[Harp-L] My Name Is Rooty and I Am a Harmonica Owner

[Rooty Baegga <rootybaegga@xxxxxxxxx>]

My Name Is Rooty and I Am a Harmonica Owner.  I bought a harmonica today.

Because I know none of you will be able to sleep until you hear all about 
it, I thought I'd spare you a sleepless night.

I went to my local musical instrument emporium to see what they had in 
stock.  I blanched when I saw the starting price of 12-hole chromatics 
($149.99 and up, but that's Canadian money).  I knew my budget was not 
going to withstand that.

That left my choices to be either a diatonic, or a diatonic.

I chose to get a diatonic.

I asked to see a number of them, including the recommended Horner Special 
20.  I must have looked like such a dork, opening each harmonica case to 
look at them.  To these eyes, they all looked pretty much the same.  Then I 
cradled each one in my two hands the way I've seen harmonica players do 
since the beginning of time.  To these hands, they all pretty much felt the 
same.  I don't think I fooled the gentleman waiting on me at all.

To be perfectly honest, so many people recommended the Special 20, I had 
already decided this would be the one for me.  However, they didn't have it 
in the Key of C.  Being an instant gratification kind of guy, I started 
looking at the ones they *DID* have in C, because almost everyone said that 
was the best key in which to buy a starter harmonica *AND* I wasn't leaving 
there without a harmonica.

I eventually settled on a Horner Blues Harp MS.  Why?  To begin with, it 
felt just as good as any other when I held it.  Secondly, and this was the 
clincher, the guy behind the counter (who was really, really old.  From all 
the framed newspaper articles and 8x10s on the wall I gleaned he was the 
founder of the store way back when) told me that it was easier than any of 
the other models for bending notes.  Say no more!!!

I also figured that at $29.99 (Canadian money still), it didn't break the 
budget and I can always get a Special 20 in the Key of C, or any other key 
of my choosing, at the same price later.

I haven't had a lot of time with it on my lips yet (less than 10 minutes 
overall), but I am already frustrated.  I've been trying to pick out Mary 
Had A Little Lamb on it.  I have the first note....I just don't know where 
to go from there.  Moreover, I am not even sure it's the right first 
note.  DAMN!!!  This is going to be harder than I thought.  I learned that 
song within 5 minutes on the touch-tone phone.

I was going to try and pick out the scale, until I realized that I only had 
the white keys on the piano.

To quote Lenny Bruce: You need the white keys and the darkies to play The 
Star Spangled Banner.

Any advice for where I should go from here?

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Rooty Baegga

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