From time to time people pose this question. Usually the answer has to do with some inspirational performance witnessed. I always struggle. I've never been really able to pin it down to one event. I remember a harmonica when I was a small child. Breathing in and out and making noise. Looking at the holes and wondering if I was supposed to be able to play just 1 at a time, which was clearly impossible. Witnessing someone do it and asking what they did and getting an uninformative reply. Maybe hearing John Lennon on Beatles records. Definitely hearing BobDylan. Maybe Mick Jagger, Brian Jones. But that stuff was not big in our house.
One thing that really stands out to me is reading the paragraph in Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, in the summer I turned 16. I was taking English Lit and it was assigned study. I read it in the holidays before school started that year. I do remember being caught up in that idea of the portable instrument.
And later that year I went to a John Mayall show.
He came back the next year and I saw him again. I think the harp was becoming an accepted normal instrument to me. And I was fronting a heavy rock type band. And guys like Robert Plant were known to pull a harp out occasionally. I think that's why the guitarist in the band gave me a harp. And after those John Mayall shows I bought 'the world of John Mayall' and heard his song 'sonny boy blow', which I knew was about sonny boy Williamson and somehow I also knew led Zeppelin 'bring it on home' was something to do with sonny boy Williamson. So when I saw 'the real folk blues' of sonny boy Williamson I decided to buy it. And I found a way to like it despite being just 18 and never hearing any records like that ever before. I think that was the tipping point. From then on it was inevitable I was going to play harp but it was another 15 years before I started to figure it out. Tonight I'm gonna do the first gig with a new band. 2 songs from that sonny boy record have made it into the set list. Despite the inspiration I feel I never set out to play like rice miller. But he is definitely high on my list of influences. so, John Lennon, John Mayall, John Steinbeck, Robert Plant and Sonny Boy Williamson constitute my original harmonica muses.
I don't have a cool story or anything, but I always dug the portability. I always seemed to know a bunch of guitar players, but I never knew anyone who could play harp (well) so I thought I would take it more serious and see what I could learn. Still haven't made it very far, but I am enjoying the trip.
Because I needed an outlet for the music in my mind! That said, I used to be a guitarist. I was classically trained and played from the age of 6 or 7 until the age of 46. An accident crushed a vertebrae (#3-4) in my neck and as a result my left side took a bad hit. I lost dexterity in my left hand and this precluded playing the guitar. I tried to play left handed & failed. I tried to play slide and failed. I stopped trying and gave my guitars to students who would make music with them. That was 1997. I played nothing and could not listen to classical music because my emotions got in the way. I rekindled my love of blues and rock music for almost 20 years. In October 2013, my wife took me to an IBC Blues contest here in Ottawa. A young man blew us away with his blues harp playing. She looked at me and said, "You could do that." I said "Maybe; maybe not." and I went to the can. My wife bought the harp player a drink in appreciation of his music. I returned and we got acquainted & found out we were serendipitously from the same home town! She asked the musician if he knew any teachers in the area. He said he taught and would make a space for me whenever I wanted to start. We were leaving for Florida so I said I'd call him when we returned. In April of 2014 I began my blues harp journey. Two and a half years later, I am making music again. I got on a stage and jammed this past winter for the first time in a couple of decades. I went to my first SPAH this month and I am learning new things every day. Why harmonica? Because, by the grace of God, I can once again make music!
Like hvyi, I can't play any other instrument. But, really, it was about a girl. Back in '69 at UCSB, I wanted to impress a girl who had been going with a really good guitar player. Seemed like harmonica was the way to go. While I did get the girl, I don't think my harp playing had anything to do with it (maybe the opposite). I also feel in love with the blues around that time, I think it was a Sonny Boy II record, and a George Smith, too, that did that. Also, a year later, I had transferred to Berkeley and used to hear guys busking on Telegraph on harp who seemed really good.
Why harmonica? I got one from Santa at a Sons of Norway party in grade two. I took it to bed that night, worked on Silent Night and Oh Come All Ye Faithful in the dark.
