Reply To: Improving the perception of the melodica
I think Charlie Parker would have been doomed if he had been a melodica player, Kevin, but I have to agree on Toots. So all we need is a Toots Thielemans whose preferred instrument is the melodica and we’ll be in business.
Other more familiar instruments have often been regarded with condescension, the accordion for example, the harmonica, the ukulele, the pan flute. And how about the bagpipes? Are they a real musical instrument. I wonder if percussionists ever worry about this. If Tom Teasley bangs two sticks together in the forest, are they a musical instrument?