Re: [Harp-L] really cheap harmonicas - $5 dozen / my warning

[Boogieman Peeps <boogiemanpeeps@xxxxxxxxx>]

well, that's certainly one way to look at it<grin>


On Mon, May 27, 2013 at 4:22 PM, Joseph Leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I don't think I understand this klepto for harmonica players having this
> need to flood harmonicas onto youngsters.
> I can't think of any other group of musicians whom does this. Is it
> because the harmonica is cheaper than (for example) a violin?, an
> accordion? They only thing you get with cheap harmonicas is spreading
> disallusionment and frustration.
>
> I seem to recall back in the early 50s when there was a new thing (sic) on
> the market  called an ocarina. Kids were getting them at the five & dime
> stores. Those and yo-yos. But no one was giving them away. Then there was
> the rash of recorders in the 60s. That and the hula hoop. In the 70s it was
> probably something else...and the pet rock. Then sea monkeys and chia pets.
>
> My point is that I don't like the idea of making decisions FOR youngsters.
> What's wrong with letting them decide for themselves. And if they want it
> bad enough, they will probably come up with a solution. Hinging off the
> previous post about who influenced you in the harmonica world, the question
> could just as easily be 'who influenced you in the MUSIC world?
>
> I can recall my first love. I was standing in the front of a shop that
> couldn't have been more than 8 1/2 feet wide and by the time you left 3 ft
> for the doorway, you were left with a display corner window of 5 ft by 5
> ft. And in that window were at least 3 DOZEN accordions. Every thing from
> full 41 key 120 bass models to ones with 8 keys and 2 bass. And everything
> in between.
>
> I fell in love with a 27 key 36 bass model. Just my 9 year old size. Well,
> there was no way I was going to get one. So, a few weeks later I bought a
> diatonic with my shoe shine boy money.."Hey Joey..go and get your shine
> box". Only got to play it for a week when it got run over by a streetcar
> while I was running to school. 3 1/2 years later I got a chromatic..and
> that's what I play.
>
> As years went by, I moved to trumpet, then clarinet, sax, and
> then...eventually I got that accordion. But it wasn't the same. I had lost
> my original zeal. Another thing I am against is that every time there is a
> musical give away program, it seems to be in the inner city. To me this is
> like telling poor kids. "Here's a harmonica, now go get yourself out of
> your predicament". I think it's an insult. In conclusion, I think people
> should leave the kids alone. If they want something bad enough, let them
> figure it out. That's how kids learn for themselves and become independent.
>
> smokey-joe
> >
> >
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