Idaho Harmonica Workshop – Yellow Pine Harmonica Festival

2025 Yellow Pine Harmonica Boot Camp Workshops @ Yellow Pine Community Hall.

A key of “C” Harmonica will be required for this course. Please bring one to Yellow Pine with you. If you do not have one, it is likely that a vendor will have them for sale.

Friday August 1st: (Beginner/Advanced Beginner) 9am-Noon.

Friday August 1st (Early Intermediate/intermediate) 1pm -3pm

For ages 18 and up. (Parents can also pay to bring their kiddos, if they attend with them and they are well behaved during the workshop.)

Beginner/Advanced Beginner Harmonica Boot Camp:

Cost for this workshop is $95.00 (All proceeds from the workshop tuition go to support the Harmonica Festival.)

Students will learn:

• How to hold the harmonica, and proper breathing techniques.

• Understanding Basic Harmonica Tablature and How To read it using the numbers that are labeled on most standard diatonic harmonicas.

• How to play a classic folk song, reading using tablature.

• How to play a basic blues riff/groove

• How to get comfortable playing in front of an audience.

• Introduction to the blues scale, Major Pentatonic and C Major Scales.

• Harmonica Tablature will be provided with all scales, songs grooves and riffs that will be taught during the workshop.

• How to play harmonica accompanied by a guitarist. (Melissa Gerard, (Idaho singer songwriter, guitarist) will be present during the workshop and the class will be able to jam with her, preparing them for their live stage performance the following day.

• Fun and friendly group atmosphere, everyone will play together throughout the workshop and break into small groups to help one another. It’s a great opportunity to meet new friends and learn from each other.

• Saturday Morning (08/02) @ 9am there will be a rehearsal held to prepare for the stage performance. This will be an opportunity to review the material learned in the workshop the previous day and get any nerves settle down prior to performing live on the big stage.

• Saturday August 2nd (time to be determined), there will be a class performance on the Big Stage in Town. Students will get a chance to showcase what they have learned during the workshop in front of their friends, family and other festival goers.

Early Intermediate/Intermediate Harmonica Boot Camp.

Cost for this workshop is $120 (All proceeds from this workshop go to support the Yellow Pine Harmonica Festival)

Students will learn:

• Bending Notes, students will learn how to bend notes more effectively.

• Tongue Blocking (licks using tongue blocking techniques will be taught.)

• Split Octave Playing (licks using split octaves will be taught)

• Riffs Built from the Major Pentatonic, Major, and Blues Scales.

• All Harmonica Tablature Will be provided.

• Students will learn how to jam with other harp players. One will lay down a groove while the other plays riffs to it. Students will have the benefit of a live guitarist being present while they play.

• Melissa Gerard (Singer, Songwriter and Guitarist) will play while students apply what they have learned during the workshop.

• Saturday morning (08/02) @ 10am there will be a rehearsal to prepare for the live stage performance.

• Saturday August 2nd (time to be determined) there will be a live stage performance on the Big Stage in Town. This will give students the opportunity to perform and play what they have learned in front of a live audience comprised of family, friends, other musicians and festival goers.

• This will be a great opportunity for people who know their way around a harmonica but haven’t really had a chance to perform for an audience on a professional level stage.

Advanced Workshop

The 90 minute Advanced Harmonica Workshop is taught by professional harmonica artist, Dennis Cooper, (of Backwoods Rambler fame.) $50.00. All proceeds go to support the festival and the Village of Yellow Pine.

Meet the Instructors:

ADVANCED HARMONICA WORKSHOP INSTRUCTOR

Dennis Cooper: Whether its blues, bluegrass,country, big band, bebop, oldtime, reggae, rock or easy listening, Dennis Cooper is there with the chops.

