[Harp-L] Review of the Howard Levy Harmonica School

["Barnum, Ansel (Ansel)" <Ansel.Barnum@xxxxxxx>]

Tuesday night I was up till 6am. Wednesday night 5am. Today I slept five hours, which was enough to miss an 11am meeting at work. And now it's the ugly hour of 6am once again, and again the night has passed without a bed's embrace. What could possibly be worth sacrificing sleep and jeopardizing a job? Howard Levy's new online (diatonic) harmonica school. It is, in a word, revolutionary. We all know Howard himself has revolutionized the harmonica by inventing new techniques and bringing a virtuoso's genius to bear on our humble instrument. Now he has created something equally groundbreaking: the first set of educational videos to comprehensively teach the harmonica at the level of mastery achieved by a trained musician. A student who takes seriously nearly any other instrument learns the scales, chords, theory, and techniques which are the fabric of musical expression. But such technical discipline is rarely applied to the harmonica, probably because few think it capable of playing at that level, and few know how. Not anymore. Now the man who's unlocked all the notes in the harmonica explains how we can as well. That's not to say the lessons are just about overbends. They are simply one letter in the alphabet of skills that are covered. Howard teaches the harmonica from the ground up, starting with the basics like playing a single note up through advanced techniques like playing through 2-5-1 changes. All along the way he provides exercises to practice fundamentals, theory to understand musical structure, techniques unique to the harmonica, and demonstrations to see it all in effect. The entire video series amounts to a full course of step-by-step instruction on how to take the harmonica from "Oh Suzanna" to playing altered scale runs on A Night in Tunisia to playing classical music with the dynamics and touch of a concert musician. Whether one will emerge playing at Howard's level of course will depend on the effort invested, like anything else. But he has given us the tools to do what a virtuoso has mastered.

It also bears mentioning that Howard is an amazing teacher. This is just as precious as the knowledge he imparts, as anyone who's suffered at the hands of an impenetrable professor knows. But Howard is astoundingly patient and articulate, explaining everything with clarity from the trivial to the complex. He can also be quite witty, and the humor which infuses all the lessons is indeed a welcomed warmth that disarms the daunting challenges trying to be grasped.

As for the technical side, the videos are shot in high def and are truly stunning to behold, as if Howard is right there in the room with you. They are divided into four categories: basic, intermediate, advanced, and virtuoso. In addition to the videos, there are forums to talk shop and post questions in, even to Howard. There's also a chat feature and user profile pages for connecting with others. But the most incredible part of all is the video exchange with Howard himself. You can submit videos of your own playing and Howard will reply with feedback! Now that's pedagogically priceless.

The cost is $60 for a three month subscription to unrestricted, unlimited video access. Personally, I think it's ludicrously cheap, considering that's about the price of a one hour private lesson with a music teacher. Imagine what the price would be with the greatest player in the world of a mainstream instrument--if such a person would even be offering lessons to begin with. But our ax's luminary is still within personal and economic reach. Now there's one advantage of playing a minority instrument!

Nearly every other instrument has its lists of virtuosos who devoted themselves to the study and mastery of their art form. And nearly every musical genre has been graced by geniuses who have created beauty never known before. The harmonica unfortunately has not inspired as many to undertake it, and consequently there are few teachers able to offer advanced musical instruction needed to unlock the same musical potential that's available to other instruments. Howard has changed that. He once was a mythical wonder whose impossible wizardry was a marvel to behold. Now he's stepped from the stage into the classroom to teach everything he knows. This is a profound moment in history for the harmonica and an exciting one for all its students.


Ansel