Unfortunately, as you take on the responsibilities of adulthood, your fear of appearing silly or inept or less accomplished in the eyes of others increases and you shy away from trying anything new. You allow these concerns to dictate your behavior and miss a great deal. The only way to overcome your fear is to turn off or ignore the external and internal voices that say "no you can't," and go for it. It is easier said than done. Personally, some use beer, but there are some unfortunate side effects like, how come you woke up with a large pair of men's boxer shorts on your head? And where's your car? And where are you? You should walk in the woods playing the harmonica you shouldn't worry about how you measure up against someone else, or how you sound, or if you are using your time and energy wisely. You should feel like Huck Finn on an adventure, and you just want to play. You want to make some of your own music. In a safe place, open to the desire, you able to make the connection between the sounds your breath made passing through the reeds of the harmonica and the possibility of creating beauty.

You may find a way to tap into something powerful call it soul that is in you, but way beyond you. How do people get in touch with this power? First of all, put a bagel on head and start having fun. Not the kind of fun that is forced upon you by overbearing professional motivators and bad wedding singers means the singers are bad, not the weddings. And not brain dead, passive fun there's enough of that available through the televisions. You need to go for the old fashioned kind of fun, the enjoyment that comes from creating something ourselves. To do this, you need to reclaim your right to make own music. In this passive society many of people have never grown any food or built or fixed anything. People no longer eat together in their own homes or play games face to face without computers intervening. All buy disposable, plastic stuff. All stare at the television and eat processed food. And the greatest crime of all is that people have stopped telling their own stories and making their own music. It's just plain wrong.

You need to stop giving your brains and bodies over to entertainment that you sit and absorb like zombie. You need to start making some of your own noise again. You and other people need to march on Washington, D.C., by the millions with underwear on heads! Go somewhere private and huff and puff and toot and bleat and screech until you've got some idea of what you're holding in your hand. Hopefully it's not someone else underwear. Play it soft and play it loud, play it high and play it low. Explore limits and take some risks. Look what happens when you change the shape of your mouth, when you make a trill with your tongue, and when you talk through it. Hear if you can make it sound sweet, or angry, or tough. Stand in your bathroom and pretend you're already a great player, a star, and wail away. Use your tongue to make chucka chucka sounds. Try doing that on the inhale as well as the exhale. Have some faith in yourself. If you're reading this article you must be an interesting person, and It is a guarantee that you can make music.


By Alex Berg who plays harmonica for over 30 years.