The KEY.

The key is my favorite musical instrument.

I play the key every day.

My key is a D. I have named her Sloopy.

You can

1: breathe in & out through it

2: whisper through it with pitch

3: sing while playing it at the same time

4: simply tap it on your teeth (on accident, perhaps)

5: play it softly to yourself, or

6: a million other crazy things... there is no limit to how you can play this instrument.

It has been said that this is one of the oldest musical instruments in the world.

Carry it around with you everywhere you go; it fits in your pocket. It is the second-most essential tool I carry. Teaches grace. Simple, useful, pleasurable. Whenever you pluck it, it sends a shockwave of vibration into your body, starting @ your teeth... Gives you the opportunity to relax, and focus on the specifics of rhythm, allows you to concentrate on pacing and timing, dynamics and phrasing. Of all the instruments, this is the 1 that allows for the most intimate association with music.

I feel that probably I should have picked up this musical instrument when I was a very young kid. I remember seeing the instrument on a table in our cabin in Jesup. I couldn't figure out how to play it, and no one told me. I wish I would have played it. As I said, I had not seen any demonstration of anyone actually producing a pitch with one. I actually didn't pick up the instrument until I was 32. I feel that my life could have been so -totally liberated had I been shown 1 earlier. Someone needed to teach me how to play that thing, 'cause I couldn't figure it out, but if I had discovered that I could play it that day in Jesup, I'm sure I would have discovered that I loved it. I wish that someone had shown me how to play that thing, then, 28 years ago.

If someone HAD done that, I would be a completely different person today. Everything would have changed, and everything would be very different. It is almost inconceivable how the trajectory of my life would have changed, but I am content to say that undoubtedly it would be way better. I would have been a happier kid, and, as y'all know, a happy child makes a happy adult. It's like a spark plug. One simple invention that could have lit up the skyline, but, for want of use, didn't change anything: this lost opportunity to show me the proper technique of playing the jaw harp. A little demonstration, a little instruction, would have certainly done wonders for me.

   

I am a musician at heart, and I think that my life could have been set on a straighter path if I was shown the proper usage of this instrument when I was a kid. Everything would have worked out better, including the world! 

See, the funny thing about this, is that everyone is a musician at heart, for we all share the common vibrations. At the heart of the world is vibration; it's how we communicate and what we understand. Whether you consider yourself a musician or not, you are still responsive to the sound waves that dictate how we feel, and what we do with our lives. So, buy one for yourself! Or, parents: go and buy a jew- harp for your kids- they only cost 5 dollars for a Snoopy 1, like mine, and, conceivably: one could hold on to that 1 for life; they never go bad, and they're completely serviceable. 

(Snoopy makes a high-quality instrument). I would definitely recommend purchasing 1 for your kid, and showing him or her exactly how to play it (youtube can help you out with that), especially if the kid shows some interest in music. You just might save their life.

Snoopy playing his: Video unavailable.

Buy one on amazon: Amazon.com : snoopy jaw harp

Instructions on how to actually play one: How to Play the Jaw Harp / Jew's Harp (A Beginner's Tutorial) - Matt Tastic - YouTube

What The Jew Harp Gives Me:

Grace

Grounding

Focus

Ease

Music

Rest

Meditation

Patience, Timing

Rhythm

Discipline, Restraint

Sensitivity, Receptivity, Awareness

Pleasant Sensations/Pleasure/Hubris

Relaxation

Practice w Patterns

...