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As an eight years old, music played a small but important role in my life. My mother taught my younger brother one years and I how to sing. We expected to entertain releatives when they visited, the harmony part sung by me and the melody by my brother, Allan. When a popular duo called Moilen Sisters graced the airwaves with two weekly part harmony. Some of the songs she sang were "Music in the Air", "Till We Meet Again" and "You Are My Sunshine". We own two radios, Emerson table model in a curly maple and a standing console model inherited from my grandmother. Each week we would sit enraptured by the radio listening to "Lets Pretend" (stories for children) and "The Shadow". Every Christmas my presents always included a musical instrument - a great toy xylophone, a harmonica and once even a real ukulele.
On one days I woke with the construction noises in the living room. A quad is the dismantling of our workers dangling from a huge bay window and crane was a big black piano. My fingers itched in anticipation of the piano while I slowly make its way into the living room looked. Grandpa finally retired and there was no room for a piano in their new apartment.
Accompianing the piano, various boxes of piano rolls. The piano is a piano player! With vigorous action pumper two pedals, the Hungarian Rhapsody filled the air and can easily be heard a block away.
For two U.S. dollars a week, my mother made me piano lessons. Mrs. Trois was a kind old lady who taught piano for extra money. We could not afford the music books I needed, so she let me use hers. Voice lessons were recorded and I sang the lead in a production of Hansel and Gretel operetta. The highlight of my musical experience was a trip to Carnegie Hall to hear Paul Hoffman play the Hungarian Rhapsody # 2.
After six months of lessons, a piano recital was arranged for me. It was there that I had to admit that I was not a note of music to read. Mrs. Trois asked me how I had the music I had put out and I learned that if they played the piece just to me an idea of how the piece should sound, I had learned the piece by ear. Of course, I practiced at home using music as an incidental reference.
The piano went with the family to a small bungalow in a nearby town. With no more lessons planned for me, my mother bought me a book called "How to Play the Piano by Ear". I took it like a duck and water could soon play most of the songs I heard on the radio and at family gatherings. The house, no piano was safely out of my hands, I had to try them all. I baptized pianos in churches, bars, party rooms, music rooms and school stores.
We went to the hotel in Blairstown, my father decided the piano into an electric automatic piano player for the guests to play. An old Electrolux vacuum motor and a quite some parts of my meccano piano found its way into the intestines. It worked perfectly. Soon we had a collection of more than two hundred piano rolls. Represented were classical selections, show tunes, pop songs and old standards. Every week our family and guests would gather in the music room to sing the old songs. My aunt Louise sang Alto (the Low fifth), Daddy sang bass and some uncles and there were many tenors, (the third above the lead). The rest sang the melody. I played the piano.
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Field Guide to American Antique Furniture; A Unique Visual System for Identifying the Style of Virtually Any Piece of American Antique Furniture $3 No Synopsis Available |
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Identifying Wood $4 No Synopsis Available |
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Hohner 532 Blues Harp Pro Pack - MS-Series Harmonicas $89.95 The Hohner 532 Blues Harp Pro Harmonica Pack contains 3 of Hohner's professional-level MS Blues Harps in a package that saves you some cash while offering you harmonicas in the popular keys of G, A, and C. Dig in deep and experience the raw power and grit of the blues. The Blues Harp is engineered for consistent volume and tone that's ideal for intense blues playing. This harp can hang with the toughest players on their most serious gigs. It's highly bendable and has a dirty, dark, hard rockin' sound. One of Hohner's classic models, this blues harmonica is designed to emphasize the best qualities of blues harmonica playing. The Blues Harp features a wood comb and thinner reeds, allowing for easier note bending. It's favored by musicians like Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Lil' Ronnie Owens of the Grand Dukes and is known for its power and tone. These Blues Harps come in sealed "blister packaging" that has several advantages. As the harmonicas are sealed, they are guaranteed to have never been played or tampered with. Additionally, there is useful product information on the package card, for example, a key chart telling players which key of harmonica to use for certain songs if they wish to play in crossharp or 2nd position, which is the default position for blues and rock 'n' roll. Lastly, blister packaging can include added items, such as small booklets on the history of the harmonica, or a mini catalog showing other Hohner harmonicas, accessories, and merchandise. About MS-Series Hohner harmonicas: The acronym 'MS' stands for Modular System, an integrated concept of Hohner's harmonica designs. MS-series harmonicas benefit from innovations that improve their playing characteristics and also significantly facilitate maintenance and handling. All MS-series parts (combs, reed plates, and covers) can be combined individually. Simple screw connections allow for easy assembly. This benefit offers players the possibility to adjust the instruments to their individual requirements. For example, some players prefer the body of one harmonica and the cover plates of another, and so a "custom hybrid" is possible for the discerning player. Replacement reeds are available (see item: RP565 MS Replacement Reed Plates). About Hohner: Hohner is a family company founded in 1857 in Trossingen, Germany, by Matthias Hohner. Handmade quality and close attention to detail have set Hohner apart from the beginning. A top leading brand in harmonicas, Hohner harps are distributed worldwide. Hohner harmonicas are played on the street by buskers, in intimate nightclubs, on festival stages, and even in Carnegie Hall. Despite a diverse harmonica line used in music from country to classical genres, the most famous Hohner harmonicas are simple, 10-hole diatonics used frequently by blues, rock, country, and folk musicians. |