Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 13:44:16 -0600 From: "Mike Will" Subject: Hand Visualization for Harp Embouchure
Sharing an idea..
I map my lib block embouchure into 5 targets: center, left and right corner, and center-left and center-right.
Then I can visualize the target spots as I would the fingers on my right hand. (Because of the tonal range of the harp, my right hand seems a natural fit.)
As I continue to develop my ability to see my way around the harp, this targeted-embouchure approach makes more and more sense: becomes more and more useful.
Just as any finger can play any piano note, depending on what makes the most sense for a musical passage, so any finger-mapped-target-spot can play any hole, depending on what makes the most sense for the musical passage.
This visualization also holds when mixing in tongue blocked splits and tongue blocked corner switching with lip blocking. Even when vamping chords and mixing in melody, as one or two fingers can pick out the melody while the whole hand plays the chords.
As piano players make entended passages smooth through appropriate fingering, so entended runs on the harp can benefit from utilizing multiple-target embouchure positioning.
Always interested in comments, pros/cons, whatever. What y'all think?
Mike Will
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