A Single Mother's Farm of the Gods-Chapter 547: Music Practice
Elaina has already seen people play harmonica before, and according to those she has talked to who know how to play them, it is easy to learn but hard to master, as techniques and various styles of blowing air to the instrument can make or break the sound it makes.
And that is where the hard part comes in for Elaina. It would have been fine if she were going to make music since many people can play harmonica and make some simple music even on their first day, but since she is going to copy an ancient music sheet that she can’t understand with music notes that she doubts to be able to do in her first try, that’s the hardest part.
Elaina started practicing the harmonica the very next day. After finishing her farm work, Elaina would usually go and start fishing, but that day, Elaina decided to skip fishing entirely and replace it with the practice she needed for the harmonica.
The farm is quiet during the afternoon and wind is blowing nicely, perfect time to practice for it. She started to blow the harmonica a few times, making sure it does work. Once she made sure it is indeed making a good sound, she started blowing on it while trying to imitate the people who plays harmonica. However, instead of producing a good tune from it, she only gotten a high pitched sound, which is not a good start. Of course, she is not discouraged. After all, it takes effort to do it perfectly.
First, she made sure to practice blowing on it a few times and familiarize the sound of the harmonica. But each time she does, it sounds a bit horrible which made it a bit weird since majority of people she saw playing harmonica is able to produce good tunes. She tried to blow it a bit lightly as well but it isn’t producing enough tune either.
Of course, Elaina is not a quitter so she continued to practice a few more times but she couldn’t make it right. There are some notes that she managed to hit and seemed to sound a bit natural, but it isn’t that great. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
"What am I doing wrong? Is it the way I blow or the technique of my movement with my hands?"
All of a sudden, someone spoke behind her. "Wrong way of blowing, Mom. You blow the harmonica a bit too strong or a bit too weak to make any decent sound. If you needed to properly make a good tune, it all comes with the way you blow and the way you make your lips and sometimes tongue to do a few things to make the sound come clean."
Elaina jumped in surprise as she looked behind her and saw Adelaide watching her practice the Harmonica.
"Don’t scare me like that, Ade. Have you been there for a long time?" Elaina asked as she never expected to see Adelaide currently observing her play the harmonica.
"You might be a so focused on your practice that you didn’t even notice me approaching and standing here. I have been here for quite some time and observing your ways of playing the harmonica and I don’t blame you since that is how most usually start out. Of course, with a bit of more practice and actual guidance, the harmonica won’t tune bad and in a few weeks or even months, you can play good notes on the harmonica," Adelaide points out.
"You know how to play a harmonica, Ade?" Elaina asked.
"Not on a professional level that can produce godly music and tunes, no. But I do know the basics and making good tunes to play it since I do play on camps from time to time in my past life and passing time and helping comrades sleep in expeditions. If you want, Mom, I can help you out. Can I borrow it for a bit?"
Elaina nodded as she wipes the harmonica before handing it to her daughter. Adelaide checks on the harmonica for a bit and look at her mother and smiled. "I might be a bit off in the sound department since it has been ages since I played one. But I still do know how to play it."
She put the harmonica to her mouth and made sure to make a good "sealing" point on the harmonica. She made her stance steady and relaxed, before she started blowing the harmonica. And for once, the harmonica started to produce tunes that Elaina has heard from people who does play harmonica. Adelaide tested the harmonica a few times before she commits to the playing music part. Adelaide easily blows the harmonica and producing quite a good tune to the point that Elaina is liking how Adelaide plays it.
Adelaide didn’t play too long and stopped after she finished doing so. "Man, I felt a bit rusty there. I got the basics going but I needed to practice the Harmonica again to get used to my way of producing the sound."
Elaina claps as she Adelaide glance at Elaina confused. "Why are you clapping, Mom?"
"Your performance is short, but it is a nice sound and I like it. Didn’t know you also retained your memory in playing the harmonica."
"Yeah, but since I have done it a lot in the past, it is kind of a habit and mannerisms already.I consider it a bit meh in quality but can still be improved."
Elaina couldn’t believe her ears when she heard that this matter is not that much of a problem. If that was a meh, then what would be if she was conditioned on it?
"Anyways, Mom, if you wanted to learn how to play the harmonica, I can teach you how to do it and how to make good music that you can play to pass the time or break the silence of the night."
"Can you do it?" Elaina’s eyes lit up.
"Sure Mom, here, this is how you do it. It all comes to gentle breathing, proper posture, and a relaxed position to play it. Some would sit, some would stand; it doesn’t matter as long as you are comfortable with your position. Now, blowing the harmonica hard would still make a sound, but it is a bit meh in sound and is prone to sounding bad, making it not pleasant to hear. Blowing too low would only stop you from making good sound, either. It needed to be a balance of both."
Adelaide began to point out Elaina’s mistakes and how she does the blow to the instrument. She made sure her Mom is able to be comfortable with the process, and Elaina follows her instructions well. Of course, for Elaina, who learns quickly, with Adealaide’s proper guidance, the Harmonica became easy to handle and play sounds. Of course, it is not yet in a complete way for her to actually imitate Adelaide’s way of blowing the harmonica.
"Good progress, Mom. I didn’t expect that you would easily get used to how the Harmonica works," Adelaide smiled as she gave a thumbs up to Elaina.
"I still have a long way to go. If I wanted to actually perform the music sheet and play the song myself, then that would be a great accomplishment."
Adelaide suddenly got curious about what Elaina just said. "Music sheet? So this is the main reason you started playing harmonica?"
"Basically, yeah, I am trying to make use of what I learned to actually play the song that was written in this booklet, and perhaps I can learn something out of it and learn its secrets." Elaina pulled out the booklet she found from the World Tree and showed it to Adelaide.
Adelaide read the booklet and frowned for a bit. "This music sheet is written in an unknown language. Is this an old language, Mom?" Adelaide asked.
"No. It’s a lost language of the elves based on the words of those who know the writing. The main reason I wanted to learn this is perhaps this song would actually help me get linked with the elves that are elusive and have been in hiding for a long while now."
Adelaide tried to play the music, and somehow, he managed to produce quite a bit of relaxing music as Adelaide played it. But she didn’t play it for too long.
"Wow, for a sheet note for the harmonica, it is unnecessarily complicated," Adelaide shook her head.
"Is it that hard to play?" Elaina is not like what she is hearing.
Adelaide shook her head. "Not really, but it is a bit complicated to learn and is truly not for beginners. It needs to hit some notes that are hard to master for beginners. Perhaps if I am using my past life body and experiences, I would be able to play it myself. But because I suck at the moment, I think you will have to learn this harmonica thing and make sure you can actually play those notes because just by listening to the first stanza of the song, the tune is already quite well."