I put this precious toy under the pillow when my dad pounded on the bedroom wall from his bedroom and told me to quit. I pulled it out again and played softly when I thought the coast was clear. I was hooked.
I learned to play by ear from the start, and thought it the most natural thing in the world.
Why stay with harmonica? Blues. I can't remember who or what song I first heard, but the sound of blues harp was arresting, in a way no other instrument except the human voice was. Now, six decades later, its sound continues to grab my ears.
My three year old son got me to buy the harp. Adam Gussow's C.C. Ryder video got me inspired and his lessons got me learning.
I never would have guessed the degree to which harmonica requires dexterity of the tongue and throat, and had I known, I probably would have thought, "I'll never be able to do that," and bought a kazoo instead.
Miraculously, the more I practice, the more I acquire the skills to play, and play well. This is completely unlike my experience with all manner of other instruments, which require nimble fingers. I would get to a certain level of mediocrity and never get past it.
The harmonica is small, light and is instantly ready to be played. I don't have an hour or more in my day to set aside for playing, but with harmonica, I don't have to.
I play walking from my car to work, play walking between apartments at the residential care facility, where I work, play on my lunch break, play walking from the parking lot to the day care center, play while supervising my children at the playground, etc. Easily an hour a day.
And yes, I am "The Harmonica Man" in my neighborhood.
I had a harmonica off and on growing up tooting around,nothing special.Than as a teenager I heard Muddy Waters than Little Walter, That did it for me.It also got me going on guitar too.Non-stop.......since `68.
I loved all the guitar, but I wanted to do that wail I heard. And being able to play along to the radio made it fun and I could do it by myself. Still haven't broken up with blues music.
Back in 2008 when I was living in London, I saw that some cat named Charlie Musselwhite was playing the famed 100 Club on Oxford Street - a basement dump where the Sex Pistols started. I knew nothing about him or his music or instrument except that he was one of the original blues dudes. It was literally a life-changing event for me. Charlie played the harp like a soldier of fortune, and I knew I had to learn how to play the damned thing. And he was just so cool - a great template for how to evolve instead of just growing older. At the ripe young age of 59 I'm trying very hard now to play & evolve as well.
https://youtu.be/XZjLKyuy98E
Last Edited by Sundancer on Aug 27, 2016 9:38 PM
In my opinion the harmonica is the best instrument for learning theory. All the notes are where they are for a reason, now you just have to play it to get a glimpse of why the notes are where they are. Get out a tuner and some paper to start learning about chords and scales.
There's really no limit to what you can learn about music from such a readily available instrument, and there aren't really any prerequisites to start.
I picked up harp for this reason. Guitar was pretty much the opposite.
I've always loved the sound of a blues harp but seeing the J. Geils Band in concert back in 1973 and hearing and seeing Magic Dick do Whammer Jammer changed my life.
Hey Goldrick You posted a video from the same London show - were you there? And how do I get a weblink into this format so other readers can see the one I posted? Thanks
Why harmonica indeed? I’m not really sure what got me started. I am a classically trained clarinetist so since the age of 9 or 10 I’ve always played music. I played through grade school, high school and college. John Mayall has been mentioned several times. The very first rock convert I ever went to was in the Jacksonville Coliseum in 1973 featuring John Mayall, The Edgar Winter Group and The Allman Brothers Band. So Mayall was the first real harmonica player I ever saw or heard and that may have been what did it for me. I think there also might have been someone in the dorms that had a harp and let me try it out. Because of the embouchure I had developed via the clarinet and a good ear, I was able to play songs immediately. So I bought a couple and began to play. I played folk music mostly because it lays out so easily in first position and I figured out how to play the classical music that I knew from playing the clarinet. I did not discover blues music, second position or the pentatonic scale until about 35 years later. That discovery created a new opportunity to learn and has deepened my love for the harmonica. But the thing that still gets me is that all you have to do is breathe in and out to play these beautiful resonant chords.
