Announcements 

Summer Teaching Plan

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Here’s what we’re up to this term..

Newcomers in KS1 will continue to explore tunes and related exercises from our KS1 Book 1. Support materials and music are available on our KS1 Music Library subscriber pages. Where appropriate, these pieces will be linked to our musical element this term, which is dynamics.

With help from their Harp Academy teacher, KS2 children will work on their favourite pieces from our Music Library. They will also be encouraged to explore improvisation and compose their own pieces. KS2 children will investigate dynamics too.

Listen to

Musical element
What are dynamics? Children will learn how to create light and shade by using soft and loud sounds. They will learn the associated notation terms and also how we move from one dynamic level to another. Further details are available in our subscriber KS1 and KS2 Musical Elements (dynamics) page. (more…)

Announcements 

Spring Photo Competition Result

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Winners!

Well done and thank you to our competition entries. It was all the boys this Spring and we received some great seasonal snaps.

Each one was numbered and placed in Harp Academy’s Easter bonnet. We then fired up our random number generator, which drew out Max Billington playing harmonica on his Easter egg hunt. Congratulations to Max who wins the harmonica pack featured.

But no-one leaves empty handed! Robbie Nicholls, Rowan Gibbons and Zac Webber  each win a splendid Speed Champion.

Sample Lessons 

Spring Special – Eat Chocolate!

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Eat chocolate, la-na-la-na-na

This fun song is the result of a songwriting project with children at All Saints CE Primary School in Horsham, West Sussex. They wanted to create something new and the theme they hit on was chocolate! It wasn’t long before the main riff was finished.

Listen to

Harp Academy teacher Ben Jones added an infectious Salsa backing track to the riff, from which a fabulous chugging section also emerged. The song can be played at any time of the year, however the theme lends itself to Easter and Christmas celebrations.

Let’s play the tune on our harmonica. The purple notes are for 4 hole harmonicas. The orange notes are for 10 hole harmonicas. The number is the hole you need to play. B is breathing out (Blow) and D is breathing in (Draw). Work through the ostinato and chug sections below, then try to play along to the complete track at the bottom of the page. The ostinato is suitable for 4 hole and 10 hole harmonica. The chug however, only works on a 10 hole harmonica. (more…)

Announcements 

Harmonica KS1 to KS3 – a Case Study

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Reasons to be cheerful

This is Ewan McCauley from Aldrington School. Aldrington was the first school Harp Academy ever worked with and Ewan was one of our first students. Here he is to tell you about his journey.

It doesn’t matter whether you are in KS1, KS2 or KS3, if you would like to try the harmonica for yourself we can help. Just click the Gold Harmonica at the side of the screen and let us know. Alternatively, send us a message through the Contact page in our main menu and we’ll be more than happy to lend hand.

Announcements 

Subs, summer dates, kit checks and more..

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Summer harpin’ had me a blast..
If you wish to secure your place for the summer term, Thursday 15th March is our subscription renewal date. If you pay termly, the subscription rate remains £71.50. Payment can be made by BACS, or through the Store menu above. If you pay by monthly Standing Order, you can simply leave this ticking over. Further payment information is available here.

Summer Teaching Plan
Each term we pick a special musical theme and a musical element to study. This summer we’ll be looking into how dynamics add light and shade to music (loud, soft, crescendo, diminuendo) and working at improvisation and song writing. We’ll also be playing songs selected by our harmonauts with a view to a short performance at the end of term. And don’t forget Paddle Round The Pier Kids’ Stage on Sat 7.July!

Dates for your diary
We provide 10 sessions per harmonaut per term. You can check our summer lesson dates in the My School menu above. It’s a good idea to note these on your calendar at home and in your diary; we don’t always start back during the first week of school, and we often finish ahead of the last week of term.

Do you have all your basic kit?
Now is a good time to check through your harmonica kit. As a bare minimum, every student must have..

•  At least one working harmonica (KS1 4 hole Speedy, KS2 10 hole Airwave)
•  A diary with 10 or more blank entries
•  An A4 music folder

Items can be ordered individually, or as a Music Pack, using our online Store menu (no log in is necessary to access the Store). Alternatively, parents can also supply their own notebook and folder.