As some have you may have guess by the title of this vlog, I have chosen to play the harmonica as my musical inquiry instrument. Initially I chose this instrument because it was unique and I thought if I could learn it pretty well it would be fun to bring around and just play randomly. However, it is a lot harder than I expected. After doing research on how to play it it turns out it is quite a bit different than any other instrument.
Each harmonica is only set in one key (ex. I have a harmonica in both Key C, and another in key G), the main one and the most common one for beginners is Key C. Along with being in the key, the harmonica has 10 holes in which air will be pushed through to create sound. The player can either blow air through the hole, or suck air out, to create different sounds. Essentially there are only 20 different notes each individual harmonica can make depending on if you are breathing in or out of the instrument. There are other ways to create sounds like using multiple holes at once, or bending notes through tongue movements but those are quite complex and I am still just at the beginner level.
The first song I said I would accomplish is Piano Man by Billy Joel (attached is the link I have been using to learn), it is relatively straight forward but the timing of note changes is challenging me. Because harmonica’s don’t use normal sheet music, the timing of note changes is best determined by hearing out what sounds most like the original song. I have been practicing quite a bit so I feel like I am getting closer and closer, but it is still not as perfect as I would like it. Also I haven’t been able to memorize the note pattern, so I can’t play the song without the notes I wrote down in my note book.
Attached is a silly photo of myself learning the harmonica (Key C) that just arrived. Slowly but surely I am getting better but it is a lot more challenging than I thought!
Riley