I love what some of the other guys have said.
Owen Evans: “Because I needed an outlet for the music in my mind!”
The Happy Honker “And yes, I am "The Harmonica Man" in my neighborhood.” I play my harps as I walk my dogs in the evening so yes, I am the Harmonica Man in my neighborhood too.
If the question of "Why harmonica?" means "What made you pick it up?" (as most here are answering it), then for me it was Sonny Terry, after hearing a 1976 concert with Brownie McGhee in Christchurch NZ. I bought my first harp the next day and have been hooked ever since.
However the question of "Why harmonica?" could mean "Why choose harmonica instead of another instrument?". For me it was only the harp that 'did it' - but now I'm not so sure. A couple of days ago I found an instrument which, if it had been around back when I started playing, I'm pretty sure I would have chosen instead.
It's called the Roli Seaboard, an incredibly expressive silicone-skin keyboard that can sound as soulful as any other instrument, and way more...
Check it out emulating an electric blues guitar on the fly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSko8vHOf8g
Here is the small version playing Indian music blindingly well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMZIsZ5prKA
If I was starting out as a musician and had to choose between the harmonica and that thing, it would have been a very tough call! Without doubt the Seaboard can do WAY more than any harmonica can, and with bending expression anywhere. OK it needs power and speakers, but these days small battery units are very efficient for total portability. And costwise the Rise is probably comparable to owning 20-30 harps, as all of us do at the minimum.
If any of you are interested in following up, here is the Roli website: https://roli.com
Last Edited by Brendan Power on Aug 29, 2016 7:53 AM
A lot of reasons- wrist problems kept me from piano or guitar, it was cooler than the instrument I played in school (baritone tuba), and I was in a band, writing songs and singing backup. The lead singer thought I was refusing to learn guitar because I wanted his job (I didn't) so he insisted I pick up something and I'm terrible with maracas- something about that delay between when you shake it and when it actually makes a sound. I bought a harmonica and it ripped up my lips. The band broke up and it sat in a drawer. One day I saw an article on the internet about harmonicas being good for asthma and my asthma had been bothering me. I also figured it would help with my nervous habit of biting my nails.
It was cooler than the baritone, and for my asthma and for writing songs, and eventually for getting me out and meeting people.
Edit: I switched to a computer from my tablet and can read it now.
I started at age 11 after hearing a relative play folk melodies on a G chromatic. I switched to diatonic at age 20 and later on started playing diatonic and chromatic.
I like the sound, I like the portability, I have been hooked on it for a long time. ----------
Doug S.
Last Edited by dougharps on Aug 29, 2016 3:14 PM
I had taken some guitar lessons and gave up at age 16 because I couldn't make my fingers do all that fantastic riffing. Frustrated, I turned on a a Saturday morning rock and soul teen dance show on WXYZ in Detroit, which had the Paul Butterfield Band lip syncing their tune "Born in Chicago". The sound Butterfield made on the harmonica grabbed me and never let me go. I found out the band was playing at the Chessmate, a no age limit folk and blues no alcohol club four miles from where I lived . The club had no age limit, so I convinced my parents into letting me go with a pal of mine. I saw the Butterfield Band that night and had my life changed forever. I was 16 then, I am 64 now, and the adventure continues, one riff,one phrase, one day at a time. ---------- Ted Burke tburke4@san.rr.com
Somehow wound up owning a copy of Paul Butterfields first record and I'd never heard a harp played like that. I was 16 years old and making $4.10 and hour. My first paycheck I bought a D harp. Don't ask my why I picked D. It (the Butterfield album) had liner notes on the back citing PBs influences and one name stuck out for me- Little Walter. I went out and bought a Little Walter double album called Boss Blues Harmonica. I loved it so much I went back to the record store the same day and bought LWs Hate to See You Go. More harps and more albums and now 44 years later, I'm still playing. Why? :-) ---------- Have good day. M.A.P. .
Last Edited by MP on Sep 02, 2016 6:01 PM
