Spinal Cord Injury and harmonica

[Freddie]

#24178

This is my experience playing with a spinal cord injury. I hope it may help others with this condition. When I first started I kept jamming up the reeds. We are spastic and our body position in response will be round shouldered with our head in a forward position. This combined with a weakness to keep our arms high leads to the jamming. I found by tilting my wheelchair back to put me in a more prone position prevented the frustration of jamming the reeds. I hope this helps somebody sometime.

[Freddie]

#24181

Hey Shawn, I am sorry to hear of your injury. I can not imagine what that is like. I know there can be so many emotional aspects to deal with on top of the obvious physical ones on a healing journey. Music is so healing… especially being able to express yourself musically. I think it is really incredible that you have persisted to find ways that make it possible to play in spite of these challenges and are sharing your experience to be able to help others going through a similar situation. Thanks for sharing… this is really inspiring for me. Good luck on your healing journey!

[Freddie]

#24182

Hey Shawn. Thanks, man. This happened to me at age 45; I’m 69 now. I damaged the upper part of my spinal cord–the brain stem. So I’m grateful to be alive and not locked in (for months, I was utterly paralyzed–only able to blink my eyes. I wrote a book about this called Locked In Locked Out).
You are right-music is healing. I have played guitar since I was a boy and missed it. I didn’t think of the harmonica until nine months ago. I’m enjoying Mitch’s lessons and picking out simple tunes to play. Great to be making music again. (Maybe not so great for my wife😀).

[Freddie]

#24183

Wow… I can not even fathom an experience like that or imagine how intense that was on so many levels… or how you’ve gotten to where you are today! Your post has put it into perspective… and it’s even more inspiring to say the least! What a blessing that you were able to come out of being locked in! Thats gotta be be such a mix of grief for things like missing your guitar and the life you knew and gratitude to still be alive. And seriously the convenience of the harmonica for the win! Also your comment about your wife cracked me up… cause we all can totally relate! I remember when I was learning… it was college, I had learned what I thought was an array of amazing songs and my roommate one day very frustrated and looked like he was going to burst was like, “Dude! you’ve gotta learn another song other than that Bob Dylan song!!!” Ha… meanwhile in my head I had been playing many different amazing songs… to him it was just one painfully monotonous stream of not so pleasing sounds… that apparently translated to one particular Bob Dylan song lol! 😂. Thanks again for sharing your story… like I said it has given me much inspiration in my own life. Take care Shawn!

[Rooftop Cat]

#24195

That really is inspiring! I can’t imagine the struggle you must have endured and the perseverance to still make it happen. So many harmonica journeys entail somehow a kind of burden or pain, being the blues instrument it be. From an outsiders or beginners perspective, harmonica seems surely like such a simple instrument at first — a toy to most, but there are TOO many ways to play thin or sour notes, but on the flipside, there so many different ways to achieve the SAME beautiful toned notes too, so it has its struggles, but still with quite a lot of versatility and hence much personality. Love that you’re sharing your ways around the instrument.

I’ve found that when I personally do warbles with my neck, I could easily throw my alignment off if my posture was off, like having my chin too far close to my chest, but can relieve those muscle movers when doing warbles with my shoulders/wrists instead. I usually do a combination of both really, but I’ve found recently that I actually sometimes switch one technique on or off completely. I’m not entirely sure why yet..

Curious – Have you tried or thought about using a rack? I was thinking…maybe it could be set in a way to alleviate muscles like neck flexors or other areas of tension. Just some ideas for comfortability/playability. It might alleviate some pressure in your upper vertebrae. On the flipside, it might add too much pressure if it’s too tight. I’ve also seen some harp-drummers with a hanging contraption that is more free in the air, but they all look to be personally custom made.
Best,
Ryan

[Freddie]

#24196

Thanks, Ryan. I don’t know about inspiring, man. You might call it something else if you heard me play😀. I just chose to accept my new life and make the best of it rather than wallow in what I lost. Grieve and then move on. I’m happy.

You are so right; the harmonica is a fantastic instrument. The subtlety of creating the right tone has been an eye-opener to me, and how personal, as you say, the harp is.

I’m excited to practice and experiment with your great suggestions about warbles. Thanks.

Yes, I have bought a neck holder and have tried that. It might allow me to modify the sound by cuffing and improving my body position. However, I have only limited movement of one arm, and I find it awkward to set the harmonica in place and get it over my head. But with time, patience, and practice, I’m sure I’ll find a way.

Shawn

[Rooftop Cat]

#24198

Cheers, Shawn. Good luck on your journey. I personally play solely because I love it, regardless of how bad I may sound xD, for now…. ;) At first it was the convenience. Now it’s something that makes me happier than I could have ever imagined. Please share with us your progress. Makes me excited hearing about others enjoyment and progress on this unique little instrument too. All the best.

[Author]

Posts