“Nobody’s going to become a good musician out of this, because no one’s got the lung power,” says Pat Rubadeau, coordinator of the University of Michigan Harmonica Club. Despite the name, group members aren’t undergrads. “I’m the baby, at sixty-five,” says Rubadeau, who teaches writing at the U-M. “The oldest is 100.”
Meeting every Tuesday morning at U-M Pulmonary Rehab at the Burlington Building on Eisenhower Pkwy., the group is therapy for people diagnosed with chronic lung conditions. “The harmonica is the only instrument where you breathe in and you breathe out,” says Rubadeau, herself diagnosed with LAM, a rare lung disease. Practicing songs like “Battle Hymn of the Republic” (a group favorite) helps members increase their lung capacity and improve breathing awareness. And it’s become a social outing, especially for a handful of members dependent on portable oxygen machines–Rubadeau, who uses one herself, says users often “stop going out, because they don’t like to lug it. If you can give them something definite to go to, they’ll go out more.”
Birthdays are celebrated, and some participants lunch together. “The new friends are becoming our support group,” says Be Kaimowitz, who accompanies her partner, Ed Vandenberg, who has COPD.
Launched about fifteen years ago, the club proved ahead of its time. “COPD nationally has begun a push” to provide harmonica playing, says Rubadeau. “They started putting out commercials and giving out free harmonicas.”
While the University of Michigan Harmonica Club is free and open to anyone with a breathing problem, it doesn’t provide the instruments. Rubadeau says people usually start with a cheapie costing $6 or $7; if they take to it, they may move up to one priced at $40 or higher.
