The History of HarmonicaUK (1930-Present)

HarmonicaUK started life as a Hohner marketing activity in 1935 and remained so until it was handed over to the members in 1981. It was first called the Hohner National Song Band League (SBL), then the National Harmonica League (NHL) in 1982 and finally HarmonicaUK in 2021. (Work in progress)

This multi-part history was published in Harmonica World, the magazine which is distributed to members of HarmonicaUK, between 2020 and 2021. It is in 8 parts.

The History of HarmonicaUK (Part 3, 1950-1959)

HarmonicaUK started life as a Hohner marketing activity in 1935 and remained so until it was handed over to the members in 1981. It was first called the Hohner Song Band League, then the National Harmonica League and finally HarmonicaUK.


The Golden Age of the Harmonica

The end of WW2 produced major changes in society. Soldiers returning home wanted change and they returned to a different Britain. One part of the change was the rebuilding of the Entertainment Industry as musicians and artists looking for work as the rebuilding of the country got underway. We will see the secondary effect of the opening up of education when we get to the 1960s.

The 1950s saw the high point for the harmonica. The soloists (Ronald Chesney, Larry Adler, Tommy Reilly and Max Geldray) gained National and International status and the harmonica groups (The Three Monarchs and The Morton Fraser Harmonica Gang) enjoyed lots of success in Music Hall, initially on BBC Radio and then TV brought them into homes all over the country.

Ronald Chesney had demonstrated the potential of the chromatic harmonica when he gave a solo performance in the Royal Albert Hall in 1946. Larry Adler had toured the world, stared in films and composers began to write music for the harmonica. In 1952 Larry performed the ‘Romance in D flat for Harmonica’, composed for him by Ralph Vaughan Williams, in the BBC Proms. Tommy Reilly moved from the Music Hall to the concert stage with compositions by Spivakovsky, Gordon Jacobs and his long term accompanist, James Moody. Max Geldray continued in the jazz clubs and Variety.

The format of the early radio shows opened up many opportunities for entertainers. Shows like ‘Variety Bandbox’ and ‘Workers Playtime’ on the BBC Light Programme provided spots for soloists and the groups but the popular long running comedy programmes like “The Goon Show” and “Educating Archie” featured musical breaks in the story which were filled by Max Geldray and Ronald Chesney respectively. Ronald went on to write the scripts for Educating Archie.

Harmonicas also turned up on themes for radio programs and films.

Tommy Reilly can be heard on Dixon of Dock Green and The Navy Lark.

Larry Adler had a big success with his music for the film “Genevieve”.

Ronald Chesney appeared on Educating Archie.

In addition to the home grown talent, the Harmonicats’ recording of “Peg O’ My Heart” was proving very popular and Borrah Minevitch had moved ‘The Harmonica Rascals’ to France. Interest in the harmonica was at its peak.

The National Harmonica League restarts

Hohner had started rebuilding their organisation after the war and in 1949 they established the National Accordion Organisation (NAO) and relaunched their magazine, “Accordion Times”.

In 1951, Hohner restarted the Hohner National Song Band League (HNSBL) and began the publication of Harmonica News.

This was in part a reaction to the increase in popularity of the harmonica in the UK, but also a result of Hohner setting up the Federation Internationale de l’Harmonica (FIH) with Dr Otto Meyer (GB) as President. This was an umbrella organisation covering most European countries and S Africa which went on to organise the World Harmonica Championships starting in Duisbourg in 1953 and then moving around European cities in subsequent years.

The new organisation had Ronald Chesney as its President and Larry Adler, The Three Monarchs and Tommy Reilly were active in events and writing for the magazine. At the start of 1953 Hohner changed the name of the organisation to the National Harmonica League (NHL). This was less of a mouthful and reflected the increased emphasis on individual players, not bands.

Competition for the NHL Championship was fierce, with regional heats and then a final which was held in the Central Hall, Westminster in London. The three winners then took part in the FIH World Championships. As the event developed, competition classes were held for chromatic soloists, groups and diatonic harmonicas (not blues harp!).

