Self-taught harmonica player and retired preacher Milton Bierschwale prefers gospel tunes, accompanied by his wife, Margaret, on piano. Photo by Phil Houseasl
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From his lips to your ears
by Phil Houseal
August 30, 2006
Milton Bierschwale remembers when he was a lad of 10, listening to his grandfather playing ditties on a harmonica. The young Bierschwale even succeeded in picking out a few songs on the old 25-cent instrument.
It wasn't until he was 65 years old that Bierschwale again pressed a Hohner Marine Band to his lips. He discovered that those tunes had stayed in his head for 55 years.
"I found that I could play the same songs I played at age 10," the Segovia native said. "It surprised me."
The retired minister wanted to learn more, but he faced one obstacle: he couldn't read music. So at age 65 he found a music teacher to teach him theory. It didn't matter that she couldn't play harmonica; she showed him how to read notes. Even with that skill, Bierschwale still plays by ear. Many of the songs come from his head - hymns heard during a lifetime spent in church. Bierschwale has devised a system of notation where he writes the corresponding harmonica note next to the conventional music notation. He showed me a hymnal with some of those markings.
"To learn a new song, I can sit down and figure out the notes by using a chart," he explained.
Bierschwale, now 82, has gotten good enough to teach the "How to Play Harmonica" community education classes for the past 15 years.
"You can't really learn to play in a few one-hour sessions," he said. "The only way to really learn is to practice."
Bierschwale and his students have fallen under the spell of the harmonica. Who hasn't? The instrument is popular because it is relatively easy to learn to play, small enough to carry, simple to manufacture, and inexpensive to own.
In the 1850s, when Matthias Hohner began building harmonicas and shipping them to the United States, it is said they found their way into the pockets of Abraham Lincoln, Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid, and countless soldiers and cowboys.
Since that time they have lent their distinctive sound to all types of American roots music, from western, gospel and folk up through the eras of jazz, rock, and blues.
The styles today are endless, ranging from simple pentatonic versions to chromatic types, two-sided models, and dual bass instruments with hinged mouthpieces.
The classic model played by blues musicians and by cowboys around the campfire is the 10-hole diatonic harmonica, designed to play chords and melody in a single key. Bierschwale estimates he owns 15 to 20 different models.
"I really don't know how I got interested in it," he said. "I guess from hearing my grandfather play. It's kind of a hobby, and it is most enjoyable. I think it's a wonderful instrument to learn because you can carry it in your pocket."
These days, Bierschwale often entertains at nursing homes, accompanied by his wife, Margaret, on piano.
"We have a pretty good repertoire, but we are still learning new songs," he said. "I play sometimes on trips, sometimes at home. Sometimes I play just for myself."
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