Music and mayhem to end the week
During the Corona lockdown, Harp Academy went online with weekly lesson links, live tutorials, and the ever popular Live@5 show. Our Friday YouTube shenanigans featured regular moments of mischief, harmonica interludes, quizzes, and a pie-tastic finale.

We’re delighted that our Live at Five broadcasts were so popular and who knows, one day we may resume the weekly mayhem. In the meantime, you can continue to enjoy our offerings by clicking through the links below.

Enjoy our previous Live@5 broadcasts
Live at Five 1a      Live at Five 1b      Live at Five 2     Live at Five 3     
Live at Five 4        Live at Five 5        Live at Five 6      Live at Five 7  
Live at Five 8        Live at Five 9        Live at Five 10   Live at Five 11

Harmonica Lesson Outtakes
Today we were working on a new way to play the C major scale, by pairing notes. We call this playing in couplets. It makes a simple exercise more exciting and promotes good breathing and navigation skills. We can add other effects to make the process even more challenging, such as legato and staccato, and emphasise notes. Eventually we produce a fun melody with an Irish twist.

So what do we mean by a couplet?’ asked the teacher. No reply. ‘The answer’s in the word! Try removing the last two letters‘ the teacher prompted. ‘I know, I know‘, said Jake, ‘it’s a small cup‘.

How to join in, even if you forget your harmonica

Don’t worry, we all forget things from time to time. You may feel disappointed, but you are still on our register and you should come along to your harmonica session just the same. Although we can’t lend you a harmonica because this may pass on germs, we do have plenty of ways you can still join in musically.

The first question to ask yourself is, when did I last see my harmonica? It might still be in your book bag, a coat pocket or in your classroom drawer. You’d be amazed how easily this can happen, so have a quick think. If it’s definitely not at school, there is still plenty we can learn and enjoy, even without a harmonica. Here’s how… Read more

Aren’t you a little short to be a Stormtrooper?

Here are some harmonauts enjoying their Star Wars session with Ben Jones…

Star Wars is always a favourite with our students, but there’s plenty more musical fun we get up to each week at Harp Academy.

If you’d like to learn the harmonica at school, click the Gold Harmonica across the screen and let us know. Otherwise email us through the Contact link in our main menu and we’ll be happy to help.

M A X my dog is Max

We had great fun music making with Evie Peak this week. Evie’s in Reception Year and had started to write her own song at home. It’s about her pet Pug, Max. By the end of her lesson, Evie finished her tune and it goes like this..

https://www.harpacademy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Evies-Dog-Song-COMPLETE.mp3]

When we talked about Max and what he does, it helped us to make up some words for Evie’s song. You can learn to play Evie’s tune here line by line, and maybe sing along too. You can also download and print the Arrow Tab here if you need to.  Read more