Several of the winners of these early competitions have been active in the NHL in recent years. Douglas Tate, Jim Hughes, Gerry Ezard and Dave Beckford are probably the best known, but even more went on to join the Morton Fraser Harmonica Rascals. Local harmonica bands and groups continued into the 1950s, but the increasing popularity of the guitar based rock and skiffle groups led to a steady decline in their numbers.

The peak of the NHL’s success was in the mid 1950s but by 1958 the interest was waning and Hohner could no longer afford to support the magazine. In 1959, Harmonica News ceased publication and harmonica items were moved into the Accordion Times. The Council of the National Harmonica League agreed to transfer its activities into the larger and more active National Accordion Organisation (NAO). The activities of the NHL continued under the wing of the NAO.

Away from these organisations something was stirring.

Deep in Soho in The Round House pub on Wardour Street, Cyril Davies (harmonica) and Alexis Korner (guitar) were running a club which was progressing from playing early country blues, Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly music, to barrel house and blues.

Touring American blues musicians visited the club and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee were the club Presidents. Following Muddy Waters visit to the club in 1958, the move to electric Chicago blues music was underway, but that has to wait for the next part of the story…


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The History of HarmonicaUK (Part 2, 1939-1950)

HarmonicaUK started life as a Hohner marketing activity in 1935 and remained so until it was handed over to the members in 1981. It was first called the Hohner Song Band League, then the National Harmonica League and finally HarmonicaUK.


We left 1939 with a young pair of chromatic harmonica players, Ronald Chesney and Tommy Reilly, just starting their careers and Larry Adler enjoying world wide fame as a World War was breaking out.

The Hohner Song Band League stopped officially at the start of the Second World War and did not really get going again as a club until 1951. Despite this, these years turned out to be an important time for the harmonica.

The social changes brought about by the mixing of service men and women from all sections of society and all over the country and in foreign places led to a need for entertainment, and portable instruments like the harmonica were in great demand. Ronald Chesney led a campaign to collect harmonicas to send to the soldiers.

After the war things came together for the harmonica. This is illustrated in the programme notes for a concert of classical music performed by Ronald Chesney in the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in 1947, just after the end of WW2. It was the first solo concert held there by any harmonica player.

Ronald Chesney’s Programme Notes from the Royal Albert Hall

Finding that his musical ability did not advance beyond the “party-piece” stage, Ronald Chesney’s lessons on the piano terminated at the age of twelve. Freed from the grind of five-finger exercises his natural love of music came to the surface, however, and nine years ago, at the age of seventeen, his studies were resumed. Discovering by chance the possibilities of the mouth-organ, he chose this surprising instrument for serious study and within two years had made his broadcasting debut with instantaneous success.

After appearances in many of the B.B.C.’s major programmes, his own feature, “Teaching the Allied Forces how to play the Harmonica,” commenced and brought him a fan mail running into many thousands of letters. Averaging nearly a hundred a day, Chesney took pride that the majority of these letters came from servicemen, stationed in all parts of the world – from the desert and from the lonely arctic circle, where the pocket- sized mouth organ was a substitute for full-sized symphony orchestra or swing band, depending on the musical tastes of the player’s comrades. To these men his programmes of instruction and music were a link with home.

His virtuosity on such a small instrument attracted the attention of concert impresario Harold Fielding, who has during recent years presented him in concerts throughout Great Britain, including a musical festival at Sadler’s Wells. Still a bachelor at twenty six and a young man of simple tastes, Ronald Chesney spends most of his time in a workshop at home, improving the mechanical aspect of the harmonica to keep pace with his musical progress. He believes the instrument capable of great improvement and considers he has only just begun to discover its vast musical possibilities.”

The harmonica was being taken seriously at last!

The chromatic harmonica moves into the spotlight

Larry Adler had been playing in America entertaining US troops at home and then in Europe.

Ronald and Larry both went to the Hohner factory in Trossingen as soon as the war ended to get more instruments.

Lots of things were on the move.

