Mass Harmonica Lesson Marches Through Kent

Musician Hal Walker hosted a mass harmonica lesson at Plaza that attracted nearly 50 people on a rainy, cold Saturday morning. Then, like the Pied Piper, Walker led his students of all ages to the Haymaker Farmer's Market for a couple “surprise” performances.

Walker, a Kent native who grew up blowing a harmonica on the banks of the Cuyahoga River, has been carrying a mouth harp with him for the last 35 years. Over the past 15, he’s been teaching mass harmonica lessons in elementary schools all over Ohio.

Lately, Walker has been creating a harmonica instructional video series and he decided to further test his technique by teaching a large group of interested strangers to play.

He used email and social media outlets to spread the word, telling invitees to his “Free Mass Harmonica Lesson: Flash-Mob Style” that they could help his cause while learning to play an instrument.

As an added bonus, the first 20 attendees were given a free Blues Band harmonica. Those who owned a 10-hole harmonica in the key of C were asked to bring their own, while others could purchase one for $5 at the event.

Walker explained in his invitation that he’d teach attendees to play using “foundational secrets that I've developed in the trenches of Ohio's elementary schools.”

In an online video promotion, Walker said he was hosting the event “to get some good video footage and photographs of people of all ages and backgrounds playing the harmonica outdoors … I’ll include this footage in my soon-to-be-released video tutorial called ‘Music That Fits in Your Pocket: Harmonica Foundations for a Musical Life.’”

After their hour-long beginner’s harmonica lesson Saturday, all 50 students – from baby-wearing moms to senior citizens – paraded down Franklin Avenue to the farmer's market, where they performed flash-mob style.

The group had two large handmade banners reading “We want more harmonicas” and “More music in the streets” – phrases also chanted by the musicians, accompanied by a blues harmonica.

The group stopped twice at the farmer’s market to show off their skills playing harmonica renditions of “Ode to Joy,” “Turkey in the Straw” and “Sesame Street Blues.”

Click on this link to see a video of the day’s events.