Tag: Filip Jers

Filip Jers in the UK and HarmonicaUK 2024

Archie 1 Comment

Filip Jers is one of the top harmonica soloists. He flew into the UK in October 2024 and stayed with us, near London, before we travelled up to the HarmonicUK annual festival on 25-27 October in Birmingham. On the way back we visited Jim Hughes.

I have been lucky enough to host many artists on the way to the NHL/HarmonicaUK festivals, helped by our proximity to to Heathrow and a spare bedroom now that the children have flown the nest.

After picking up Filip from Heathrow, we stopped off for some traditional food – fish, chips, mushy peas and curry sauce, before he was introduced to the Harmonica Hotel (spare bedroom) made famous by Rob Paparozzi on his Facebook page.

Next morning we drove to Hillscourt and spent three days with an enthusiastic group of harmonica players where Filip presented workshops and played a fantastic set in the Saturday Concert. The festival photographs are by Pippa Phillips.

On the return home I took Filip to meet the ‘legendary’ Jim Hughes – chromatic soloist, teacher of World Champions and writer of the best tuition book for Chromatic Harmonica. Jim is 95, has lost his sight and housebound but still playing – formerly a sight reader he has taught himself to play by ear. They talked for two hours about technical aspects of playing and practising, and played music together. They were separated by 60 years in time but were united in mutual respect and their love for making music.

If you are interested you can enjoy the meeting by watching a video of the visit. I split it into two parts for convenience – before and after our pause for a coffee.

Part One – Filip Jers meets Jim Hughes Part One
Part Two – Filip Jers meets Jim Hughes Part Two

The journey home in the dark was tiring but it was another chance to talk about music and musicians.

After looking at some guitar records in my music archive (Charlie Byrd – House of the Rising Sun) and a good night’s rest, Filip headed back to Heathrow Airport and his flight back to his family in Sweden.

You can see a video of a similar visit I made to see Jim Hughes with Rob Paparozzi in 2023 by following this link – Jim Hughes and Rob Paparozzi talk and play

Here is the story of the Harmonica Hotel and Rob Paparozzi’s enforced stay in the UK.
http://www.the-archivist.co.uk/harmonica-hotel/

Harmonica Education – Courses for Chromatic and Diatonic Players

Archie

Finally, it is possible to study for a music degree. This is thanks to Gianluca Littera who has designed a syllabus for chromatic harmonica at a Music Conservatory in Rome, Italy – see end for more details.

This has been wanted for a long time and here is a summary of what I think has been tried in the past.

When Hohner established its first London headquarters in 1930, the new Managing Director, Dr Otto Meyer, realised that clubs and tuition were necessary to grow the two main sides of the business, accordion and harmonica. In 1935 he set up what became known the British College of Accordionists which produced the first draft of the BCA syllabus, now recognised as the standard of accordion achievement. Although it was discussed, no formal educational course was set up for the harmonica despite the recruitment of Captain James Reilly as Musical Director, the publishing of many tuition books and the establishment of a music school in Trossingen, Germany.

To award degrees three things are needed – an agreed syllabus, qualified teachers, and independent, respected examining body. In the UK, discussions with music colleges were unsuccessful. There is still no grade system for harmonica like those for piano, guitar etc… This may be a reason why the harmonica is often thought of as an inferior instrument or toy by other musicians.

Several exceptional students have been granted degrees by top Music Schools, after completing their normal study courses, but harmonica teachers have had to be co-opted to provide the teaching and evaluation required. Philip Achille graduated from the Royal College of Music in London, and Filip Jers graduated from The Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. Some harmonica players have been able to participate in courses which focus on the music being studied, such as jazz, rather than the instrument.

There have been other attempts to establish a formal education process on a more permanent basis. In 2005 the National University of Singapore Centre for the Arts launched the world’s first examination system for the study of chromatic harmonica with Yasuo Watani and Douglas Tate as examiners. This included distance, online assessment for the lower levels and in person examination for the higher levels. Unfortunately, this was stopped after a few years.

In recent years the development of the Internet has resulted in many uncontrolled teaching sites springing up, especially for diatonic harmonicas. This has been useful for beginners and for improving performance, but few have established any formal examination standards. Dave Barrett is probably the most established with his Levels of Achievement system. Rock School Ltd (RSL) have shown an interest in extending their teaching activities to instruments like the harmonica.

I am aware of two recent attempts to set up a university course for chromatic harmonica players. In 2022, Dr. George Miklas announced a brand-new course at the University of Lynchburg, USA, where college students can now study the harmonica for an applied music credit.

The most comprehensive approach I have seen is a degree course for chromatic harmonica players running at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome, established and directed by Gianluca Littera. You can learn more about Gianluca, the syllabus and how this was developed by reading my blog page about it.