Ronald Chesney was touring the country with top musical artists, and Larry Adler was performing in the USA and around the world. He did his own concert at the Royal Albert Hall just after Ronald Chesney.

Tommy Reilly had been interned in a prisoner of war camp at the start of the war, when he was studying violin in Germany.

He spent time developing his technique on the chromatic harmonica. He returned when the war was over and started playing harmonica in Music Hall and on the BBC.

Tommy Reilly had been interned in a prisoner of war camp at the start of the war, when he was studying violin in Germany. He spent time developing his technique on the chromatic harmonica. He returned when the war was over and started playing harmonica in Music Hall and on the BBC.

Max Geldray had escaped to the UK from Holland at the start of the war and joined the Dutch Brigade of the British Army. He began playing in London jazz clubs in his spare time and even played in a concert for the Queen at Windsor in 1942. After the war he continued to find some work in clubs but his big break was just round the corner.

After the war Morton Fraser advertised for harmonica players and started the Morton Fraser Harmonica Gang with demobbed soldiers.

Eric York, Jimmy Prescott and Henry Leslie (aka Cedric/Les Henry) got together after leaving the Army and formed the Monarchs (later The Three Monarchs), initially as a straight act. The comedy came later.

Larry Adler blacklisted in the USA

The clouds were gathering for Larry Adler. He was blacklisted by the US House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947 along with many others in show business. This prevented him from working in America, which led to him moving with his family to live in the UK where he was much more appreciated.

The Golden Age of the Harmonica was about to start…


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The History of HarmonicaUK (Part 1, 1930-1947)

HarmonicaUK started life as a Hohner marketing activity in 1935 and remained so until it was handed over to the members in 1981. It was first called the Hohner National Song Band League (SBL), then the National Harmonica League (NHL) in 1982 and finally HarmonicaUK in 2021.


Hohner set up in London

Hohner harmonicas had been sold in the UK for a long time but they set up their first representative, M. Michaelson, in the mid 1870s. This arrangement continued with moderate success either side of WW1 until 1929 when Hohner decided that they needed to a bigger presence and they set up Hohner Concessionaires Ltd. in London They brought in their own people to help run the business which was located first in Farringdon Road and then 21 Bedford Street, Strand, London, but it was still not successful enough

In 1930, Dr Otto Meyer was moved from the Hohner Hamburg Export office to reorganise the new company. He was a British National born in Bradford with an English mother and a German father. It was an inspired choice. In the next few years Dr Meyer encouraged the formation of accordion clubs and he realised the need for more tuition and music for the accordion and harmonica. He brought in specialists to provide this. Initially the concentration was on the accordion.

The birth of the Hohner Song Band League.

In 1935, Charles Millard was asked to create the National Harmonica Song Bands League (HSB) with the objective of the promoting the setting up of Song Bands among the youth organisations of Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State.

Tremolo, diatonic and, increasingly, chromatic harmonicas were the main instruments sold at that time.

Players were urged to join the League, get their membership card and then buy their HSB Harmonica and Song-Books.

Soon 100’s of harmonica bands had joined the membership.

Hohner began to publish a magazine “Accordion Times and Harmonica News” later that year. Jimmy Black became the editor.

The development of the teaching side

Dr Meyer had two pieces of luck at this time.

1 – Captain James Reilly, the father of Tommy Reilly, returned from teaching orchestral and harmonica band music in Canada and he accepted the position of Musical Director of the USB.

He wrote articles for the magazine and produced some of the best known tuition books for the harmonica.

2 – Larry Adler was brought from New York in 1934 by C B Cochran to star in his review ‘Streamline’ on the London stage, By 1935, interest in the chromatic was growing fast and Hohner brought out the “Larry Adler” model. Larry toured Britain playing in the main theatres and presenting prizes to players like the young Harry Pitch who won talent contests in local halls. Hohner’s biggest turnover came in1936.

Regional competitions took place and harmonica bands were set up in churches, schools, scouts and youth groups… Books on how to play the chromatic, and how to organise bands and perform in concerts were produced by the new Hohner Concessionaires.

