Tongue Block Trainer
Good evening everybody,
I have just enrolled my free month after I bought a new Hohner Harmonica.I was playing already some months using the pucker style and have realized that David teaches the tongue blocking technique.
Now my tonge is twisting in my mouth :-)I have looked up the tongue block trainer from Joe Filisko to see that it is sold out currently, and that it is quite expensive for someone in Europe to buy a piece of plastic for 20 $ and pay additional 13 $ for shipment.I searched around a bit and found that there is a replacement available as a free 3d print template. You just need to print it out yourself if you happen to own a 3d printer or you can search for a printer shop which prints it out for you. I learned that there are even search enginges which look up for ypu the cheapest offer for such a print.Now in my case I found a friend which can print it out for me, for a price of 10 €, the cheapest offer I found in the search portal was around 17 € which includes shipment from a company in spain.Here is the link to the 3d template: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1579178
I hope this info is helpful for other Europeans or other non US based players.The search engine i used was this one, but there are plenty of others, just do your own google search.
Those jugs seem to be not as common here as in the US :-)
As a new player I just went through the initial learning curve on tongue blocking. OMG, I felt like such a loser for a while...wrestling with the harmonica trying to get the right note to play. Especially that exercise 4...1/4...1...etc.
Since the Filisko TBT wasn't available I made one out of a milk jug handle, which was helpful. But I wanted something that was closer to a real harmonica. I found a CAD model of a TBT that is modeled on the front of a marine band style harp, then used a website called "shapeway.com" to 3D print it. It wasn't too expensive (<$20) and was pretty helpful.
The CAD download is here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1579178
I had access to a 3D printer mysef, so I printed 2 of those back then. See ttps://www.bluesharmonica.com/3d_printed_tongue_block_trainer. Worked pretty well, much better than when I tried to build Filisko's TBT using a milk jug.
You could get a platic toy harmonica and slice it. Maybe my next Amazon order.
You could get a platic toy harmonica and slice it. Maybe my next Amazon order. This one looks like it might hold together after a little careful hacksawing. https://www.amazon.com/Naimo-Beginners-Harmonica-Instrument-Educational/dp/B07D9XYGR9/ref=sr_1_37?dchild=1&keywords=toy+harmonica&qid=1593634252&sr=8-37
Hallo Rüdiger,
your 3D file is awesome. I want to order the trainer by an online facturer, but don't know, which material to take. For us Germans I think it should be "lebensmittelecht".
Can you recommend any material?
MfG Gregor
The 3D printed version looks great! Though ... the milk jug version would probably be better if you're rehearsing to play with a band that includes a big clay jug, washbucket bass, kazoos, homemade gourd banjo, etc.
Hey jmcglynn, I just wanted to say thank you for posting that CAD file. My son has a 3D printer so I asked him if he could print this tongue block trainer for me. It came out perfect. So awesome! Thanks again!
I don't have a 3d printer (JEALOUS) so I ordered a trainer from Joe Filisko. What a great idea! Seems like $20 well spent for a newbie just starting out like myself.
Joe Filisko has instructions to make your own TBT from a plastic milk or juice jug.
The link follows:
http://www.filiskostore.com/files/1900363/uploaded/Tongue%20Block%20Trai...