Hohner and Furtados have organized training programs for beginners as well as advanced players in Mumbai from November 21 to 25. The fee for each course is Rs. 3,000. Registration forms are available at all Furtado showrooms.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Temporarily disabled
We are sorry to report that for more than six months now, we are unable to update the Harmonica blog. For some inexplicable reasons, we have been deprived of the right to upload or modify content on the blog.
However, we are trying our best to regain our control over the blog, failing which we might even have to migrate to a new blog or website.
However, we are trying our best to regain our control over the blog, failing which we might even have to migrate to a new blog or website.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Edutainment with accordion
Some of the members of the Harmonica Club of Gujarat had the opportunity to interact with accordion player Amit Vaidya who had come down to Ahmedabad from Pune at the invitation of HCG member Prof. Piyush Pandya. Amit, 40, is a tech guy who works with Tech Mahindra.
Amit gave a solo performance in Gandhinagar on March 31. He not only enthralled the audience with his extraordinary rendition of some of the old and popular numbers from Hindi film but also explained the intricacy of this wonderful musical instrument which was made popular by music directors, Salil Choudhury, Shankar Jaikishan and OP Nayyar.
"Accordion is a folk instrument of farmers of Italy. It was developed from harmonica or mouth organ so that one could sing along while playing the instrument," he revealed.
Amit was fascinated by the instrument when he saw the accordion of his uncle when he was a child. "I decided to learn the instrument at the very first opportunity. I bought a second hand accordion in 1994 when I got my first salary," he says.
He took lessons from two accordion players of Pune who had also played in the film industry. "However, I realized that I need to learn western music and staff notations if I wanted to master the instrument. So, I joined a music class in Mumbai conducted by veteran music teacher Cyrus Panthaky," he says.
Later, when he went to UK he learnt advanced techniques from a couple of accordion players. He also attended the annual accordion festivals.
Here are some of the numbers he played in Gandhinagar.
Amit gave a solo performance in Gandhinagar on March 31. He not only enthralled the audience with his extraordinary rendition of some of the old and popular numbers from Hindi film but also explained the intricacy of this wonderful musical instrument which was made popular by music directors, Salil Choudhury, Shankar Jaikishan and OP Nayyar.
"Accordion is a folk instrument of farmers of Italy. It was developed from harmonica or mouth organ so that one could sing along while playing the instrument," he revealed.
Amit was fascinated by the instrument when he saw the accordion of his uncle when he was a child. "I decided to learn the instrument at the very first opportunity. I bought a second hand accordion in 1994 when I got my first salary," he says.
He took lessons from two accordion players of Pune who had also played in the film industry. "However, I realized that I need to learn western music and staff notations if I wanted to master the instrument. So, I joined a music class in Mumbai conducted by veteran music teacher Cyrus Panthaky," he says.
Later, when he went to UK he learnt advanced techniques from a couple of accordion players. He also attended the annual accordion festivals.
Here are some of the numbers he played in Gandhinagar.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Through the lens of trigger-happy Nitin Patel
Here is from Nitin Patel's Harmonica Club of Gujarat portfolio:
Through the lens of trigger-happy Nitin Patel
Professional photographer Nitin Patel from London, who has recently been appointed the India representative of the world's oldest Harmonica maker, Seydel of Germany, was here on the New Year to introduce the latest models of this hand-made instruments to the members of the Harmonica Club of Gujarat. All the club rmembers got the opportunity of trying out about a dozen harmonicas that he had brought the India to let the players know about this unique company which is the first to make harmonicas with steel reeds. The Seydel harmonicas are expensive compared to harmonicas of other makes. But, they are strong, sturdy and sound sweet.
While the club members were playing and generally fiddling with the instruments, Nitin Patel kept on clicking photographs.
The HCG was honored to bestow life-time honorary membership on Nitin, who has been playing harmonica since he was a seven-year-old boy. He has the child-like enthusiasm and boyish smile at 67 today.
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