I've recently added 5 more videos to my tongue blocking series on YouTube. Subscribe here if you want to be notified when I post a new video.
In this set of videos I explain 4 blues phrases in detail which I then combine to make a 12 bar sequence. The idea of these phrases and resulting 12 bars is to pull in all the tongue blocking techniques we've been running through over the last 16 videos. There's bending, octaves, playing chords and leaping intervals. Something to get your teeth into if you've been playing along so far.
I've tried to make these videos shorter based on feedback I have received.
I begin with explaining 2 blues phrases that introduce the idea of using the blow 3 instead of the draw 2. Many of you will be familar with this idea but it's particularly useful if you are tongue blocking the low end.
Next I develop this into a groove for the I chord, using a move that can only be done effectively using tongue blocking. It's very remeniscent of Kim Wilson's approach to backing on a shuffle. If you like his playing on Jimmy Roger's album 'Ludella' you dig this tutorial.
Now something for the IV chord. There's two key techniques here. First, using tongue blocking to transition from the blow 1 to the blow 4 instantly without catching any of the reeds inbetween. Second, timing details that break up being square to the beat. In other words, make your playing more interesting.
Arriving at the V, we pull out some more complex moves. This video is over 12 minutes as I wanted to explain the importance of entry phrases and timing variations. 95% of intermediate players miss these. In my view they are part of what made Little Walter so amazing. You can't cover these points in 5 minutes!
Finally we can take all these phrases and make a cool sounding 12 bar blues. Remember the idea here is to use tongue blocking to play it. However, depending on where you're level is you might find you're lip pursing certain parts. That's fine. I played holes 1,2 and 3 for many years ony lip pursed, using tongue blocking on 4 and above. In reality I wasn't albe to switch to tongue blocking in a wholsale way. It was a gradual transtion. Steve Weston at the London Harps workshop a couple of weeks ago said he played for over 8 years before he started using tongue blocking. Prior to that, he didn't know what it was.
So there you have it, I hope you agree, a nice 12 bar passage for tongue blocking techniques.
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