Playing harmonica out of both sides of your mouth

[StevieJ]

Last week a friend of mine heard an elderly man busking on harmonica in a metro station and stopped to listen and talk to him. The man was from the Balkans, if I remember correctly. Since my friend was on his way to a music class he had his cassette recorder with him and asked if he could record a snippet.

I was amazed to hear (among all the noise of trains and bustle) that he played a waltz melody AND accompaniment, simultaneously sounding the tune and an um-cha-cha backing, apparently out of the other side of his mouth, with his tongue separating the two halves.

I'd never heard of this, but then, I've never paid much attention to harp playing. Is it a common technique, and are there other things you can do with both sides of the mouth? Do Irish players use this or similar techniques?

[scheky]

The vamping chord technique used to be more common than it is now, as more players seem to pucker-block than tongue-block. If you learn to tongue-block it's rather easy to pick up.

I learned to tongue-block first, so for me, it's something I "can" do, but it's not something you want to overdo. James Conway makes good use of it from time to time, as does James Thurgood, who does more of it, but manages to pull back at just that right moment where it doesn't go overboard. I don't know his real name (which is a shame, and I do hope he releases something) but LoveBoxQuartet on You-Tube also uses tongue blocking to great effect.

I've been using it like a concertina or accordion player would use a quick vamp chord as an ornamentation, but not to the level you are speaking. With me, it's just a way of making one not fatter for a split second (start the chord and slap the tongue on it immediately to zero in on the note). I'd consider using it more for solo stuff, but I'm just working out how to play tunes still...that's all down the road.

Now, tongue blocking allows for this, but then you lose tongued triplets (which you can substitute breath triplets for on the blow, but I'm buggered if I can figure out how to manage that cleanly on the draw) and jaw flicks are dead out (though I can get the same effect with quick wrist-flick...that took a TON of practice and I'm still only just nearly there with it). The smart money is to learn it all and switch back and forth for whatever effect you want. I don't think I'll be ready for that for a while (but I've been working on my pucker-block just to add to what I can do).

Dear god, when did I start actually knowing what I'm talking about? Where is Steve will all the real information? He's our resident expert.

edit - if you really want to hear an amazing variation of this, look for James Conway's YouTube video where he does a bagpipe drone throughout a tune. A combination of that technique and custom tuning makes for one HECK of a nice effect.

[SteveShaw]

A lot of the old-style Irish tremolo players used, and many still use, the tongue-blocking method to provide "accompaniment." I bow down in awe to their skill, but it ain't for me. And that isn't just because I don't tongue-block! It sounds just gobby and not a little out-of-tune to me a lot of the time, and the "chords" don't always sound right, to say the least. But that's just me!