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From: Glenn Weiser
Date: Fri, 01 May 1998 16:19:17 -0400
Subject: All embouchures were created equal

IronMan Mike Curtis wrote:

> > > >> 2. No instructional work before Portnoy's Master Class (1997)
> > > >> accurrately if at all discusses TB bending, a state of affairs which has
> > > >> left the knowledge of this technique only to a relatively small,
> > > >> fortunate few.
>
> Jon Gindicks book Country and Blues harmonica discusses bending from the
> respiratory tract (resonant bending) that is independent of embouchure.
That's a good point-I've been hearing about this lately.
> But a lot of us have never learned from harmonica books or had lessons, so
> this can be quite misleading.
>
> > > >Correction: I found out Norton Buffalo says he bends with his tongue on
> > > >the comb in his Homespun video.
> > So Norton's a U-blocker? He's still a great player.
>
> Correct - but the original point was to the effect that he bent using tongue
> block, and U block is a separate embouchure.
Ah Ha! So he's TB bender and U-block player at other times-that's a
whole other kind of mixed embouchure technique! It just gets crazier the
further you go into this.

> > "The pucker's for the sucker,
> > you ain't rockin' till you're blockin'. "
>
> How about "My mind's made up - don't confuse me with the facts" :-)))
>
> I know you're being silly (and so am I), but taking this into the realm of
> seriousness for a moment, this is exactly why I make such a big deal about
> those who regard tongue blocking as the ONLY way to play. The facts are that
> it is NOT. I'm sick and tired of being told that I play the harp wrong (almost
> always by people who can't play as well as I do.)

I'm not saying you're wrong-Sonny Terry was great, Butterfield was
great, Peg Leg Sam was great-pucker players all. I'm just investigating
Chicago style because I'm going to be doing transcription books on LW.
BW, & SBII. So that's my focus at the moment.
>
> Little Walter was great. However, his MAIN strength was not so much
> technique (although his technique was quite good), but improvisation,
> phrasing, and feel. Big Walter was a FAR superior technician - but here again
> BW had impeccable taste, feel, etc. Both were innovators, playing the music
> of their day and not of 50 years before. And neither learned from a book :-)

Exactly. You could have TB stle down perfectly and still be a crashing
bore. What you play is more important than how you play it. I've said
that before too.

> There are plenty of great harpers out there today. The old guys don't have
> the market cornered. They were innovators in their time, which is a big
> reason why they're held in such high esteem today.

IMHO, no one has ever surpassed Little Walter. Muddy said it, and so do
I.

> Most blues players today play rather sterile variations on this music these
> guys developed 50 years ago, not unlike many of those who play big band and
> dixie today.
>
> The old guys took chances. They created, experimented, made new music where
> there was nothing before. Most of the new guys go the "safe" route, simply
> using the old licks and chops in new variations.

Music has to evolve to stay vital, and blues harp is no exception. So on
with the innovations and experimentations. But it strays too far afield,
it won't be blues anymore. There are boundries, after all.
>
>
Glenn Weiser
Harmonica Columnist
Sing Out! magazine
http://www.singout.org

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