Passion for Harmonica

On 13 November, 2009, as many as 6,131 harmonica players players performed together in Hong Kong, finding a place in the Guinness Book of World record. This tiny musical instrument is so popular in South East Asia and the US. Long way to go for us Indian harmonica lovers.

Khandelwal : A repository of knowledge

If you have any confusion or doubt about which harmonica to buy and from where, ask Raman Khandelwal who has been gathering a whole lot of information about this tiny musical instrument. I met Raman recently on my visit to Jaipur.

A strapping young man, Ram is full of enthusiasm. "I am reading up as much material on mouth organ as possible by searching the Internet. It is like sharpening the axe before beginning to cut a tree. I want to gain theoretical knowledge about harmonica first and then start putting it into practice," he says.

Raman is very active on the Harmonica India Yahoo group.

He can be contacted on his mobile at 09413341725.

Saaz Aur Awaaz: Pop Gujarati Song

Ahmedabad's Gramophone Club invited the Harmonica Club of Gujarat to play just one song at their first-ever 'Only Gujarati Songs' programme at the Tagore Hall. This was a challenge for all the members of the Harmonica Club because so far they had been only practicing and playing popular Hindi film songs. The song that the Gramophone Club asked the HCG was 'Taari Aankh No Afini', a 1948 number originally sung by Dilip Dholakia. This was particularly challenging for the youngest members who had never heard the song. However, a CD of the original song was procured and played before the members several times over till they remembered the tune by heart. Members started practicing the song twice a week.

Three days before the function, the office-bearers of the Gramophone Club wanted to listen to the HCG to satisfy themselves that the song had been played to the perfection. After all, it was to be performed before an audience that comprise of well-known Gujarati musicians, including the legendary Dilip Dholakia. The test performance was held on the sprawling lawn of Bansi Gajjar's bungalow on November 11.

We present here the original song sung by Dilip Dholakia followed by the rendition of the song by the HCG members.

Awaaz by Dilip Dholakia

Saaz: Mouth Organ by members of Harmonica Club of Gujarat

A date with Mouth Organ Maestro Madan Kumar

Madan Kumar is humility personified. Maestros are like that. The greater heights they achieve in their profession, more humble they become, just like a fruit-bearing tree which bows down as they are laden with fruits.

When I called him up to say, "Sir, I am coming to Pune", he said, "Hop over to my place on Sunday." Madan Kumar lives in the central business district of Pune in a studio apartment on the MG Road.

Both his children, a son and daughter, are married. Son lives in San Fransisco and daughter in Mumbai. In their Pune apartment, only Madan Kumar and his wife live. Having spent 60 years playing mouth organ, Madan Kumar, now 67, cannot live without music. So, he has converted his living room into a small make-shift recording studio.

He squats on the ground on a matress, offering me the sofa to sit on. Like a child, he shows me his collection of harmonicas - all from M Hohner, Germany, except one from Hering. Some of the harmonicas have become collector's pieces as Hohner has stopped making them. There is a harmonica with solid silver body, weighing 300 grams. There is a double bass harmonica and a complete set of CX-12 in G, C, Bb, E and F scales.

Madan Kumar has mastered the various techniques of playing mouth organ - vamping, chording, tounging, vibrato, bending notes to be able to become a one-man orchestra. "I have become a sound engineer by experience," says Madan Kumar, who had to give up his studies after matriculation to take up a job in the construction industry as a labour supervisor.

To complete a song, Madan Kumar, while playing the lead, also records on different tracks chords, octave playing, special effects in the form of vibrator and vamping, which he then mixes on a digital editing device.

Past few years, Madan Kumar has been teaching youngsters. "Only if the new generation takes up playing harmonica that this little instrument has any chance of surving the onslaught of electronic synthesizers," he says.

On one of his visits to his son in San Fransisco, Madan Kumar had presented his five-year-old grandson Pranav, a harmonica. The little one, after blowing into the instrument for some time, had kept it aside till he saw his grandpa's video on the Harmonica Club of Gujarat blog recently. "Look, that's grandpa playing mouth organ," he exclaimed excitedly to his dad.

Pranav fished out the mouth organ his grandpa had given him and began playing. "Why are you moving your fingers like that?" the dad asked. "That's the way grandpa plays," the boy explained non-challantly.

Magic with a Puck

Puck is among the smallest of harmonicas from the stable of M Hohner, Germany. It is a small wonder which produces melodious music. The instrument has only ten holes and does not have half notes. With cupping and by bending notes, an expert can play many a tunes which only a chromatic harmonica can produce.

Here is a popular number from the film 'Aradhana' played on Puck by Ashok Bhandari.

Behti Hai Ganga Vahan Mera Dhaam

Ashok Bhandari and I met in Banaras in 1974. We were studying in the same class in the Banaras Hindu University (BHU). He was staying in a hostel, while I lived with my parents. I had been playing harmonica since I was 7-year-old. Ashok had just started learning harmonica. He was particularly fascinated by my playing the Jewel Thief song, 'Yeh Dil Na Hota Bechara', which involved changing scales quite frequently.

Since then, a lot of water has flown down the Ganga river. Ashok not just learned harmonica but became a maestro. He became a professional magician and used to always end his magic shows with a few numbers from Hindi film on the harmonica.

Here is a song from the film 'Jis Des Mein Ganga Behti Hai':

Magic with Mouth Organ: A La Ashok Bhandari

I met Ashok Bhandari, my college mate, after 35 years. Three years ago, he had found me through the Internet and since then we have been in touch with each other over phone, e-mail and chat. I had seen his performance on Youtube. Some harmonica players, after watching his videos, had expressed doubt that Ashok used some digital editing tools to create special effects.

However, when I met him face to face at his studio apartment in Delhi and heard him play I was wonderstruck by his talent and skill.

Listen to the Lara's Theme from Doctor Zhivago that he played for me:

Ajeeb Dastaa Hai Ye: Dc Ab Rp Ak

I still remember their first visit to Destination 5 in Ahmedabad. Paresh Bhatia had asked me to attend the programme on his behalf, as he had to go to Dubai.
I used to play 'Ham Honge Kamyab' song with many mistakes. But soon after the programme I managed to meet Apoorva Bhatt and he immediately invited me to Vadodara promising that he would surely teach me some techniques. And Harmonica got a special place in my life.
Strangers became friends!!!!
There is a long story in between this but some other time .......
Ajeeb Dasta hai ye................
Dilip Sinh Chavan, Apoorva Bhatt, Rupesh Parmar and Amjad Khan......

Hawa me udata jaaye : Manohar and manhar in action

Manohar and Manhar took off very smoothly to catch the 'lal dupatta' !!
There was a time when Manhar Majithia used to play the 'sionara song' , meaning the last song !!
Today he is playing in top ten, proving the fact that age has no limitations, if one really want to achieve something. Despite the reality of breath problems, he has brought himself up to this level.
As usual Manohar Vaidya ..up to the mark....

Master Blaster: Kavit Shastri

Kavit Shastri and Manohar Vaidya met just before the programme and decided to play this song together. His matured way of playing made all of us completely speechless and surprised. Just look at his body language, exhibiting very high level of self confidence.
HCG is very proud to have seven such Tendulkars who are yet to be properly introduced to the world of Harmonica.