Harp Academy

For those about to rock, we salute you! 
Thanks to all those who joined us this Autumn . We experienced a real surge of interest, which is fantastic! If you’d like to keep your place for next January, just leave your monthly standing order ticking over, or ensure that we receive your BACS subscription by 15th December 2019. Further information is on our How To Pay page.

Newcomers welcome!
If you’d like to join us for the first time in 2020, just click the Gold Harmonica at the side of this page and select the Free Taster option; we have places available in most of our schools, and we’ll get straight back to you with further details. Further subscription information can also be found father down this post.

Teaching plan Spring 2020
Our theme for the New year is Classical Music for the harmonica, plus the musical element Dynamics (loud and soft sounds, and how we transition between them). We’ll also be preparing seasonal pieces for Easter.

Come and celebrate..
We’ve got an absolute ton of fun planned throughout our anniversary year, with some great workshops and live performances. But none of these can happen without your involvement! Music’s not just for playing in your bedroom. Come and help us make musical memories and enjoy some truly top tooting opportunities. Click the Gold Harmonica for more information.

•  Sun 9th Feb 2020 – Children’s workshop with Joe Filisko (USA) at Harpin’ By The Sea (10.30am-1.00pm) 
•  Sat 4th Jul 2020 – End of term blow out at Paddle Round the Pier, Hove
•  Sat 15th Aug 2020 – National Harmonica Festival music competition, Gloucester

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STOP PRESS: A huge thank you to everyone who has signed up for our Blow Out. We have had an unprecedented response and all forty places are currently taken. If you are interested, you can still go ahead and register (see below). We will add your name to our waiting list and let you know if anyone drops out.

Event details
We look forward to playing to everyone at Brighton’s Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital this Christmas and raising money for the Rockinghorse appeal. Our harmonauts have been invited to play 11am-12pm in the Outpatients Waiting Area on the Ground Floor and we will assemble from 10.45 am.

How to join in
Places are limited so you’ll need to hurry! Mark the date on your Calendar, click the Gold Harmonica and complete your online registration, selecting The Alex option. List any pieces you’d like to play on your registration form. Practise Jingle Bells at home for our grand finale (you’ll find it further down our homepage and in our KS Music Libraries). (more…)

Dashing through the snow

Here’s a fun song to play for Christmas. The song was originally composed in the late 1880’s in Massachusetts, USA. It was written for Thanksgiving rather than Christmas, but these days it’s become a popular seasonal number.

You’ll find that the verse is a bit too awkward for the 4 hole harmonica, so we’ve tabbed it out for 10 hole harp. The chorus is great for any harp however. If you choose to perform this song at Christmas time, but only play 4 hole harmonica, we’ve found it fun to make some movements while we sing the verse, before playing along to the chorus on our harps. (more…)

Summer harmonica fun for all the family…

It was great to see so many harmonauts at Paddle Round The Pier on Hove Lawns. We’d like to thank everyone for turning out; mums, dads, relatives, friends and pets!

Paddle is Europe’s largest beach festival and our annual performance is the perfect way to end the harmonica music year and start the summer season. This year thirty harmonauts took to the stage and blew the roof off on what was an extremely hot afternoon. Dressed as Pirates and Sailors they looked and sounded fantastic! Join us next year, when our theme will be Star Wars, but for now, sit back and enjoy our video of this year’s escapades..