Harmonica School Blog

Blog/News

Jul 3
ArtistWorks

harmonica history from hohner part 1

The harmonica is an unassuming free reed wind instrument with a broad range of pitch and sound colors. Its portable size sparks curiosity among many, and make us wonder just how this instrument first developed and rose to popularity. Despite being associated with American music genres like blues, folk, jazz, country, and rock - the very roots of the harmonica can be traced back to the other side of the globe long before it ever reached the West.

Posted in harmonica, Howard Levy
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Jun 4
howard

We will be at The Green Mill Friday and Saturday. I advise any of you in the Chicago area to try to make it. And please let me know if you want me to do lessons on any of the tunes. http://www.chicagomusic.org/preview-trio-globo-green-mill-june-6-7/#.U49cYS9uJj5

trio globo

Posted in harmonica, Howard Levy
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May 2
howard

howard levy tour with Chirs siebold

I hope some of you make it to these concerts:
 
  • May 4:  CZ-Prague, Baracnicka Rychta (solo)
  • May 7:  A-Bleiburg, Altes Brauhaus (Duo with Chris Siebold)
  • May 8:  A-Graz, Unicafé Wall (Duo with Chris Siebold)
  • May 9:  D-Biberach, Jazzkeller (Duo with Chris Siebold)
  • May 10: D-Karlsruhe, Hemingway Lounge (Duo with Chris Siebold)
  • May 11: D-Freudental, Synagoge (Duo with Chris Siebold)
  • May 12: D-Freiburg, Jazzkongress (w/ Michael Riessler & Jean-Louis Matinier)
  • May 13: D-Ulm, Museumsgesellschaft (Duo with Chris Siebold)
  • May 14: D-Hamburg, Bucerius Law School (Duo with Chris Siebold)
  • May 16: D-Reutlingen, ArtGallery (Duo with Chris Siebold)

Posted in harmonica, Howard Levy
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Apr 21
AW

Howard Levy stays busy - between adding new online harmonica lessons here and keeping up with all his students, he still manages to play shows around the world with some very diverse musicians. Just recently he played three unique concerts worth mentioning:

4/4/14: Harmonica Convergence III - Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 

harmonica convergence howard levy

Featuring: Howard Levy, Corky Siegel, Pablo Fagundes, James Conway, Windy City Trio (Ron Agnew, Bud Boblink, and Bill Morris), Marcus Moraes, Kay Kim, Chris Siebold, Kalyan Pathak

"This was the third one of these that I have done at NU. Everyone’s playing was stellar, especially Pablo and Marcos. I had the pleasure of playing Jacob do Bandolim’s 'Santa Morena' with them, which was a joy. I was also the MC of the event. For my featured numbers, I performed the Bach Em Flute Sonata with pianist Kay Kim, as well as a set with Chris Siebold on guitar. We added Kalyan Pathak on tablas for my tune 'Raga Fantasy' and on dumbek for the Macedonian song 'Jovano, Jovanke.' For the finale, Corky Siegel led everyone in a Blues jam. The large audience loved it, and I hope that we can do more of these." - Howard

Posted in harmonica, Howard Levy
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Jan 31
AW

bernie katz harmonica lesson

ArtistWorks is sorry to lose an enthusiastic member of the Howard Levy Harmonica School, Bernie Katz, who passed away on January 17th after struggling heroically with a long illness. Bernie's spirit and passion for playing will be missed. When asked to share his thoughts on Bernie, Howard had this to say:

"Bernie Katz was probably the most high spirited member of my harmonica school. He was the oldest when he joined, by far, but his spirit was indomitable. He was incredibly determined to pick up the harmonica and get good at it. He had played when he was much younger but he hadn't played in a while, and this was something that he really wanted to do and he was just so excited about doing it.

Posted in harmonica, Howard Levy
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Jan 30
AW

Howard Levy recorded this tribute to Pete Seeger while he was in our studio recording some new harmonica lessons for his students. Howard plays a bit of the tune "Living in the Country" on harmonica and talks about what Pete meant to him:

"He was just one of the greatest people there ever was… I first heard him live when I was about 12 years old - I was at summer camp in New York and we rode in the back of an open truck to a theater in Connecticut. Pete was just pulling up in a pickup truck - he had his banjo in the back and a canoe and we waved to him and he waved back to us. I remember that he was a real folk singer. He could get you to sing along without feeling self-conscious about it. He would sing high harmony parts and played with this true sense of joy, whatever he was doing this wonderful energy came through. I'm very, very sad to hear that he passed."

- Howard Levy

Posted in harmonica, Howard Levy
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Jan 1
howard

howard levy harmoncia

Thanks to all of you for joining my school, for coming back, for renewing your subscriptions, for sending in more and more videos, and for enriching my life through your participation in this great harmonica community we have going here, thanks to ArtistWorks. I am incredibly proud to be a part of the ArtistWorks Music Campus. And it is so gratifying to see and hear all of you from all over the world making progress playing the harmonica.

My harmonica New Year's Resolution is to get better at playing tongue blocking style for single note work, including being able to play overblows and overdraws that way. I am grateful to be able to have the time to try this. Time is precious - we should use it as productively as we can.

Wishing you all the very best for 2014,

Howard

Posted in harmonica, Howard Levy
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Dec 27
howard

howard levy harmonica lessonAs requested, my spontaneous piano arrangement of "Silent Night" that I played harmonica to on Christmas Eve. I put it in Advanced in Tracks, which are found in Study Materials. I used an A harp, playing in E (cross harp/2nd position) and C, the key of 4OB (like Eb on a C harp), then back to E. If any of you want to try playing along, have at it.

Posted in harmonica, Howard Levy
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Dec 17
AW

howard levy at the artistworks holiday party

All the hardworking folks at ArtistWorks were in for a surprise at the annual ArtistWorks Holiday Party. Little did we know (except for the few involved in the planning), we were going to be treated to an appearance from Howard Levy, who suddenly appeared with harmonica in hand and ready to play! He broke into a festive medley of familar Holiday tunes, some of which you can hear in the video below. This was just recorded on the fly with an iPhone, but the music is beautiful. 

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Dec 11
AW

Free beginner guitar lessons now available

Now you can access a brand new series of beginner guitar lessons for free! This easy-to-follow, step-by-step program offers high-definition video lessons that walk you through the fundamentals of learning acoustic guitar - including all the essential guitar chords, picking, strumming, easy acoustic guitar songs, and much more.  Taught by the great guitarist Scott Law, Acoustic Guitar 101 is the perfect way to get you playing fast! 

Posted in guitar, scott law
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