Tongue position for proper breathing
Hello, I am a new harmonica player and i'm still trying to master the higher notes on my instrument. I understand that I must relax and lower the back of my tongue but I have difficulties finding the right position of my tongue in my mouth. Do you have some other tips : the shape I must give to my tongue or the place I must put it in my mouth ?
Thanks.
I'm a beginner who's been playing for a few months with pucker but now learning to tongue block. I notice that when playing I'm pressing my tongue against my bottom teeth, and that's how I've been doing it so far. Is that correct or should the tongue be above the bottom teeth?
Hello dowap2. You're correct, the tongue sits on the lower teeth (not pushed/pressed, but sitting).
Thanks David, now I have a bad habit to unlearn.
I think you’ll do fine. In this case, your tongue is in the right position, it’s just about relaxing it now.
Hi -
I am also a beginner - I started off puckering and am picking up tongue blocking via the first lesson, is there any supplementary material that explains things in more detail/a better way that I should be aware of ? My main issues are:
My tongue 'drags' on the harmonica when I'm moving from note to note, and in general I'm not really able to get an idea of what a 'stable' posiiton should look like.
Without pressing hard (see 1) or sometimes even if I do I'm not able to properly seal the first 3 notes - this is most noticeable on a draw note where the note next to the one I am playing can sound.
I feel I'm over-breathing, possibly because of the lack of a stable position I seem to make a very breathy sound when I'm blowing, and my harmonica also ends up covered in spit as a result.
Hi -
I am also a beginner - I started off puckering and am picking up tongue blocking via the first lesson, is there any supplementary material that explains things in more detail/a better way that I should be aware of ? My main issues are:
My tongue 'drags' on the harmonica when I'm moving from note to note, and in general I'm not really able to get an idea of what a 'stable' posiiton should look like.
Without pressing hard (see 1) or sometimes even if I do I'm not able to properly seal the first 3 notes - this is most noticeable on a draw note where the note next to the one I am playing can sound.
I feel I'm over-breathing, possibly because of the lack of a stable position I seem to make a very breathy sound when I'm blowing, and my harmonica also ends up covered in spit as a result.
Hello cbz. These are all common issues for someone new to tongue blocking. Keep at it, it will come... it commonly takes a couple of weeks for a new embouchure (on any wind instrument) to feel comfortable. Here are areas where I speak of the basics of tongue blocking...
1) Blues Harmonica Fundamentals https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/blues_harmonica_fundamentals
2) Tongue Blocking Study 1 https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/tongue_blocking_1
3) Beginning Student Sharon Barrett https://www.bluesharmonica.com/contributor/sharon-barrett
4) Beginning Student Hob Bosold https://www.bluesharmonica.com/contributor/hob_bosold
P.S., saliva issues are better when your head is up (taker any music you're reading and raise it up).
Hello Gingras.verret. It's really about experimenting. Since we can't see what our tongue is doing, we experiment until we get the desired effect. With this said, generally speaking, the soft "a" works well, such as in Law. Give this a try.