Every couple of years I get the itching to learn a new instrument. I started when I was 16 and my friend Kelly taught me how to play the G chord on his guitar. I would have to go to his house to keep practicing because I didn’t have a guitar at home. When I finally got a guitar of my own, a beautiful Yamaha C-40 (wow, they still make these!), I barely let go of it. I remember visiting freshtabs.com almost daily to learn songs (I wonder what happened to that site?).
There is a certain excitement to learning a new instrument that I love. I’m not by any means an expert at any instrument – or music theory for that matter – but I know enough to get by. I think when you know music theory, even just a little bit, it’s MUCH easier to pick up new instruments. Knowing music theory has actually really helped me not only learn instruments but even listen to music. Sometimes that’s a curse because you can’t help but take apart everything you hear on the radio, but sometimes it’s nice because you can predict songs and learn them fast.
My wife got me a 7-harmonica pack for Christmas (or was it my birthday?) and I’m just getting around to getting them out and starting to learn some songs. Here’s my current favourite song to play on the ol’ mouth harp:
mikey.blog 