Harmonica tuition in schools in the South East of England
We’d like to hear from you
As we draw towards the final lessons of the year, we’d like to thank you for participating in Harp Academy. We are also keen to hear about how we’ve been doing.
We are therefore inviting all our harmonica gown ups to complete a short survey by clicking on the green and red icon in this post. Thank you in advance for your feedback.
Play harmonica in public and have fun with all the family
Please make a note in your diary for this summer. Harp Academy have once again been invited to play their harmonicas on the Kids’ Stage at the annual Paddle Round The Pier Festival on Hove lawns. The invitation is open to our harmonauts of all ages and ability.
This is an ideal day out for families and a chance for harmonauts to experience playing in public on a big stage. Entry is free and there is heaps of family entertainment to enjoy, from water-born events, to rides, food stands, and the main music stage. If you can’t stay after we’ve played on Saturday, the festival continues on Sunday.
We will assemble at the Peace Statue on Hove lawns at 1.30pm on Saturday 1st July, ready to play on stage for an hour from 2pm to 3pm. Our dress code this year is Hawaiian, so don’t forget to bring your harmonica and grass skirt/surfing shirt. Further details are on our dedicated event page here.
To help us prepare, please register your interest by clicking the golden harmonica and selecting Paddle Round The Pier. You can list the songs you’d like to play, and we’d also like you to learn When The Saints Go Marching In, so you can join in our finalé. It’s in our music libraries and in the Sample Lesson below.
Harmonica Lesson Outtakes
Today in class we were working on Tingalayo, an infectious calypso song from Trinidad. You can check out our First Steps in Calypso page here. 
Anyone who knows the song Under The Sea from Disney’s Little Mermaid animation, will know how much fun a calypso can be. ‘So what do we call this kind of music form the Caribbean?’ asked the teacher. No reply. ‘We learnt the name last week, it starts with C and ends with O and it’s sunshine music‘ the teacher prompted. ‘I know, I know‘, said Chester, ‘it’s a Calippo‘.
I want to be in that number
It’s time to learn some traditional jazz on the harmonica! Here’s a song that everybody will recognise. It’s called When The Saints Go Marching In. That’s a long name, so we’ll shorten it to The Saints.
The Saints started life as an American gospel hymn that was sung quite slowly. Once the Jazz Bands of New Orleans got hold of it though, they really made it swing! (more…)
Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown
Improvisation is something that can be quite daunting at first. How do you start? What should you do? The simple answer is anything you feel like, but for some, a blank page can be a huge challenge. At the outset, many of us need guidance on how to improvise. This is an important foundation for future enjoyment and freedom of expression.
Two of our team were teaching a KS2 group in Hove last week. It was the children’s first lesson of the Spring term. The first HA teacher started a simple chug, or riff, on his 10 hole harmonica, while the second HA teacher punctuated this pattern with two simple chords, or vamps..