The bands promoted by Hohner used HSB branded tremolos with orchestral, tenor and standard tunings plus vinetas for harmony. Drums and an accordion were sometimes included.

Chromatic soloists like Ronald Chesney and Morton Fraser were starting to emerge, but the HSB and the magazine, Accordion Times, closed down with the start of WW2 in1939. Hohner was regarded as a German Company although it had become a part of Hohner Inc. in New York. Dr Meyer was arrested but released about four months later after an appeal. He had built up stocks so Hohner managed to keep going through the war period.

It took quite a few years after the end of the war to get the business working normally again, but Dr Meyer had more plans for the HSB.


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Midnight Cowboy – Toots Thielemans or Tommy Reilly – solved!

The theme from Midnight Cowboy is one of the best known pieces of music played on harmonica.

This is the version from the Soundtrack Album of John Barry’s music for the Jerome Hellman – John Schlesinger film Midnight Cowboy.

Everyone knows who played it, don’t they…
It was Toots, wasn’t it???

I stumbled over this question when someone told me it wasn’t Toots Thielemans, it was the British harmonica soloist, Tommy Reilly. It turned out to be more complicated than this.

The making of Midnight Cowboy

John Schlesinger began filming Midnight Cowboy in Florida, Texas and New York in 1968 and during 6 months of post production he realised that he needs some contemporary music for the film. John Barry had written music for Bond films and had also been involved with the UK popular music scene in the 60s as the leader of the John Barry Seven, and an arranger for pop singers, so he was asked to supervise the music for the film.

Some of the music had already been chosen, like Fred Neil’s Everybody’s Talkin‘, sung by Harry Nillson, but more, dramatic music was needed – something which was to become as famous as Everybody’s Talkin‘. A lonely harmonica tune that almost anyone could play.

The recording of the harmonica soundtrack with Toots Thielemans

John Barry said, “I wrote the harmonica theme, in which the counter melody is more important than the melody, giving a general repetitive feeling like going nowhere, to reflect the underbelly of New York. For the actual melody, I wanted something very unsophisticated, that any guy sitting outside a gas station in Texas could play. “

“We kept the instrumentation very simple, 12 string guitars, a rhythm section and the harmonica, so that the theme of Midnight Cowboy in the score would fit in with the musical language of the Nillson song.”

Toots Thielemans was living near New York at that time and his chromatic harmonica brought great tenderness and longing to the theme. He also can be heard on some of the re-recorded Nielsen pieces in the earlier part of the film. All the harmonica heard during the film is played by Toots.

The recording of the Film Music Album with Tommy Reilly

The commercial release of music from the film Midnight Cowboy is a bit more complicated. Eight of the twelve tracks on the sound track LP, called the Original Motion Picture Score released by United Artists Records (Liberty 1A 054-90639), were from the New York film soundtrack recordings, but the other four tracks, including Midnight Cowboy and Joe Buck rides again, were recorded in London in June 1969. This time the harmonica on Midnight Cowboy and Joe Buck rides again was played by Tommy Reilly. Any other harmonica heard on this album is by Toots.

The release of the single versions of the Midnight Cowboy Theme

Following the release of the LP soundtrack album, Toots and John Barry released a 7″ single (45rpm) of Midnight Cowboy on Columbia and Tommy Reilly and The John Scott Orchestra released a 7″ single (45rpm) version on Polydor.

Toots Thielemans and John Barry
Tommy Reilly and John Scott

These recordings show that it was Tommy’s idea to bend the notes in the main theme. Tommy always thought that that Toots was perfect for the movie and did a fantastic job.

The double CD “Midnight Cowboy – Expanded Original MGM Motion Picture Score

Much of this information comes from the CD notes of the excellent and comprehensive double CD “Midnight Cowboy – Expanded Original MGM Motion Picture Score“. [Quartet Records – QR434, MGM Records – QR434, Universal – QR434].

CD1 has the original LP tracks and some bonus tracks, including alternate versions of Toots playing Midnight Cowboy. CD2 has the music from the original film score. The CD booklet does not say Joe Buck rides again was played by Tommy Reilly.

