Problem with tongue blocking
Tue, 08/27/2019 - 07:47
Hi,
My problem is possibly unfixable! I had Bells Palsy some years ago which leaves me with little muscle control of the left side of my mouth.
Obviously whilst attempting tongue blocks air is escaping into the harp on the left when I move up. Whilst I appreciate and hope that this is a problem most beginners have, are there any solutions or excersises you know of to improve muscle tone?
If not I guess the harp isn’t for me.
Hoping you may have an answer.
All the best.
Ian.
Hello Ian, welcome to the site. A past student of mine had the same issue. Though I'm sure it could be different from case to case, he was able to make it work. A light touch on the face of the harmonica is key... don't push with your lips... you just want enough contact to make a seal. The tongue, being very maneuverable, will help to make up any leakage (simply put, the more of the top of the tongue you use, the wider it is, covering more holes... slide your tongue under the harmonica the more you need to block while compensating with that's going on with the left side of your mouth). Experiment, I would tend to think you can make it work with time.