Stereotypes and the Harmonica

‘In the piano scores of songs there are [now] strange diagrams. They relate to guitar, ukulele and banjo, as well as the accordion –infantile instruments in comparison with the piano- and are intended for players who cannot read the notes.’

-Theodor Adorno.         

   When I told a former university lecturer that I played the harmonica, she replied, jokingly, ‘gee Sam, I didn’t know you’d spent time in prison’. Her response typifies stereotypes of the instrument; that it is designed for the amusement of the downtrodden, the lowest classes, and the outcasts of society. Such negative typecasts have been solidified in popular culture through a variety of forms from Hollywood films, to toy replicas of the instrument that are little better than whistles. In the former case, the dying American civil war solider calling for ‘dixie’ to be played on the harp [slang for harmonica] one last time, the prisoner in the exercise yard, the old toothless bum playing blues at a railway station, or the folk singer droning on the instrument while simultaneously strumming the acoustic guitar, are all popular (mis-)conceptions of the instrument and its cultural place.*

   Part of this negative image arises from the construction of the instrument itself. Anyone can inhale and exhale into the instrument and produce a sound (which will be in a western harmony-hence the term harmonica-and sound ‘pleasing’). This gives it an appearance of ease and, therefore, ‘accessibility’ suited to the ‘untalented classes’. Condescension to the instrument is as much a disdain for persons of these stereotypes and an opportunity for the critic to feel a sense of superiority, instead of a chance to appreciate a new instrument and sound. The quote from Adorno [whose snobbish views of culture I abhor] at the start of this piece is a prime example of this mentality.

   Yet anyone can produce a sound from any instrument with relative ease, but few can then play that instrument well or with any technicality, and even fewer can play brilliantly [see my article on Stevie Wonder for an introduction to a brilliant harmonica player]. Indeed, whenever I have allowed a friend to try playing the harmonica, the most they managed was awkward chords; not one of them could play a single note melody! The more complex actions of bending, over-bending, trills, tongue blocking, vamping, and varied vibrato techniques, would be far beyond their grasp at a first playing/lesson, and are probably beyond their knowledge of sounds associated with the instrument altogether.*

   That is not so say that there is anything intrinsically wrong with refraining from complex techniques [see style and form (forthcoming)], but rather that the wider capabilities of the instrument should not go unacknowledged. As Kim Field notes, in is brilliant book: Harps, Harmonicas, and Heavy Breathers, whenever a ‘serious’, or classical piece of music is composed for the instrument it is written and framed with stereotypes in mind, and often with an ignorance of the instrument’s full capabilities (C3-C#7 being the full range of a sixteen hole chromatic harmonica). Thus, there is the ‘street-corner concerto’, or Milhaud’s Suite for Harmonica and Orchestra in three movements entitled ‘Gigue’, ‘Sailor Song’, and ‘Hornpipe’. However, along with Blues and Folk, the instrument is adept at Jazz, Classical, Soul, Funk, Rock, Reggae, Hip Hop or any other style of music one cares to name - as is any other instrument. Within the musical families, the Harmonica breaches a fine line between the brass and woodwind sections. It has brass reeds but the fact that it uses reeds would probably place it in the woodwind department; a position similar to that of the saxophone-which is made of brass but produces sound through a reed. Its sound is so unknown and misunderstood that I often have to tell people that the music they are listening to is produced by a harmonica. On such occasions, harmonica players performing through distorted amplifiers are often thought to be guitarists or electric pianists, while acoustic players are mistaken for clarinets or saxaphones.  

   Of course every instrument has a sound and a persona associated to it. When considering the Harmonica’s, and further considering its familial place, I would have to agree with one of the arguments presented by Field. With its proximity to the mouth, the Harmonica has the feel of a lost voice.

*Being a big Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone fan, my favourite portrayal of the Harmonica in mainstream film is Once Upon a Time in the West, despite the factual error that Charles Bronson mimes on a tremolo harmonica in the film, when the performer on the soundtrack alternated between a diatonic and a chromatic as the piece dictated. This only strengthens my argument: There are different types of Harmonicas and people often associate the limits of one with the other.

*Whenever I have then shown would-be players such techniques, I am glad to say, I have never failed to provoke a smile and a sense of pleasure, albeit accompanied by surprise, in the listener.

Classy Huh?