Announcements

News features and announcements

Congratulations!

Richard

We are the Champions my friends

Well done to Tom Coleman and Callum Shuttlewood, who won their respective categories at this year’s National Harmonica Festival Music Competition in Bristol.

Tom performed Wimoweh (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) by Solomon Linda in the melodic section. Meanwhile, Callum finished the day’s schedule with Avicii’s Wake Me Up. They both showed immense strength of character by delivering two highly entertaining and very musical solo performances.

A big well done also goes to the family members who turned out to support our intrepid harmonauts.

Subscriber Log-In

Richard

Backstage PassAccess all areas

For all paid-up Harp Academy harmonauts and parents, we provide a subscriber log-in for access to our protected pages. These support our classroom learning and provide an effective resource for home study and practise. The log-in code is provided in our Music Packs and white Music Diaries.

If you lose the code, or have only just joined Harp Academy, send us an email with your child’s name and school, and we will forward it to you. To access our protected pages, just click Subscriber Log In in the corner of the screen, enter the code words in the pop-up, and enjoy your VIP backstage pass!

SPECIAL NOTE: NO NEED TO USE OUR SUBSCRIBER LOG IN FOR ON LINE LESSON PAYMENTS OR SHOPPING

My Boy Lollipop

Richard

Laughing ChildrenHarmonica 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‘.

Putting A Foot In It

Richard

Laughing ChildrenHarmonica Lesson Outtakes
We were learning our first study piece with a new group at school today. Hugh asked if he could play it through by himself. Our teacher asked him to stand in front of the group and show everyone what he’d been practising. Hugh not only played the piece faultlessly, but he even ended with a flourish of ascending blow notes. The teacher asked what we call a flourish like this. The question was met by blank faces. ‘OK’, said the teacher, ‘I’ll give you a clue. It begins with G.’ More blank faces. ‘Gliss..?’ he prompted. Still blank faces. ‘Glissand..?’ he prompted again. ‘Ooh I know’, said Theo, ‘Glissandals’. Trust Theo to put his foot in it. ‘That’s very close Theo, but there’s no holiday footwear involved here. It’s called Glissando!’

You can find out more about playing glissandos here. If you don’t have our subscriber log in, check inside the front cover of your Music Diary, or your Music Pack, or email us a request with your harmonaut’s name.

Harmonica Dates

Richard

Harp Academy Teaching Dates
Calendar iOur teaching schedule is advertised in the My School menu above. It’s a good idea to check this regularly and keep a note, particularly as each term starts and ends. Parents should be aware that we run 10 termly sessions each; which means our harmonica programme often finishes ahead of your school’s term. This is standard for music services. It means we’re out of the way during the busiest times at School. If you appear to be missing our regular bulletins and reminders regarding dates and subscription renewals, please check that our information is reaching your in-tray and not languishing silently in a spam folder!