Economics, harmonica, and the winds of change

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academics 1:45 Economics, harmonica, and the winds of change

By:

Spencer Coppage

5 Dec 2025 176

Sheryl Ball’s Rockonomics course welcomed Thor Hanes of the New River Blues Society, who introduced students to the harmonica and the technological changes that have shaped its sound over time.

The idea of this rockonomics, the economics of music, is to have an example of how technological change has affected an industry. And it turns out few industries have been affected more by technological changes than the music industry. That's sort of the basis for the class, is using a music study of how technological changes affect an industry. An opportunity to come talk about the blues in front of a group of Virginia Tech students was very much in line with the mission of the Blues Society that's trying to, you know, preserve and promote the blues in the area. And Thor is a wonderful harmonica player. I've been playing music since I was in high school, and I've acquired a good deal of experience that I love to share with people. And we gave out harmonicas to the students. The New River Blues Society did, and we gave them some lessons so they could get started. I would love for these students to make music a bigger part of their lives for the rest of their lives. They don't have to, they don't want to, but if they do, there's a lot of good things that can happen.

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