Learn to Play the Harmonica

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="040f0f21egerdp.jpg"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="041203c0.jpg" border=0 width="32" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#66334C" FACE="Arial" ><B>The Magic of Reading</B></FONT><B>      |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Magic of Reading"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03ff2f02egerdp.jpg"> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14">    <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14">  <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14">    <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="31badd00.gif" border=0 width="173" height="208" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="042f0f03.jpg"> <div> <I>Learn to Play the Harmonica</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>Learn to Play the Harmonica</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="39940fa0.gif" border=0 width="320" height="250" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="15" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>I think it is a shame that most of the people of the world are born, breathe, live, and die without being able to play a musical instrument!  And if you queried folks you would find that most have been wanting to learn how to play an instrument </B><B>their whole lives</B><B>!</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>One summer several years ago, I learned how to play a bunch of musical instruments.  Like most I had gone along believing that it would take years to be able to play an instrument.  How wrong I was!</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>It takes an hour to learn to play the harmonica.  </B><B>After that hour, you will be able to play and enjoy the instrument the rest of your life!</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Here's how I learned to play:</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>1.  I began with the thought:  You already can play several instruments!  You can sing, you can hum, you can whistle!  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>2.  I picked up a harmonica and made some sounds on it.  I blew all the notes up and down several times.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>3.  I thought of a tune I knew very well.  I reviewed it in my mind and hummed it and sang it.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>4.  I tried to recreate the tune on the harmonica.  This process was a little awkward at first, and I guess I made some pretty disagreeable sounds, but after an hour I could play the tune so others could recognize it.  (My first hour occurred over a period of two days:  four sessions, 15 minutes practice time each time.  I believe this would do it for anyone.) </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>5.  After the first hour, I could pretty much play the harmonica at will.  If I knew the tune, I could play it on the harmonica.  And the more I practiced, the better I got.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>End</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Notes:  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>It's best not to play for others as you are learning a musical instrument!  Play for yourself first.  Learn to love your music.  Get great at it, then play for others.  Beware of letting other people's comments about your music destroy your joy of it.  I recommend </B><I><B>over-learning (</B></I><B>being able to blow the doors off of a song) before you play for others.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>In the two or three years since I became musical, several things have occurred:  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>1.  I have become pretty good on the keyboard and guitar.  </B></div> <div> <B>2.  I have used the harmonica many times in my Ben Franklin presentations.  </B></div> <div> <B>3.  I actually sing to my audiences from time to time.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I have never had a music lesson and doubt if it would help at all.  Well, maybe a tip or two might help, but I am a better teacher than I am a student.  I learn best by teaching myself.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>If you find you want a more formal and controlled method of playing the harmonica, you can go to davegage.com.  Using Dave's simple instructions, you will be playing Amazing Grace and Home on the Range on the harmonica in no time. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Did you know:   </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Ben Franklin "played several musical instruments, including the violin, harp, and guitar. His great interest in music lead him to build his own glass armonica. This simple musical instrument was played by touching the edge of the spinning glass with dampened fingers. The armonica's beautiful tones appealed to many composers, including Mozart and Beethoven." from The Franklin Institute web site.  http://www.fi.edu/franklin/musician/musician.html</B></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"Of all my inventions, the glass armonica has given me the greatest personal satisfaction." - Ben Franklin</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <B>The following web page contains a fascinating description of Ben Franklin's glass armonica.  You can actually hear how it sounds and play a tune on the armonica yourself!  </B><B>http://fi.edu/franklin/musician/virtualarmonica.html</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id127.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ben Franklin University"><U><B>Ben Franklin University</B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>