Skype?Wales?WhatwouldaCardi lo-
calknowabouttheblues?
Awholelot,itturnsout.AndwhileIcould
seeonlyhisheadandpartofhistorsoonmy
screen,Ineededonlytoobservehowheheld
his harmonica and towatch and listen to
howheplayed.He’dhavemeturnsideways
sohe couldworkonmy embouchure (the
way I shapedmymouth to theharmonica),
andwhenhe saw thatmy shoulderswere
somewhere aroundmy ears, he’d tell me
torelax.
If hewantedme toworkonaparticular
song,he’demailmea jamtrack.EveryMon-
dayat9a.m. (unlessIwasoutofthecountry
inadi erenttimezone),his facewouldpop
uponmycomputerscreen.Andforthenext
hour, I’d learnabout theblues, ofwhichhe
hasencyclopedicknowledge.Hemightpoint
outanoteIwasplaying incorrectlyorteach
meanew ri orpart of anew song, and I’d
forgetthatwewerethousandsofmilesapart.
TheUniversal Language
Onmy next trip, an assignment towrite
about Turkey, Iwent from Istanbul toAy-
valik,atwo-block-longvillageinCappadocia.
I sat in a small parkopposite a caféwhere
elderlymensmokedandchatted.Inthepark,
small children stared atme curiouslybut
kepttheirdistance.“
Merhaba
,”Isaid—
hello
,
myoneTurkishword. Theydidn’tbudge. I
pulledoutmyharmonicaandplayed“Amaz-
ingGrace,”oneof thefirstsongsI’d learned.
Thechildren inchedcloser. By the time I’d
finished, theyhadcrowdedaroundme,pull-
ingonmyarmsandbeggingforanothersong.
Iplayed“BoogieWoogie.”Theelderlymenin
thenearbycaféstoppedtalking,andwhenI
finished, theyapplauded.
Ihave sinceblown theblues inNamibia,
where I played for a Himba tribe in the
middleof thedesert; inBan , Canada, as I
rodeup the ski lift; onabikewhile cycling
NovaScotia’sCabotTrail;andatthebaseof
abronzebull inDurham,N.C.
InAugust2012, IwenttoCaraquet,New
Brunswick, for the yearlyAcadian “Tinta-
marre,”acelebrationandparadewhereev-
eryonewears costumes andmakes ahuge
racket with improvised and real instru-
ments(“Tintamarre”means“makenoise”).
I waswatching the paradewhen a group
of about 10 femaledrummersmarchedby.
The pounding rhythmwas so infectious
and joyful that Iwhippedoutmyharmoni-
caand joined them.Atfirst, Istayed in the
middleof thegroupandplayed in theback-
ground,ringo thebeat.Butaswemoved
downthestreet, Ibegantotapmy feet,and
my body started to sway, and suddenly I
was playing a solo, leading the group like
thePiedPiper.
Ifmynotessounded likeableatingsheep,
who cared? I’m just one in a long line of
Americansblowingoutmyheartwithahar-
monica—a“mouthorgan,”a“pocketpiano,”
a “tin sandwich”—perhaps themostporta-
bleandentertaininginstrumentonEarth.
MARGIEGOLDSMITH
, aNewYorkCity–basedwriter, has
traveled to 122countriesandwrittenabout themall. Her
award-winning storiesappear in
RobbReport
,
EliteTrav-
eler
,
BlackCardMag
,
Islands
andmanyotherpublications.
MUSIC
44
JUNE 01, 2013
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
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