On Why I Play the Harmonica

My mom made me take piano lessons all the way back to around my first grade of elementary. I never became as good as my sister, Bobi. Not even one-fourth as good as her probably. 

How would I be any good? Back then, I'd have my lessons and the teacher would be seated beside me and I would fall asleep right then and there as I was having my piano lessons! I was also too lazy to practice on my own.

In the fifth grade, I started playing the flute. I practiced more and therefore learned more. I didn't sleep through my lessons. I became a part of the school band and performed with them during certain school events.

I kept on with the flute until the sixth grade.  I stopped when I went back home here in the Philippines because I didn't have my own flute and no one to take lessons from. I don't know why I never bothered to find a flute and an instructor. Perhaps, it's because I was just more interested in photography.

During college, I bought an old flute and started playing again, just on my own. I'd bring the flute with me as we traveled to our province in distant Baler, Aurora (some 6-8 hours away from Metro Manila, depending on the roads, traffic, and who's driving) and then back again from there. In the middle of our journey, I'd take the flute out of it's case and start playing to pass the time. 

The roads leading to Baler were usually in pretty bad shape–rough and riddled with potholes. As I played, the flute would start bouncing around sometimes hitting me on my face; sometimes hitting the one seated next to me. So whoever that was would start complaining. That's when I decided to buy a bamboo flute and play that instead as we traveled to and fro Aurora Province.

That worked on smooth, paved roads. However, it still didn't work with on the rough roads that made up more of the roads leading home to our province. The bamboo flute would keep hitting my teeth, gums, and lips with every pothole. Sometimes it would even hit my nose. 

I finally decided that a bamboo flute wouldn't do, too. I thought long and hard about what to get next. Should I just play a guitar? Hmmm. But a guitar is quite big and still not that portable. Maybe I should buy a mini guitar (Do you call it a junior guitar or a ukelele?). But I didn't like the sound of that. I guess you know what I ended up playing. (Hah. Like I didn't give you a hint from the title.) I accidentally ruined my cousin's guitar so I bought another one to replace it. Later on, I bought one for my own, a junior guitar. I was thinking I'd like to be able to sing as I played the instrument. Can't do that with a flute, bamboo flute, or even a harmonica. 

But then, the need for an instrument as mobile as M.E. is made me decide that the instrument for me really is a harmonica. That's when I bought myself my very first harmonica. I didn't take formal lessons (Where do I get that around here, anyway?). I simply played by rote. I discovered my tongue had a "gift" for finding the right tune and feeling music. (Some say good harmonica players are good kissers, too. Hmmm. They must be. They're pretty good at feeling their way around. )

I did get some instructions once from a retired college professor from my alma mater who was quite good at playing the harmonica. That was cool the way we jammed, each playing our own harmonica, the sounds we made somehow melodiously joining to create "music."

I bought my second harmonica in Thailand. It was longer than the first one since I wanted to try one with more octaves. It was just like my first harmonica, a diatonic harmonica.

What I dream of having is a chromatic Hohner  harmonica. Maybe if I have that I could play the blues as well as the best of them. Or maybe as good as Alanis Morissette. I just want to try and see if I could still make music even with that slide I'd have to push at the side of a chromatic harmonica for flats and sharps.

My third and current harmonica is a gift from a friend. (Read how I got it here: A Night of Shocks and Wonders) I just love it! It's the best I've had so far. And I wouldn't trade it for any other harmonica. Nope, not even for a Hohner chromatic one. 

I think I'll probably grow old with this one.