Ubiquitous little instrument is here to stay
WHEN I was a little lad, my father taught me to play a few simple tunes on the harmonica. I think they included and the Afrikaans folk song
He never learnt to read music, but he loved making music together and eventually we had an enthusiastic family band going. We all tooted on the harmonica, my sister played an accordion, my brother had a banjo, there was a piano in the mix and we could all twang the three basic major chords on a guitar.
There was a box of percussion instruments for those who didn’t have an instrument, so there was always a good background of booms, rattles and clanks. We were by no means professional, but we had a lot of fun and made a lot of happy noise.
I still have my little harmonica and sometimes amuse myself trying out new tunes. I looked up harmonicas on the internet and was delighted to find all kinds of fascinating facts about this very portable little instrument.
Did you know the most expensive harmonica ever made was produced by the Hohner company in Germany, made of solid gold (apart from the brass reeds) and presented to Pope Pius VI. I love the idea of His Holiness walking up and down the aisle of St Peters playing his golden mouth organ. He would probably have had to appoint a couple of Swiss Guards for special harmonica guarding duty. I wonder where that valuable harmonica is today. There was a little note saying there were as many harmonicas is the world as all the other musical instruments combined. I wonder how many millions of them are lying forgotten in sock drawers.
One fact I didn’t know but should have guessed is that doctors often recommend harmonica playing as a good exercise to strengthen the lungs. This is because it’s the only reed instrument that requires the player to suck as well as blow, so your lungs get a good workout.
(I wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn that Dolly Parton played a harmonica in her youth.)
I even found the biggest harmonica orchestra in the world on the internet. It’s the Hong Kong Harmonica Association Orchestra and includes up to 112 harmonica players. You might like to listen to them some time. It’s a rather delightful sound, something like a swarm of bees humming in happy harmony. I wonder whether my sister still plays
on her mouth organ. It was a show-stopper at our family band practices. I hope she still has her “bekfluitjie” far away in America. It’s the perfect instrument for playing wistful cowboy songs. I’m all inspired now. I must go and practise
It would be an interesting bonding experiment to play together on Skype.
Last Laugh
A rather confused woman arrived at the local clinic and said she had come for a vaccination. The nurse in charge looked at her identification papers, noted her address and told her: “You have to have your vaccination in your area.”
The woman looked rather upset and said: “Can’t I just have it in my arm like last time?”