Passage II

Harmonica Blues

For as long as I can remember, it is true that I have wanted to play the harmonica. My father played a few tunes marginally well. I often asked him to teach me to play, but I quickly grew impatient, with the wheezing, tinny notes that I produced. After two weeks' effort, which I would always set the harmonica aside and had went back to the baseball field.

My father was able to teach me a few things about the harmonica. For instance, he told me that it originated in southern China around 1100 B.C., this early version, the sheng, consisted of long reeds placed in water in a wooden bowl. At one time the harmonica, which has its origins in ancient China, was often confused with the armonica, a musical instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin that consisted of glasses played by rubbing the rims with a wet finger. (22) While the harmonica was marketed originally as a child's toy, it eventually became a valued portable instrument for folk and blues musicians.

(25) Then, at age fifteen, I decided to enroll in a blues harmonica class. On the first night, the instructor, whom had performed in local rock bands for years, guided the class through a tortured version of "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

[1] Then he played the same melody, but with such a pure, sad wail that, the entire class sat in stunned silence when he'd finished. [2] When we had finished, he said, "That was 'Mary Had a Little Lamb.'" [3] He picked up his own harmonica. [4] "This, however, is 'Mary Had the Blues.'" [5] He lifted the instrument to his lips. [28]

I returned home determined to learn to play well. I worked to find the right mouth holes and if I could bend the right notes. All week I wheezed through versions of "Jingle Bells" and "Oh, Susanna." Finally, on the night before our next class, which I believe was a Wednesday, in the middle of an attempt at "Old Folks at Home," I pursed my lips and blew a sweet, piercing note that filled the room with lovely sound. I had finally played a proper note on the harmonica, and maybe I'll someday play the blues.