Me and My Harp
June 8, 2021 marked an important milestone in my life. It was on this day that my family gave me my first harmonica for my 59th birthday. While I thought having one of these tiny instruments might be fun, I never realized the effect it has had on me since that time.
I have literally had my harmonica by my side since then. The infrequent moments when I have misplaced it have caused me no small amount of duress. Over the last several months, and in the process, I’ve lost a screw, popped another one two. and popped screws and blown a reed, but my Blue Blazer still serves me despite her battle scars.
I have learned much, in particular with Luke, an excellent teacher at www.harmonica.com; and watched countless videos of pros and wannabes, all with something to say about this magical instrument. Before going to bed at night and as I wake up in the morning, I have melodies playing in my head. I imagine how the harp will sound when I finally figure out some of its more subtle capabilities. I realize now that the harmonica is perhaps one of the easiest instruments to play, but which can take a lifetime to master.
I’m just getting started as I approach six months with my harp. During that time, I haven’t read quite as much as I typically do and my writing has been limited to a few blurbs here and there. But on the upside, practicing with it every day has helped me to understand this magical little instrument and slowly but surely, I’m starting to get the hang of it. At least to me my playing sounds a bit better, though to others it may still sound a bit like a shrieking cat.
I’ve learned that even with a blown 4 draw, I still have 19 holes left, with a whole lot of sounds I can make, even without that D note and all its permutations, on my C key harmonica. I’ve learned that if you have the right key harmonica and have a decent sense of timing, you can probably play along pretty well with most songs in the same key by playing chords. Things get a bit more tricky with single notes and melodies, but this also is where the real fun starts.
Now, when I hear music, I stop and listen to each sound and imagine the instrument creating it. I think of how much practice each musician has endured to be able to play at that level, and how far I’ve yet to go on my own journey to be able to do the same.
I hear scales in my head as I go to bed and wake with them still rising and falling as I start my day again. When I lost my D note (I later learned this is a natural phenomenon caused by a lot of playing or doing so too hard), I started playing the Blues scale on the piano because I could no longer play it on my harp. Now I am able to go up and down that scale pretty well in the keys of D and E. I hear people talk of other types of scales, of their steps, and so many other things which simply heighten my interest and make me want to learn more about the music which has always been around me, but never quite taken hold of me as it now has.
My greatest interest with the harmonica, as it is with many who play an instrument, is to be able to play by ear. I am beginning to understand that some theory is helpful on our way. Knowing how scales are formed, the differences between those that are Major and those that are Minor, as well as other nuances helps me to put together what once seemed like Greek.
Over the last several months, I have sat down on several occasions to put in writing my thoughts about how music I now hear in my mind has invaded my life. Sometimes I’ve gotten down only a few lines, and at others I’ve written a bit more. Each is very similar, and yet at the same time different.
Following are a collection of ideas that all have to do with being in harmony with life.
The Scale of Life
We are each like a musical note on the scale of life. By ourselves we lack diversity and our existence can certainly be monotonous. With others we are multifaceted and can create sweet symphony.
We might even say that when we get along with others we are playing in the same key; while with others, try as we might, we never quite jibe and most certainly are off key. This doesn’t mean we are any better or worse than they, simply different.
Being in harmony isn’t always easy.
If we play in D, we just may not fit into a world of those in the key of C’s. Our best efforts may just be thwarted until we find some with whom we are more in tune.
Life is a Symphony
Life is a symphony from beginning to end,
Each day we live forms part of our song.
We are a note in each melody that plays,
And ours is often to simply play along.
The Melody of our Tune
Have you ever thought that life is much like a symphony?
Each day is a song making up the great whole. We are the notes which make the melody of our tune.
Sometimes we strike a chord with others we meet making a sweet sumptuous sound, while at others no matter how we try, the sound comes out squeaky or flat.
The Language of Music
Life is a symphony with a myriad of songs brought forth by a wide variety of thoughts and emotions.
We are each a note within the great whole. Sometimes we play together in harmony with those around us. At other times it doesn’t matter what we do, we are just a little off key.
Though we are all similar, we are all so very different as well. As we each have a unique thumbprint, so too is our note not just exactly like any other. With certain people we just seem to click and strike a chord. With others try as we might, we get nothing more than discord.
Luke says that playing music is a lot like language. Though we all use the same words and a similar grammatical structure, we each have much different ways of expressing ourselves. The harmonica brings out the best, and at times the worst, of this expression.
