slider, tongue blocking, puckering, nasal technique

[Karlo]

Kettlewell of Masters of Harmonica on Youtube has invented something called the "slider" which appears to be a completely new embouchure. This means that there are now at least three distinct ways of producing sounds on the chromatic: puckering, tongue blocking and Kettlewell's slider When I began playing, I used the puckering technique, but not long after my debut, I heard that to become an accomplished player, it was absolutely necessary to master tongue blocking. I tried and tried to perfect this technique, but had to abandon it because of the excessive salivation it caused. Every fifteen seconds, it seemed, I would have to collect the saliva in my mouth and swallow before I could continue playing. I think my face, mouth and throat are those of a normal person. I still don't understand why I produced so much saliva, but whatever the reason, I had to resign myself to the fact that tongue blocking was beyond my reach.

Then something strange and totally unexpected happened when I was puckering and attempting to learn tongue blocking: one day I realized that I was producing sounds with great ease using a technique that was neither puckering nor tongue blocking. I seemed to be playing with my nose! I don't mean that I was putting my nose over the holes and "blowing." Something else was happening. My lips served only to hold the harmonica. The air flow seemed to be coming from my nasal passage (something akin to sniffing). Since that epiphany, this has become my principal manner of playing. I can play for long periods of time in total comfort. I can produce beautiful single notes effortlessly and even chords although I don't know if the latter have the same quality as those produced through tongue blocking. Has anyone here developed a similar technique? With respect to tongue blocking, it's still something I would like to be able to do just because of the challenge it presents. I would be interested in any advice as to how to solve my salivation problem. Now to return to Kettlewell and his slider. He seems to be touting its merits over any other way of playing. If this is true, does this mean that tongue blocking may have been dethroned as the best embouchure?

[Gnarly He Man]

Oh, let’s ask a professional harmonica player, shall we?

[Carl Bakker]

Then something strange and totally unexpected happened when I was puckering and attempting to learn tongue blocking: one day I realized that I was producing sounds with great ease using a technique that was neither puckering nor tongue blocking.

Maybe your technique is "U-blocking". The tip of the tongue forms a U-shaped channel which guides the air into the respective hole of the mouthpiece. I am a U blocker my self. Some players use this technique without being aware of it (I also discovered it later). U-blocking is sometimes frowned upon, since it permits fewer tricks than tongue blocking. I am quite happy with the tone quality I can get with this technique.

[Zoldie Varniak]

What THAT guy knows about chromatics is about two clicks above what a carrot knows about driving a truck.

Zoldie

[Gatty1010]

.Now to return to Kettlewell and his slider. He seems to be touting its merits over any other way of playing. If this is true, does this mean that tongue blocking may have been dethroned as the best embouchure?

This may be useful for those who play puckering method and their lips don't slide smoothly. I tongue block and can't imagine any use.

Regarding your epiphany, I am not very sure if I understood correctly. While playing blow notes where attack is to be soft, we pass some air through nose and balance through the mouth. If you have played multiple draw notes and then landing on a blow note, this helps to soften the blow which otherwise would sound too loud for the musical piece !

[Gnarly He Man]

What THAT guy knows about chromatics is about two clicks above what a carrot knows.

Zoldie

Zoldie knows carrot IQ.
David doesn’t have a lot of credibility around these parts.

[Keith]

Yeah, he's a self professed 'expert' - most around here know better.

[Gnarly He Man]

Ask Brendan Power about That Guy.

[Swaggerton]

The air flow seemed to be coming from my nasal passage (something akin to sniffing). Since that epiphany, this has become my principal manner of playing.

I'm no self-proclaimed master of harmonica, but this sounds like bad embouchure to me. Your nasal passages should stay closed (except for when you need to breathe and release some air), and all the air should come from or to your diaphragm. By opening your nasal passages you're losing air and efficiency of the instrument. It may be easier, but I would guess it could become a bad habit and hindrance your playing in the future. Please, anyone, correct me if I'm wrong.

[The Lone Harper]

While I am primarily a tongue blocker because of my frequent use of tongue-switching I would question the belief that you have to be a tongue blocker to be an accomplished player. Many top-notch players are pucker or u-block players. Not until the sweet Lord Jesus himself comes down from heaven and declares tongue-blocking as the one true embouchure will I accept it as the only legitimate way of playing.

[SlideMeister]

Hey, Toots was a pretty fair player and he wasn't no tongue-blocker.

[SlimHeilpern]

I actually watched some of this video.  While Mr. K has become a better player over the years, his 'slider' thing seems silly to me. You can hear him missing holes like crazy on this clip, which is exactly what I would expect when you can't feel where you are on the axe with your mouth. All that effort to avoid having to leverage a bit of saliva on the mouthpiece (which is easily cleaned after playing).

Pucker, tongue block, u-block -- whatever works for you is good. There are advantages and disadvantages to each I'm sure. But I don't buy that one or the other gives you better tone, you can get a great tone with any embouchure. As for nasal air, I know it can be helpful at times, but I consider it to be a bad habit if you want a nice full tone. For anyone starting out, I would first learn to avoid using the nose as much as possible except for air between phrases.

- Slim

[frankyb]

I think this article on pucker, blocking, etc. is quite good.


https://www.harpsurgery.com/how-to-play/pucker-or-tongue-block/

[zvigrunb]

The "frictionless slider", in my view is total nonsense.
You can't do anything with it other than single notes.
I think it also interferes with speed

[SlideMeister]

To me, it's like a rubber crutch; not "dead-nuts" accurate or even dependable. All it does is create a dependency on a device that slows down the basic learning process! (and probably screws up the finish of your mouthpiece )  Bah Humbug! Get out of the sandbox! Play it, or throw it away, but don't play games!

Mean old Age

[sscob1]

No no no