Re: [Harp-L] Chugging and Choo-Choo Noises

[Joseph Leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Oct 18, 2014, at 10:04 AM, Harmonicology [Neil Ashby] wrote:

> There is indeed some unfortunate pricing of Chromatics such that the discounted Hohner SuperChromonica costs around $199 and that price might be too high for the United States market; the 10-hole Hohner Educator model does not seem to be readily accepted by many students; there should be many more low-cost 12-hole models.
> 
> Perhaps Swan [one large manufacturer in China] has been supplying low-cost Chromatics to the students in China while American students are steered towards the diatonic harmonica (which is a really good instrument but does not fit into most school music programs).
> 
> /Neil
> 
> On Friday, October 17, 2014 at 5:37 PM, bujohn49@xxxxxxx wrote:
>> 
>> dollars and sense????
>> 


There are a lot of stories in the naked city. And this is one.  Mar 20 1955 I strolled into the PX in Naples Italy  to buy my father a birthday present (cigars). While there I intended to get a Swiss army knife also. So I saw some Marine Bands on the shelf and picked one out. At the counter the Navy hired Italian clerk said to me "Eh ragazzo (boy), why you wanna play keesa jonk whena you can play un chromatico?" To wit I answered in Italian " Una chromatico costa multi Lire". . Aaaanway I wound up with a chromatic..so you could say I was steered to chromatic by an Italian clerk. 

I knew a bit about music because it was taught in primary schools at the time. According to my own children it is no longer standard. Ok, when I got my first legal job at age 15 (lied about my age) I was a deli clerk/soda jerk. I  made the minimum wage of $1.oo per hour. A chromatic at the time cost around $14.oo or TWO days net pay. For a 15 year old Chinese youngster, this may have been two WEEKS pay? I dunno. Maybe more. 

So as a retired 72 year old my current net days pay is..$101.16. Two days income would be $202.32. So I seriously don't think there are many children from other parts of the world (except maybe parts of Europe) who can routinely shell out over $200.oo for a chromatic without help. And you WILL burn through a few. lol. On top of that, I feel that these more disadvantaged children are learning to fix them themselves or have access to someone who can. I imagine there are programs in the Orient and S. America to facilitate this. 

Oh, and I think children in other countries are SUPPORTED in their efforts. All my parents ever thought of a child learning music was unnecessary noise.

smokey-joe (who uses the 'apartment building' method of note addresses).