particularly the draw bends. However, I started doing the draw bends before I realized how much you promote tongue blocking. I can bend pretty well by just puckering, but when I add in the Tongue Blocking, everything falls apart. I imagine that this is not an uncommon issue. How should I approach this problem? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Steve
Hello Steve. Welcome to the site, and the harmonica.
First thing... I don't teach students how to bend until level 3 studies (commonly four to six months into your studies). Bending uses a form of constriction (tongue raised to the roof of the mouth), which is the opposite direction of the tongue for big tone, and learning how to bend before one learns how to create good tone (this takes practice... those first months), creates a musician that's not pleasing to listen to. A student that rushes past this phase can have tone issues for a long time. Good tone is the foundation of making an instrumentalist enjoyable to listen to (there are tons of talented harmonica players with thin tone... we call them no-tone wonders).
After you've done your first two levels of studies, you'll find that you'll have more tongue dexterity to help you in the bending process. What you'll find out about tongue block bending is that it's all about which part of your tongue raises, so focusing on the She-Key-Koo exercise in Bending Study 1 is key. It's the wave-like motion that's needed to find the sweet spot of each bend. Pucker bending can be easier, because the tongue is free to move back in the mouth (lowering its tuning), but taking the extra time it takes to learn how to tongue block bend pays big dividend... you can use a tongue block technique (the ultra-cool sounding slaps, flutters, pulls, octaves, etc.) any time you want... you want all those techniques available at any moment in your playing.
hey, if I may jump into this topic .. i'm a girl and it seems I cannot quite nicely blow/draw over 4 holes. I think I might have too small mouth for this. I'm just the beginner though so I'm doing something wrong. But did you have this case before? :D
Thanks,
Ana
Hello Ana. This is not an issue I have seen before. Try smiling and frowning at the same time... this will make your mouth wider. Try this first. If this does not work well for you (or is too uncomfortable), then tongue block with your mouth surrounding three holes, and the tongue blocking the two holes to the left. Later, in Tongue Block Study 4, you'll learn octaves, which require your lips to surround four holes...you can try it again then and maybe it will be more comfortable being that you've had a year of playing experience.
Thank you for you reply Mr. Barret, I'll try to smile :)
Regards, Ana
So, I'm finally spending a lot more time trying to learn to tongue block. I find that just like 'for the one hole", that I keep my tongue to right for the 2 hole about half the time and to the left about half the time. Is it ok to try to become "ambidextrious" by tongue blocking either side of the hole depending on where I'm coming from or going next or should I try to achieve true consistency?
Thanks
Marty
Hello Marty. That's great, it is a good skill. With this said, you should, in most cases, keep your tongue to the left for holes 2 through 10. This way you can perform the common chordal tongue block techniques, such as the slap, pull, flutter, etc. If your tongue is to the right, then the chord that precedes the single note is coming from higher to lower (high chord to low note), and this is not what we want (for hole 1 it's fine). So, if you do a tongue switch for the 2, or any note higher than 2, don't use any chordal tongue block techniques (such as the slap, pull, and flutter). Make sense?
Thanks David!
Hi David,
I took harmonica lessons for a couple of years and reached beginner level with a three hole embouchure. I've been on again, off again with my practice for several years. Unfortunately not having been very diligent I'm still closer to a beginner than intermediate. I'm having a lot of trouble switching to the four hole embouchure. So I'm happy to see your suggestion to Anna. I've played octaves before in my previous courses. Is there a compelling reason to switch to the four hole embouchure now, or do you think it's OK to stick with the three hole embouchure as my primary and learn to switch to the four hole as needed? I tried Bluesharmonica.com before and got so frustrated with the switch to the four hole that I just sorted of drifted away again.
I watched the Tongue Blocking Study 1 - Single Notes video so I understand your efficiency argument for learning to use the four hole tongue block as my standard embouchure. But it's frustrating because as I practice the four hole embouchure I find that when I try playing songs I learned with the three hole embouchure, I'm not playing them as well with the three hole embouchure, and obviously I'm not good enough with the four hole embouchure to play them that way either. My tongue appears to be getting confused. It seems that in some of the later "Tongue Block Study 1" videos you do reduce the size of your embouchure to access holes on the lower end of the harmonica. It's just really discouraging to lose songs I've already gotten some ability to play.
So ultimately, my question is: is the four hole embouchure used enough to justify going through all of this trouble to learn to use it as my primary embouchure, or will it be less trouble to learn to switch from the three to four hole as needed? ...probably varies by student... Sorry for the long-winded post.
Hello Mike. Stay with your three hole embouchure. As you use more octaves in your playing (4 and 5 hole), your body will naturally learn to open up more. Consider it a non-issue for you going through all of the lessons.
Hello bart, welcome to the site. No, you will want to tongue block... there are many techniques (techniques that are essential to blues harmonica playing) that are only available in the tongue block embouchure.