Between the cheerful yellow covers of The Miniature Harmonica is a teacher bursting with life, fun, and knowledge. Zach Arnold runs a river of delightful, informative harmonica poems through his "rewarding exploration of the vast field of making music for one's self". A chapter is devoted to making "musical punstruments", such as a harmonica popcornet, the perfect instrument to play at popcorncerts.
This marvelously atypical book is infused with the personality and helpful presence of the teacher. The focus, however, is entirely on the learner.
Arnold's manual is written and illustrated clearly. Its lessons are bite-size 15-minute commitments of time. Anticipating the skills the student might find more difficult, encouraging suggestions are made for ways to get started. The essential but potentially boring repetition of scales is made pleasant by easy variations in the practice exercises. Enough review is built into the lessons to be helpful without crossing the line into tedium.
In addition to the lessons themselves, the book includes information on the use and care of the harmonica, its structure and attributes, how to make holders, sound chambers, and resonators, a chapter for the harmonica teacher, and an annotated bibliography. The pages are thoughtfully bound in spiral to lie flat easily.
What appealed to me immediately, before opening my harmonica case to get started, was the range of music provided. The selections include many familiar American tunes, some easy melodies from Germany and France, a few snatches from classical composers, and the author's original compositions of waltz, sonata, and other forms, all at manageable skill level. The variety truly helps to make the harmonica a musical companion.
