Harmonica tuition in schools in the South East of England
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How to Practise Harmonica
It’s noticeable in our weekly school sessions when children have found the time to practise at home and have the support of their grown ups. Confidence levels are high, progress is swift and lessons are fun. Central to this process is parental encouragement, good use of our website, a music diary, a well managed music kit and a specific task or performance to aim at.
Of course some harmonauts tell us they don’t have time to practise, their grown ups won’t let them, or they’ve lost their music. And there was one harmonaut whose dog ate their harmonica – we saw the evidence, complete with bite marks. But practise needn’t be a torture. Here is our take on how to make it a purposeful and enjoyable habit.
Harp Academy Website
Many of our study pieces and exercise have a support page on our website. With help from their grown ups, harmonauts can log in and navigate to the appropriate page. Here they can find click-and-copy buttons to guide them through songs line by line. There is an explanation of what makes the song or music exercise unique, a list of key skills covered and practise tracks. Wider learning items also feature, touching on music theory, general knowledge and performance preparation. (more…)
Would you like to include music-making on the harmonica in your setting?
Here’s Richard presenting Play Harmonica, the theme tune from Harp Academy’s early years harmonica courses for 4-7 year olds. He’s using a 4 hole easy-play Speedy harmonica (available in our Store). Set to the tune of Wind The Bobbin Up/There’s A Dinosaur, the song encourages young players to acquire the following key skills:
∙ Hole location by number – 1 2 3 4
∙ Breath control – Blow and Draw
∙ C Major Arpeggio – C E G C
∙ Musical Alphabet (with Makaton) – A B C D E F G
∙ Progression to C Major Scale – C D E F G A B C
∙ Enjoyment of Rhythm and Rhyme
∙ Follow hand signals for intonation
∙ Read and follow harmonica arrow tab notation
If you would like access to the backing track, harmonica tabs, or further details about music making on the harmonica and running weekly sessions in your Early Years setting, get in touch using the details on our Contact page. Please also visit our Early Years menu for more insight into our Pre-School harmonica activities, or our KS1 for young School Age children.
Autumn 2024
We launch our Autumn harmonica learning and club activities from 16th September 2024 and we very much hope you will join us. Our rates and payment options have not changed. Details of our teaching plan and theme are below.
First timer?
Welcome! We offer all newcomers a free Taster Session, which includes a free starter harmonica to keep. Simply click the Golden Harmonica on our homepage, complete your details, and we will email further information. Our email and this website explain what to do after your taster session, but feel free to ask any questions!
Back for more?
Termly subscriptions are £75.00 (10 sessions) payable in advance. You can also pay in two half termly instalments of £40.00 (5 sessions), payable ahead of your first and sixth sessions respectively.
Payments
Payment can be made by bank transfer, or through our Store using a credit/debit card (no need to log in). We regret that we are unable to accept childcare vouchers. Further information, including our account details, is available on our How To Pay page.
Please label all kit items
Please be assured that Harmonica teachers check our music activity area at the end of each session to ensure nothing has been left behind. If an item of kit is found, it will be handed to the school office. Occasionally children can leave a music session with somebody else’s kit by mistake. In each case, the situation can be swiftly remedied if kit items are marked or labelled with their owner’s name. Your help is appreciated.
All Shook Up
A reminder that every Harp Academy student should bring the following kit items to their harmonica sessions: Harmonica / A4 Pocket Folder / Notebook & Pen