Some of our symphonies are spectacular masterpieces which hold beg for attention with each successive note; others are no more than karaoke in the shower, in a never ending chorus of different songs which while similar to those of others, lack the depth and expression which are the makings of sweet symphony.
Through the first part of our lives we set the tone for how our symphony of life will be played. If we learn, are open to criticism, and follow our heart, we are likely to get all we need to create a wonderful vibe in our own symphony of life.
Each day is like another song, full of crescendos,
Led often by circumstance and innuendo.
The Sound of Music
Life is like a symphony which begins when we are born.
Some start loudly with a flurry of sound and emotion,
Others quietly, waiting for something to happen.
Our emotions play the notes of each song that plays.
Some days play an allegro reaches crescendo,
Others are melancholic in diminuendo.
Our feelings ebb and flow with the sound of the music.
Sometimes events can cause massive confusion,
Others with a beat which brings resolution.
The melody takes us methodically from day to day.
At times we are guided by a big bass back-beat.
Others, hearing anything at all is a great feat.
The melody we play depends on the notes we feel.
There are times when they ring sharp and clear,
Others when they are dull and difficult to hear.
Yet each day as we begin the day a new tune begins.
On us it depends what kind of music we will make,
We have the power to make it magic or fake.
Strike a Chord
Life is like a symphony where we each have our roles.
Some vibrate in the key of “C”, while those around us
May be “D’s”, “E’s”, or perhaps “A’s”, “B’s”, “F’s” or “G’s”.
With some we strike a chord,
With others only discord.
We each play a melody
As our part of the symphony.
Sometimes we are slow and flat,
Others we are sharp and fast.
At times we are a sweet lullaby,
At others, mass cacophony.
In moments we play out loud,
In others, blend into the crowd.
We can stand up and be heard,
Or disappear into our own little world.
Each day we are given a stage on which to play.
On each it depends which tune we carry every day.
Tic – Toc
Have you ever noticed that life is very similar to a symphony?
Each of us are like notes in a grand melody which takes us through life. Those around us accompany our tune and form part of rhythm. Like a radio station playing different sounds at different times, so too goes the melody we play as we go through time.
The tic-toc of the never ending clock is like a metronome clicking silently in the background, marking time for our song. Sometimes the tempo is kicked up several notches, while at others becomes little more than a deep, steady beat, as is the case when we sleep.
Like the notes belonging to certain keys in music, we too are like those notes. C’s get along swimmingly with E’s and G’s, not always as much with A’s and F’s. And, of course, there are those who are sharp and/or flat, what’s up with that?
Sometimes we seem to go along in harmony with our surroundings, feeling comfortable with those around us and our environment. Then at others we are ill at ease and uncomfortable for some inexplicable reason.
Others around us march on in time to their own beat, rhythm and rhyme; sometimes forming part of our melody, and at others simply lost in their own tune. We have moments when everything seems to click just so, and others when nothing seems to come out right.
Yet the more that we practice, the better we seem to get in the never-ending path to figure out how to make harmony with the world around us. Perhaps this is one of the most amazing things about the harmonica is that your blow holes are always in harmony with the key of C, while your draw holes are so with the key of G. That is precisely why you do not need to know about music theory to play the harp!
Similar to those who can whistle or sing in tune, the instrument becomes nothing more than a means to an end. As you go up the harmonica, the tones become sharper and as you come down they become flatter. Of course, you have to be aware of the double draw on the 6 and 7 to keep the scale going in the right direction, but other than that, with a little bit of practice you can be playing a pretty mean Itsy Bitsy Spider.
Now without my beloved 4 draw, which a bent to the point of eventually breaking, I learn many things. First and foremost is that the harder you play the harmonica, the shorter it will last. The second is that even without that one note, I can learn to play around it, or go up or down an octave to get the same melody. The third is that now I am beginning to hear the notes as if for the very first time as I practice nice, long, slow tones, just as Luke suggests.
Have you ever wanted to learn to play an instrument, or if you do play one like to have the ability to carry it around with no hassle, buy a harmonica! It could be the beginning of something great!
Ode to my Organ
What is this?
Some may laugh and others may snicker,
But my organ is incredible, of that none can bicker.
I walk around with it in my mouth all day,
To the delight of some and to others dismay.
Some may think it rather small,
But with it, I truly have a ball!
I take it with me wherever I go,
And seek to play it like a pro.
I keep it at always at hand,
Ready to join the band.
Then when I put it in its case,
I hold it firmly by the base.
Others may play with it now and then,
But it is my very own special friend.
∞ Bobby McB ∞
20 Nov 2021
LL V 15
