Harmonica University provides online harmonica lessons. The site is at http://www.
harmonicauniversity.com
Audio players within lessons enable “hear it then play” teaching. This online course is for beginners, intermediate and advanced players.
The site is designed like an American University, with Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior “years”. An online graduation exam is included.
The site has been developed over the last two years, and released gradually in China, where it has proved very popular. The Chinese version is at http://www.kouqin.com.cn and currently gets around 3500 hits per day. The English version was launched in June 2008.
The project by reviewing some of the better known harmonica instruction material now available. Some issues appeared repeatedly, which can be addressed by an Internet based harmonica course, designed from scratch. In particular:
– Most instruction books have a CD. A good thing, but the CDs often have 50 tracks or more. Finding track 46, or whichever one you may be on is tedious. Some CDs have fewer tracks, which are longer. These are easier to manage, but then playing a particular part of a track over and over usually means re-starting the track each time. Also, the CD format limits the amount of audio in the course.
These problems are addressed with the Harmonica University web based course. The course has over 1000 audio tracks – out of the question for a CD based course, no problem for a web site. Each track has its own audio player, which sits next to the relevant text or tab. Track portions can be accessed by dragging a slider.
– Some course have jam tracks, usually separate to the lessons. These are valuable; my course provides them as well. However, students also need a band to back the exercises in each lesson, starting with the first. This band should cover a wide range of styles. Band in a Box fits the bill for this. Band in a Box has been used widely in the course, the tracks are in nearly every lesson and underpin most exercises.
– Finding instruction books appropriate to the level of specific individuals can be hard. Accordingly, the course has been designed like a University, with Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior Years. Freshman Year is for beginners, Senior Year is quite advanced, Sophomore and Junior Year fit in between, with 81 lessons altogether. This makes it easier for players to find the right starting point. More experienced players can pick and choose individual lessons. The graduation exam is aimed at those who have completed the course. This exam is challenging.
– Most harmonica instruction is focused on blues only. However more should be offered, particularly for younger players. Hence the course has two equal strands, one for blues, the other for traditional tunes. There is also a Hip Hop section.
– To date, very few harmonica courses provide the technical background and exercises needed for traditional tunes (e.g. bluegrass and Irish fiddle tunes). The Harmonica University course addresses this, and covers first, second and third position tunes in considerable detail.
– Some courses require music reading skills to be developed very early on. Given few harmonica players read music while playing, it is better to avoid theory at the start. Instead, the course uses a simple tab, followed immediately with the associated audio. The approach is “hear it then play”, the way most harmonica players do it.
– Classical players develop speed by working with metronomes, at steadily increasing rates. The course provides the same systematic approach to building speed and accuracy, based on gradually increasing the speed of exercise backings. A software metronome is also supplied.
Harmonica University provides a new standard for excellence in harmonica teaching.
Why HarmonicaYniversity.com It Might Be A Killer
The harmonica is the most widely sold instrument in the world. However there is not yet a high quality online harmonica teaching course.
Harmonica University fills this gap.
This online harmonica teaching program caters for complete beginners, intermediate and advanced players.
The Internet supports streaming audio, enabling a “hear it then play” teaching approach. This is the basis for Harmonica University, which has over 1000 audio tracks.
Harmonica University provides provides a new standard for excellence in harmonica teaching.
