2005 saw the bith of a TV series called Survivorman. The host was a Canadian gent named Les Stroud who took off alone into the nowhere land to demonstrate woodcraft and survival techniques. This was one of the early survival shows, and it had value far beyond the “reality” ones that came after because Les really was alone. He packed his own camera gear and set up his shots himself. Most of all, what he taught was suitable for Joe Average. Les minimized risks wherever he could, and he preached a humble approach to staying alive in austere circumstances.

Regular viewers of Survivorman learned Les is a musician, and one of the things he packed along on his expeditions was a harmonica, and that is the topic of this exploration.

Morale and intellectual stimulation are critical to survival, and as demonstrated by vast number of suicides and cases of clinical depression, drug overdose, and increased alcohol consumption caused by the lockdowns of the past years, morale suffers greatly in isolation. Even in a group survival scenario, morale is critical to maintaining group cohesion. One of the ways to reduce the impact of isolation and the stresses attendant to austere living is to have a hobby or learning opportunity to focus on. Music offers a solution to both, and the harmonica is an excellent tool for the job.

Unlike most musical instruments, the basic harmonica wins on size, weight, and complexity of maintenance in comparison to any other instrument except spoons. Stepping back to our prior posts regarding the weight penalty of heading for the hills, a harmonica adds about five ounces to the load. A small format harmonica song book adds less than eight more. If you choose to pack along an extra set of reeds, you are looking at adding less than an ounce. A penalty, but is it worth it?

Learning to play the harp is only as complicated as the tune you attempt. Start slowly with a simple tune you are already familiar with. The timing of the breath takes a bit of practice because it controls both the note played and the tempo of the music. Yours truly prefers Hohner harps because they seem to take less wind to achieve good sound, and hyperventilating in the middle of a song makes you lose your place.

Reading music is not required to play the harmonica. The holes in the harmonica are numbered. Low number = Low Note. A “diatonic” harp plays one note when you blow through it, and a higher note when you draw (inhale) through the instrument. Hold the harp with the #1 hole to your left. Blow through #1, then draw through the same hole. You will hear the difference. To play the scale, Blow 1, Draw 1, Blow 2, Draw 2, so on up the ladder to the right.

“Harp tabs” are translations of music for the harmonica. They show what hole(s) to play and they have an Up or Down arrow to indicate Blow (Up) or Draw (Down). With a basic idea of how the piece sounds, a beginner can rapidly learn to play the tune written in Harp Tabs. This makes learning new music very fast for the beginner. Of course there are more advanced playing techniques and harps that will blow your mind (and wallet) in their complexity, but the fancy stuff is just not required for the hobbyist.

What can be done with a simple harp

Practicing the harmonica provides some intellectual stimulation and distraction the mind needs to stay centered. The sense of accomplishment of learning a new tune is a real boost to the morale. (Or a path to a quick death if your survival team don’t take to harmonica music.) If you are really hard up, playing on a street corner might earn a few bucks from passers-by.

Watch yer topknot

“Basic” Hohner Harmonicas
https://www.hohner.de/en/instruments/harmonicas/diatonic/progressive/special-20
https://www.hohner.de/en/instruments/harmonicas/diatonic/marine-band/marine-band-1896

How-to Books
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=harmonica+how+to+books&ref=nb_sb_noss

Web Resources – You can find many styles of music “translated” for the harmonica on this site.
https://www.harptabs.com/