Background to the John Barry recordings in London

Tommy Reilly’s manager, Sigmund Groven, added more background to the reason for the London re-recording of Midnight Cowboy. “John Barry had worked with Tommy several times before, including on the 1966 Marlon Brando film “The Chase” (soundtrack on CD: Varese Sarabande VSD-5229), and he wanted to feature Tommy in the Midnight Cowboy score.

As it happened Tommy was unavailable; he was on tour in Australia at the time, so John Barry asked Toots to play in the film. However, when Tommy was home after his Australian tour, John Barry was very pleased to be able to use him on the London sessions for the album.”

There are some great videos of Tommy and Toots playing Midnight Cowboy.

Toots plays Midnight Cowboy at 90 years old
Tommy Reilly plays Midnight Cowboy on Dutch TV

Extra Information.

1 – There are two recordings of the theme from Midnight Cowboy recorded by Toots Thielemans and John Barry after the release of the film. The commercial 45rpm version (above) has a “fattened” harmonica sound (flanger?) and the alternative take, which is also on the double CD, sounds like a straight mono recording.

2 – Popular concerts of John Barry’s music (including Midnight Cowboy and Dancing with Wolves) provided regular work for harmonica players. In the UK this has included Jim Hughes and Harry Pitch when Tommy Morgan could not make it from California. Phil Hopkins was once summoned to John Barry’s house in London as there were problems with Tommy Morgan’s UK visa.

Phil auditioned successfully and returned home to practice hard for the concert at the Albert Hall. Just before the performance he got a message that the visa had arrived and Tommy would do the gig. Phil got a cancellation fee and acknowledged that the audience got a better deal hearing Tommy Morgan play the harmonica themes.

3 – Shortly after the London recordings for the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack album Tommy had a telephone call from Polydor Hamburg where he had already made two commercially very successful albums with Kai Warner: Melody Fair and Latin Harmonica. He flew over the next day. They played him a recording from a new film score and asked him if he could play the harmonica exactly the same as the uncredited player on the LP.

The first take was perfect. The producer said: “You are a genius”, and Tommy started to laugh. The producer said: “What are you laughing for?” and Tommy admitted: “That’s me playing on the original record!” The single (Polydor NH 59323), with John Scott as musical director, and with Tommy credited this time (!), climbed the charts in many countries. (Sigmund Groven)

4 – Despite the success of the two recordings by Toots Thielemans and Tommy Reilly, the version recorded by two pianists, Ferrante & Teicher, was nominated for the 1969 Grammy in the category Best Contemporary Instrumental Performance. I don’t think John Barry was very pleased either.

Chromatic Harmonica Music from Tommy Reilly Tribute Concert

Douglas Tate, Jim Hughes, Philip Achille, Frank Semus, and Ola Braein perform music for the chromatic harmonica at a concert organised by Ena Reilly in Frensham Church in 2004, accompanied by Chris Collis (piano) and the Quartet Pro Musica.

Music includes three works for Harmonica and String Quartet – ‘Divertimento’, ‘A Yorkshire Tale’ and ‘Somerset Garland’ – plus solo pieces by Fauré , James Moody, David and Tommy Reilly, Tchaikovski, and Norwegian traditional music.

The original concert included performances by singers Hannah Poulsom and Jim Heath, but this video only includes the harmonica performances. The start times for the individual artists and pieces of music are given below.

An evening sponsored by The Tommy Reilly Appreciation Society in Frensham Church in 2004

Concert Programme

Douglas Tate and Chris Collis (piano)
0:01:00 – Berceuse (Fauré )
0:04:30 – Three Irish Dances (arr James Moody)

Philip Achille and Chris Collis (piano)
0:07:20 – Little Suite, 3rd and 4th movements (James Moody)

James Hughes and Philip Achille with String Quartet
0:14:40 -1771 (James Moody)

James Hughes and String Quartet
0:18:00 – Divertimento for harmonica and string quartet (Gordon Jacob) – 4 movements
0:29:00 – A Yorkshire Tale – Ronnie Hazelhurst

