Category: Free Inquiry

Welcome to the beginning of my goodbye. I am Emma, star harmonicist, appraised musician, reader of tabs and player of songs. Over the past three months, I have put my blood, sweat, tears, (and probably saliva) into learning to play an old harmonica that had been sitting in my closet for ten years.

Might I say… I have succeeded.

Through this project, I have learned to read tabs, play 20 different notes, and put everything together to play four songs in full. I have learned so much about the harmonica… but I have learned a ton about myself too. I have never played an instrument before this, but I learned that I am lowkey goated at it. I am a musical person, and I can learn anything I put my mind to. I went from playing ear-piercing torture to playing songs with rhythm and tempo and a beautiful melody. Most importantly, I’ve learned how proud I am of myself for this. I developed a new skill, something that nobody I know can do. And I was pretty good at it. Perfect actually.

With a heart that beats to the tune of my harmonica, I close this portion of my life. I will never forget you, my beautiful diatonic harmonica. I will ensure you come along with me to every camping trip.

I have now completed four songs on the harmonica: “Alouette,” “Happy Birthday,” “House of the Rising Sun,” and “Hurt.” I am basically a harmonica menace. I will embrace concealed carrying… with my harmonica. It will be on me secretly at all times, just waiting to be played.

My plan from the get-go was to learn “House of the Rising Sun” and “Hurt,” then put my harmonica back onto the shelf for it to collect dust for years to come. But now, my learning is over and I am… sad. I hold my harmonica closer to me, with more appreciation than ever before. I will not be putting it back onto my shelf to collect dust… I will ensure it is in prime position to be whipped out at any given moment.

I have attained my goal of learning four songs on the harmonica… but I am not satisfied. Beyond this project, I will continue to play. I have so many songs I love that can be learned on the harmonica… so why stop now?

THIS SONG IS SO FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s so much faster than House of the Rising Sun. I get no breaks. Be kind.

Listened to, learned, played. I hope you all enjoy.

This song is pitchy on its own. It’s not me, on jah.

So, I have not yet perfected “The House of the Rising Sun.” Instead, I have taken upon myself to start learning “Hurt” by Johnny Cash. Consider this the same as when someone reads 5 books at once. Eventually, they will all get finished. Eventually…

My goal for learning the harmonica was to learning “The House of the Rising Sun” and “Hurt.” Those are two songs that I absolutely love, so I promise I won’t be starting any more after this. Knowing the Great Four: “Alouette,” “Happy Birthday,” “The House of the Rising Sun,” and “Hurt” is what I consider perfect. Once I can play those four, I will be a sensation. An idol among harmonicists and a musical being placed in some kind of knock-off Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

This song is a bit easier than “The House of the Rising Sun.” It’s not so shrill, so my ears are protected from my harmonica for the most part. It’s long though… very long. This is not a tab I will memorize, but rather one I must carry around with me forever.

I persist, and I perfect. I will soon be a harmonica champion, diatonic diva. See you soon, Free Inquiry project, because I will be back and I will be a star.

After weeks of practicing how to read tabs, play different notes, and play simple songs like “Alouette” and “Happy Birthday,” it was time to fulfill my true calling: learning to play songs I love on the harmonica. It was hard work choosing one to start with, with my loved songs ranging from “Piano Man,” to “Mary Jane’s Last Dance.” In the end, after heavy debate, I settled on “The House of the Rising Sun.”

This song is much more complex than the previous ones I’ve played. It’s longer (about 5 stanzas, only 2 are pictured below), faster, and has a wide range of notes. It gets high and it gets low and it’s hard to make a harmonica screech sound good when it’s at 150dB and the highest pitch you can think of.

But still… I persist. I love this song, and by my next entry, I will have perfected it. On gang.

This week was my kid sister’s 18th birthday. I met her at the ripe age of 2 and my, how time has passed! For her birthday this year we got Chipotle for dinner and chocolate milkshakes for dessert. What did I get her? you may ask. Well, I got her the most fantabulous gift of all: “Happy Birthday” played by me on the harmonica.

After my many weeks of practicing and performing “Alouette,” I had gotten comfortable with the melody and notes of the song. “Alouette” uses 3 notes: 3, 4, and 5. These three are in the middle of the harmonica, easy to play as they are not super high or super low. “Happy Birthday,” however, uses the notes 6, 7, 8, and 9. Not only are these notes I haven’t played before, but they’re distinctly higher.

I’m a procrastinator, so learning this was placed on the back burner much longer than it should’ve been… Eventually I pushed on through to begin learning this song and it was… well, awful. With such high pitches, I discovered how to make some very disharmonious noises my first time playing “Happy Birthday.”

I was ready in time though. My sister received the beautiful, shrilling gift of me playing for her to celebrate her 18th rotation around the sun. I’m glad to have more songs in my arsenal now, and can’t wait to perfect and perform this beauty.

This week on my musical journey of learning the harmonica, I decided to take my harmonica on a bit of a road trip. Now that I’m comfortable with the tabs and notes of the harmonica, and even capable of playing songs like “Alouette” by memory, I decided to familiarize OTHER people with my beautiful harmonica skills. On Wednesday, I brought my harmonica with me to work and serenaded my boss with several renditions of “Alouette.” He said it was “pretty good the second time I played it…” probably just to get me to stop and continue doing my job.

The next day I went to a meeting for the Education Student Association (on which I am an executive) and at the end of our meeting, I pulled out my harmonica to the sound of my fellow chair members’ gasps of horror… but to everyone’s delight I played them a wonderful song. (It was just “Alouette” again…)

Playing the harmonica for other people has been a lot of fun and it has definitely been a top contributing factor to my overall harmonica skills. I’ve played it so much for other people this week, that now even I am tired of hearing it. Next week, I plan on diversifying my repertoire and learning how to play some new songs.

To start off my epic journey into learning the harmonica, I first needed to learn about my harmonica. After a bit of Googling, I’ve learned that my harmonica is called a diatonic harmonica. This means that it has 10 holes to play from, with each hole having 2 notes, meaning there are 20 unique sounds total. With each hole of the harmonica you can either inhale (draw) or exhale (blow).

To play a song on the harmonica, you do not use a traditional music sheet. Instead, you use something called the Tab System. Tabs usually correspond to the lyrics of a specific song with numbers that correspond to the hole you need to play. If the number is negative, then it is a draw note and you must inhale. If the number is positive, then it is a blow note and you must exhale.

Tab for “Alouette”

To begin learning how to read tabs while playing, I looked for easy well-known songs, specifically the Quebecois nursery rhyme “Alouette.” My first time playing “Alouette,” I was on FaceTime with my boyfriend. At first he said I sounded “pretty choppy,” but by the end of the roughly 10 minutes of ear-piercing torture I made him endure, he told me that I am, AND I QUOTE, “getting pretty good!”

Hello and welcome to the beginning of my Free Inquiry Project.

“What is a Free Inquiry Project?” You might ask. Well, for my Technology Innovation in Education class, it is a series of blog posts which follow my journey to learn the harmonica.

I’ve owned a harmonica for about ten years now, yet I have never once opened the “How to Play the Harmonica” book which came with it. And yes, I have made my family’s ears bleed by playing it regardless. A lot of my favourite songs, like “House of the Rising Sun,” “Hurt,” and “Piano Man,” are perfect for the harmonica, and I am excited to have the ability to play them. So, with the freedom to do this project on absolutely anything my heart desires, I have decided to learn the harmonica. Wish me (and my family’s ears) luck!