Using the underside of the tongue to tongue-block
Hey Winslow,
When I pucker, I find the optimal position for the best tone to be when the back of the harmonica is facing about 30 degrees down, rather than 30 degrees up as described on this website. If I tounge block with the upperside of my tongue blocking the holes, I do need to face the back of the harmonica slightly up to get the best tone/comfort. That makes switching between tongue blocking and pucker a bit inconvenient because in addition to the other moves I have to make, I have to tilt the harmonica in the opposite direction when I switch.
Today I was experimenting with using the underside of the tip of my tongue to tongue block. I liked it because it was confortable, seems to produce as good of a tone, if not better, than the upperside of my tongue on the harp, and allowed the switch to puckering a little more flowful. A couple of other benefits I'm noticing is slightly more control over single notes (less wobbly tongue) and the ability the get a more defined single note by touching the tip of my tongue to the roof of my mouth while I tongue-block.
This was just my initial observation and I'm totally new to tongue-blocking. Since I'm new to tongue blocking, I'm wondering if I'm setting myself up for roadblocks by going the the route of using the underside of my tongue rather than the upperside. Do you know of any professionals that use the underside of their tongue? Any thoughts would be welcome!
I angle it slightly down at the back because, so far, based on my experiments, I get the richest tone that way. It's a very subtle thing and I am sure the only person that can hear the difference is me (not an audience). When I say angle the back down, I mean about 10 degrees and basically the natural postition the harps takes when my lips hold it. So in a sense, angling it down feels straight and most comfortable for me.
This is only true when I play pucker or when I play tongue-block with the underside of my tongue. I don't know if this is true, but for me, when I angle just a tiny bit down, the front side holes seem to facing the opening of my throat. If I angle the backside up, the holes seem to be leading to my tongue instead of my throat. The quality of the sound gets a little muffled on the draws. When I play tongue-block with the upperside of my tongue, angling down does not work well because my tongue has to bend.
I have been playing with the underside of my tongue all day today and I do think I like it better. I feel like I get a better sound this way as well, maybe because, somehow, when I play with the underside of my tongue, and a slight downward angle of the harp, the holes seem to line up directly with my throat. Using my the upperside of my tongue, and pointing the back of my harp a little up seems to muffle the sound a little on the draws.
I really don't understand why - but that's just my observation. I could be wrong and just need more time to observe. Glad that I can play with the underside of my tongue. This tongue blocking stuff is starting to feel very natural.
Try lowering the front part of your tongue while playing a chord and holding the harp straight with no tilt. You may find that the muffled sound goes away.
Hi, Rishió.
I wonder why angle would make a difference. I find I can get the same tone whether I angle the harp up, down, or leave it level (my preference because it's simple and versatile). For that reason I might suggest that you observe carefully what's going on with your lips, tongue - even when not tongue blocking, throat, and ease of air flow. You might discover something that would allow you to eliminate the need to angle the harmonica in a particular direction for good tone. The objective is a big, open space for tone and for unimpeded air flow through lungs, throat, oral cavity, and lips, and finally the reeds.
I tend to use the underside of the tongue only for blocking a single hole. But I find that if I try it, I can block four and even five holes that way fairly easily (just feels strange because it's unfamiliar) and can do pull-offs, slaps, on-off and side-to-side alnternations. So if it works for you, why not go for it?
The one thing I would caution against is angling the tongue to one side, as, while it works for blocking holes for single notes, it's awkward to do most other things.