Frank Semus and Chris Collis (piano)
0:37:40 – Canzonetta from 2nd Movement of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto
0:43:59 – Age of Innocence – David Reilly

Ola Braein and Chris Collis (piano)
0:47:33 – Wedding march
0:49:21 – Visetone (Norwegian traditional)
0:52:00 – Lord, look upon our joy (Norwegian traditional)
0:53:28 – Vårsøg (wind of spring) – Henning Sommerro
0:56:40 – Spanish folk song (traditional)

James Hughes with String Quartet
0:59:00 – Somerset Garland (Paul Lewis)
1:13:05 – Bavarian Woodpecker (Tommy Reilly)

Concert End
1:15:24 – Thanks to Ena Reilly


My harmonica video archives on YouTube and Vimeo

My uploaded harmonica video archives can be found in several places.

YouTube – My first attempts at video production were to capture the annual National Harmonica League (NHL, now HarmonicaUK) concerts in the Folk House in Bristol, starting in 2001 until they were moved after 2018. I also began to digitise some earlier NHL concerts from VHS tapes and early camcorder tapes mainly from recordings by Victor Brooks. Around 230 videos can be viewed on my YouTube site.

Here is the video introduction for this channel.

Vimeo – I prefer the videos to be viewed without ads, and I like the control that a paid Vimeo account allows. The downloading and embedding of the videos can be specified and if a video needs updating or editing it can be uploaded over the original without affecting the original link/url.

My more recent harmonica videos have been uploaded to Vimeo where they can be linked to my websites like this blog. There are over 75. You can view them here

The videos are organised into Showcases where similar videos are grouped together.

Playing the Thing – One group of the Vimeo videos is part of a project to reverse engineer a harmonica film from 1972 – ‘Playing the Thing‘ – directed by Chris Morphet. These are now embedded on a dedicated web site for this project which is recreating the original interviews which were edited to create the original film – Larry Adler, Sonny Terry, James Cotton, Cham-Ber Huang, Duster Bennet, Bill Dicey, Andy Paskas, Hohner’s Factory, Dutch Harmonica Championship … You can watch the original film here,

Chromatic Harmonica Music from Douglas Tate Memorial

This video contains all the chromatic harmonica music played during the Memorial Service held on April 21st, 2006, in Olney Parish Church. Douglas Tate was a charismatic UK harmonica player, engineer and teacher. He had played in World Championships, broadcast on the BBC, and written books on the maintenance and playing of the chromatic harmonica. He became President of SPAH in 2000 but his term was sadly ended by cancer.

Douglas had been involved with the National Harmonica League (now HarmonicaUK) for most of his adult life and the musicians who took part in the Memorial Service were friends from the organisation. Gerry Ezard, Colin Mort, and Harry Pitch were long time friends and Philip Achille, Eddie Ong and Jamie Dolan were youngsters that Douglas had encouraged.

  • 01:20 mins – Douglas Tate – Sonata for Harmonica (Peter Jenkyns)
  • 06:00 mins – Jamie Dolan – Mulberry Cottage
  • 09:00 mins – Harry Pitch – Last of the Summer Wine
  • 13:00 mins – Philip Achille – Ashokan Farewell
  • 17:50 mins – Jang Ming – No Place Like Home
  • 19:00 mins – Ensemble – Bach Double Violin Concerto
  • 27:40 mins – Jamie – Dark Island
  • 30:00 mins – Douglas Tate – Trio Sonata in F major (Jean-Baptiste Loeillet)

You can learn much more about Douglas Tate and his life from my articles in the Harmonica World magazine issue shown in the video above. It can be viewed here.

Here is a link to a page of Douglas’ recordings and sheet music put together by Barbara Tate.

Gianluca Littera – Chromatic Harmonica Teacher and Performer

Gianluca Littera was born in Rome in 1962. He graduated in Viola in 1985 at the G. Rossini Conservatory of Music in Pesaro, and afterwards he performed with many famous orchestras and conductors.

Whilst playing the Viola, he heard Toots Thieleman playing the chromatic harmonica and became fascinated by its sound and potential.

