\"I can\'t do this, and I\'m going to look like an idiot trying, so won\'t try.\" This fear haunts many of people. There are related voices, outside and inside heads, telling people to have another donut. And every morning you hear a voice or voices that says, \"Ten more minutes, you can sleep ten more minutes.\" But my point is this you have to ignore the naysayers and the internal negativity and just go for it. There is an even shorter way to say this, but Nike has trademarked the phrase. This is where the harmonica comes in. Some think they can\'t play anything else and turn to the harmonica because they believe it\'s easy to learn. And it is true the harmonica is an instrument that allows you to get somewhere almost immediately, though mastery is another matter. Though the harmonica is not even an instrument that your fellow musicians ask you to learn and it is not the instrument that parents generally urge kids to play the reason people want to play the harmonica is its accessibility it is an inexpensive, tiny instrument that you can bring with you almost anywhere.

The harmonica was the first instrument played in outer space, by astronaut Wally Schirra on the Gemini VI spacecraft in 1965. The primary attraction of the harmonica is its folksy beauty. From the moment you first play the harmonica you can make it cry, or mourn, or laugh, or shout, or whisper. It is an instrument of the people. It has soul without pretension. It is something you can do for yourself when you need to take a little time out from the world. Most of people constantly compare themselves to others. Taught to rank the world in terms of winners and losers, live in fear of being left out or looking foolish and they learn to pay close attention to who\'s in and who\'s out. People apply these standards in their families, in friendships, at school, and at work. All even rank the philosophy and religion, claiming this one to be preeminent, that one the most virtuous, the most generous, the deepest, wisest, or most esoteric. People compare everything to everything, everyone to everyone. For someone learning to make music, comparisons can be overwhelming. With the click of a button you can hear a recording of the greatest musicians in the world, which is wonderful but also crippling.

When you compare yourself to professional recordings, you are going head to head with the best versions of the most highly skilled musicians, as well as in most cases enhanced, remastered versions that even they could not reproduce live. Don\'t allow the extraordinary ability of a few and the slickness of expensive productions to defeat your healthy desire and right to play. People should applaud those who are willing to risk being a fool. And what better way to risk this than by taking up the harmonica? Pick up your harmonica and make it sing and cry a little. Start out in a private place, breathing in and out. Make up your own song. Don\'t worry about any rules or what makes it a song or even music just breathe gently. Treat it like your first kiss. Unless your first kiss sucked because both of your braces got locked together.


By Alex Berg harmonica expert and teacher.