[Harp-L] Technique Question



Blake Writes"

 

"I think it's a tongue blocking technique, and the best way I can
describe it is that its a combination of both melodic line and rhythm at
the same time.

I hear it most often when a player is playing without accompaniment in
up-tempo songs - and they're kind of "chugging" and soloing at the same
time to create a rhythm. You can hear the main notes, but there's
something subtle in between each note that adds a tad of percussion."

 

The best example of what you're talking about that *I've* heard is on Rod
Piazza's cover of "Help Me".  As I understand it it's actually the opposite
of a tongue slap.  With a tongue slap you star out blowing or drawing on 3
or 4 holes and slap your tongue down hard on all but one while increasing
the air flow, producing a very thick version of that note. In this technique
you're talking about, you start out playing the single note tongue blocked;
that is playing the note with 2 or 3 holes to the left blocked out. You then
pull your tongue off the other holes and give 1 or 2 or 3 blasts blowing or
drawing as the case may be.  In Rod Piazza's "Help Me", the progression is
5D-5B-4D-4B, with each note being followed by two fast bursts of air across
that hole plus the 2 to the left as you lift your tongue off those holes.
This occurs at the end of the song, or rather, in the last harp solo
section.  I find this a lot harder to do than the regular tongue slap or
pull slap.   

 

This is just one of the great techniques that makes the Chicago style my
absolute favorite.

 

Sam Blancato, Pittsburgh  





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