In the following years he taught himself to play the instrument, as there was no agreed way or didactic path dedicated to it.

He went on to perform as a classical soloist as well as leading his own jazz ensembles.

Following extensive research, consulting libraries, archives and contacting publishing houses, Gianluca Littera became aware of the existence of a large repertoire of music written for harmonica. Due to the absence of any educational path for the training of players, much of it has never been performed except on rare occasions in concert by the few players who have dedicated themselves to it.

These works include composers such as: Villa Lobos, Darius Milhaud, Malcom Arnold, Arthur Benjamin, Graham Wettham, Michael Spivakovsky, Robert Farnon, Alan Hovhaness, Paul Patterson, Gordon Jacob, Vilem Tauski, Vaughan Williams, Henri Sauguet…

In 1996, Gianluca recorded the Villa Lobos Concert for Harmonica and Orchestra with the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Maestro Adrian Leaper.

Since then, his career has grown exponentially. Gianluca Littera has played as a soloist with numerous orchestras all over the world, inluding the Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, both in concert and in recording projects with Maestro M.W. Chung. He has performed many new works for harmonica including a work by Ennio Morricone.

In the Jazz field, he has worked with international artists such as Ute Lemper, Ivan Lins, and Eugenio Toussaint. He has toured internationally and appeared at the Shanghai Jazz Festival in China, Erl Festival (Austria), Edinburgh, Belfast etc…

In addition to his concert activity, Gianluca Littera is the author of various compositions that he has performed with numerous orchestras. In 2007 he released the CD “Sconcertango” with the chamber group “Ensemble Project”, with compositions and arrangements mainly by him.

Starting in 2014 he held harmonica courses for several years at the Conservatory of Rome Santa Cecilia and the Conservatory of Frosinone and Vibo Valentia.

In 2019 he submitted an application to the Ministry of Education – with the support of the director of the Conservatory of Rome, maestro Roberto Giuliani – for a three-year university degree for the study of the harmonica, an instrument that had been absent from the Conservatory. It was accepted and marks the official recognition of the harmonica, putting it on a par with other musical instruments. You can read more about the degree course here.

In addition to his specific teaching activities, he has taken part in academic conferences and meetings where he was able to illustrate the technical and expressive possibilities of the harmonica, the literature and history of the instrument.

The prestigious Japanese harmonica manufacturer, Suzuki, commissioned a series of 11 video tutorials in English by Gianluca on the correct approach to playing the instrument. These videos, made by Gianluca Littera, can be viewed on Suzuki’s YouTube Channel.

He has also written two books which are the backbone of the lectures and workshops used by his harmonica students and those who are interested in the instrument – 70 exercises for Chromatic Harmonica from basic to Intermediate / advanced level and Theoretical and Practical Treatise for Chromatic Harmonica.

He has also recorded many CDs.

Here is a video about his recent CD – A Breath Between the Strings (Music by Gordon Jacob, James Moody and Tony Kinsey)

Here is his Facebook page

You can read more about the degree course and how to apply on my blog page about it.

Chromatic Harmonica Degree Course – Gianluca Littera

Most musical instruments can be studied, and performances can be graded from beginners through to degree level. Unfortunately, the harmonica is not one of them. I have reviewed some previous attempts in a separate blog.

Recently I became aware of a new university degree course for the chromatic harmonica which has been developed by Gianluca Littera at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome. This looks very impressive and much more comprehensive than anything else I have come across. I had the help of Gianandrea Pasquinelli as a translator to help my understanding of what Gianluca had done.

Gianluca was born in Rome in 1962 and gained his music degree in 1985 as a viola player. He worked and toured with many orchestras before embracing the chromatic harmonica after seeing Toots Thielemans on TV. His recording career started in 1996 and he has played with many symphony orchestras as well as forming his own jazz groups.

Gianluca Littera

Gianluca organised free harmonica courses for six years before deciding to develop them further. He joined the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome as a lecturer in 2022 after successfully submitting the degree course for recognition by the Italian Ministry of Education.

You can read more about Gianluca Littera here.

