The Japanese company Tombo has a line of well made harmonicas named after Lee Oskar, the Copenhagen born harmonica player who was a founding member of the band War. Hohner makes many good, reasonably priced models the Golden Melody is one the Special 20 is another. If you\'re a purist, you can buy a Hohner Marine Band, which has a wooden comb. Marine Band harmonicas come in a box with a picture of a bunch of Marines presumably the band. There\'s a romance about this model, but you should be aware that the wood has a tendency to swell up. There are numerous other good, reasonably priced harps available, but one of these is a good start. If you can afford more than one, buy a few different models until you find out which model you like best.

Buying your harmonica the can be done in two ways, the Regular Way and the Fun Way. The regular way consists of the following steps. Go to a music store. Ask the clerk for a harmonica. Buy the harmonica. Buying your harmonica the Playful Way consists of putting on a 1940 era zoot suit and dark sunglasses, slick back your hair, and saunter into the nearest blues club. Men, there\'s no reason you can\'t try this too. Talk to the harmonica player about his instrument during a break. After you sober up remember, don\'t drink and drive. Download some Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee songs to listen to on your way to the music store. When you get to the music store, head to the drum section and start banging on everything in sight. Try out the guitars and the keyboards. Be sure to crank up the volume. When you\'ve got everyone attention, head over to the counter and buy a harmonica. Hold your harmonica in your hand and take a look at it. If what you are seeing is a small knife, you took that joke about brain surgery too seriously and you should get back on your medications.

Most ten hole harmonicas have the holes numbered 1 through 10, starting with the hole on the far left, the lowest notes, labeled one, and the hole on the far right, the highest notes, labeled ten. Lightly blow on all the holes, from number 1 through number 10. Now try sliding from 1 to 10 and back down again. Now try drawing inhaling through a hole. Notice that it\'s a different note. Keep breathing in and out through your harmonica, moving up and down and exploring the instrument to hear what sounds it makes. Notice the difference between high and low, in and out, soft breathing and hard breaths. Are you feeling dizzy? Isn\'t this fun? Talk into the harmonica. You are already playing. If you never did anything more, you have already made music. Invite yourself to jump into the party, which will be a very noisy and strange party if everyone is a harmonica player wearing a zoot suit. Right from the beginning it\'s a great idea to try playing along with recorded music or any music you hear. If an ice cream truck comes to your neighborhood, try playing along with the jingle. But don\'t play the harmonica while you\'re eating the ice cream. Also, since music comes in different keys, you may not have the right key harmonica for every song. If you\'re patient and you keep trying, you\'ll find a song that suits your harmonica. You have to be brave and let yourself play lots of wrong notes.


By Alex Wess teacher of harmonica and music theory.