What follows is in his own words.

Gianandrea Pasquinelli

The Creation of the Harmonica Degree Course.

The Free Course

I wanted to share what I had learned with other players, hoping that they would share the pleasure I experienced while playing the harmonica.

It was difficult to gain acceptance for the chromatic harmonica in a traditional Music College. Fortunately, I had a degree as a viola player and so I was accepted. This allowed me to introduce the harmonica, which was not even considered an instrument at that time.

I started with six years of free courses (2014-20) at Conservatories around Rome. These classes were a real success, attracting students and arousing a lot of curiosity and interest.

Students performed in concerts with musicians from other courses and also attended seminars on the physiology of breathing when playing wind instruments.

These activities were necessary to get full acceptance for the harmonica and the creation of the three-year Academic degree course (Triennio).

The Degree Course

The complete educational path lasts 8 years and leads to a degree (like a violin or a piano). A qualification recognized throughout Europe.

  • the three-year Preparatory course followed by
  • the three-year course (Triennium) and
  • the two-year course (Biennium).

The Italian Ministry of Education has approved the three-year Preparatory course followed by the three-year course (Triennium) which leads to a degree. The next step will be the approval of the two-year course (Biennium) which would lead to a second degree or Masters.

I created the study plan, entrance exams, course work exams and graduation exams etc., based on those developed for other musical instruments, both in terms of duration and level of difficulty.

This residential course includes the different subjects and knowledge that the student must acquire. The harmonica is the topic. For the practical / technical part we mainly use my book 70 exercises for Chromatic Harmonica from basic to Intermediate / advanced level while for the workshops /lectures we use as a reference another text of mine Theoretical and Practical Treatise for Chromatic Harmonica.

In addition to the harmonica, some other topics are studied: solfeggio, the history of music, harmonic analysis, chamber music, choral singing, and knowledge of relevant legislation etc…

These skills combine to train, not only a harmonica player, but, more importantly, a musician with all the necessary tools to enter the professional world, and, if he wishes, to teach others.

The chromatic harmonica is one of the instruments which leads to a music degree.

Here are links to music to be studied and lectures for the three-year course (Triennium) for harmonica.

The current status of the course

There are 3 stages.

  • The three-year Preparatory course can be accessed without an entrance exam.
  • To access the three-year course (Triennium) it is necessary to pass an entrance exam and to know solfeggio (read music).
  • To access the two-year course (Biennium), when it opens, it will be necessary to have completed a three-year degree course and an entrance exam with the harmonica.

These courses started in February 2022 and currently there are 12 students, distributed between the Preparatory and Triennium courses. Some come from outside Italy (France and Switzerland).

In October 2022, the students enrolled in the Preparatory path will prepare to take the entrance exam for the three-year course and the other students will make the transition from the 1st to the 2nd year of the three-year course.

The Future

One of the most rewarding aspects of teaching was discovering that it enriches not only the pupil but also the teacher. Furthermore, many of the pupils who were already playing when they entered the course had no idea what it meant to study in a conservatory. The opportunities offered to them have meant that their musical boundaries were enormously enriched, something that gives me, as a teacher, lots of satisfaction to see a student grow and develop.

In the future I foresee harmonica classes like mine in other Conservatories. I want to get the harmonica the recognition that has always been missing! Since 1992, when the accordion entered the Conservatory, no other instrument has since been recognized as such. I am happy to have succeeded first of all to give the harmonica the dignity it deserves, and also, to pass on at least some of what this instrument has given me which has enriched me musically and personally.

Finally, the harmonica now has an officially recognized course of workshops, lessons and lectures. In Italy we wrote a piece of the history of this instrument, and it was the piece that was missing. Perhaps we have not yet fully understood the scope of what we have achieved at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory.

I believe that other Institutes will take this result as an example and will do the same. At the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, we have opened and indicated the way. Everyone can access an educational path that provides the opportunity to register or take an exam according to their own level. Then advance from the Preparatory for those starting or the Triennium for those who already play and then the Biennium.

For more information you can contact me, Gianluca Littera