With a career spanning over fourty years performing with some of the finest musicians in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, and Texas, Cooper branched out with his first solo release, “A Boy and His Harmonica” in October, of 2001.
After its release, the album reached the number one spot on MP3.com’s “Top Selling Jazz CDs” list on four occasions and every song was in the top three of its genre chart.
He’s won many awards during his career, including the Yellowpine Harmonica Contest & Festival as well as a B.E.A.M. (Benefiting Emerging Artists in Music) award from the Jim Beam Company.
From the Oregon Coast to the Gulf Coast of Texas, Dennis has entertained at festivals and fairs in his one-man harmonica show.
“It’s not what people expect to hear coming from a harmonica,” says Cooper. “I play a very melodic style and it thrills me when someone in the audience leaves a performance humming or whistling part of something I played.”
In 2002 and 2003 Cooper contracted with Jon Gindick, author of “Rock and Blues Harmonica” as a Co-Instructor at “Jon Gindick’s Harmonica Jam Camp for Blues and Country in Irvine, CA and Austin, TX.
Winter 2006 was a busy creative time for both Cooper and his wife and partner Sandra Cooper.
Together they wrote and published the first in a series of revolutionary new harmonica instructional materials.
The first project, “Harmonica Boot Camp” , was written from an absolute beginners point of view. Dennis taught Sandra how to play the harmonica and she authored a compact and concise book that covers all the bases without the musical jargon. “Harmonica Boot Camp” also includes a 75-minute instructional audio CD.
Two new albums were also recorded during live performances while in Arizona.
“Crossharp Country, LIVE” is a collection of country and bluegrass favorites recorded as they were performed.
“Live From Paradise and Otherwise” features songs that are easy on the ears and includes several new compositions by Dennis.
“Bridges” is his most recent release. It contains covers of some of Dennis’ favorite songs.
He is currently in production of two additional albums and plays in the “Backwood Ramblers”.
2009 1st place (tie) combined Grand National Division (diatonic & chromatic), Yellowpine Harmonica Contest
2008 3rd place combined Grand National Division (diatonic & chromatic), Yellowpine Harmonica Contest
2002 Jim Beam B.E.A.M. (Benefiting Emerging Artists in Music) award, one of 23 awarded nationwide.
2001-2005 Yellow Pine Harmonica Contest-1st Place, Diatonic Division
2000 Yellow Pine Harmonica Contest-3rd Place, Diatonic Division
1999 Yellow Pine Harmonica Contest-2nd Place, Diatonic Division
Top Selling Jazz CD-www.mp3.com, January, 2002, March, 2002, April, 2003, September, 2003
#1 Idaho Artist-www.mp3.com, December, 2002-until the website closed in 2004.

“Dennis M. Cooper carries his music like a Doctor carries his PhD. It is a part of his name, a part of his soul…it is the blues. You can hear it with every note of this song. He has lived the pain and the melancholy, he has lived this song. Amazing Grace…without knowing anything about the man behind this Harmonica, I would venture a guess that he had once been lost. And, now he’s saved. There is a sweet tenderness, which mixes with just enough bitterness throughout this track.” Bottom line; this is the blues. I am giving a perfect score for lyrics because, with Mr. Cooper’s skill I can hear them.”
Clint Gage, Gods of Music, 2001

BEGINNING/EARLY INTERMEDIATE HARMONICA WORKSHOP INSTRUCTOR

Brent Palmatier, harmonica player and songwriter (formerly of the band “Half Fast Hillbillies”) has been attending, playing and performing at the Yellow Pine Harmonica Festival for the past 13 years. His style is a mixture of : blues, folk, blue grass, Celtic and country. Background and experience: Brent has trained in person with Harmonica players, Jason Ricci and Ronnie Shellist. He has trained on zoom with Will Wilde of the UK and Yvonnick Prene of France. He has taught workshops at Boise State University, City Hall in Boise and Albertson’s Corporate Headquarters. He has successfully taught complete beginners to play and helped early intermediate players to “level up” the harp game. Brent is very excited to teach and share his passion at the beginner/early intermediate harmonica class at the 2024 Yellow Pine Harmonica Festival.

Beginning/Early Intermediate: Friday, August 1, 9:00 a.m. to noon at the Yellow Pine Community Hall

Cost of the workshop is $95. Seating is limited so register early. Please bring a "C" harmonica with you to the workshop. Harmonicas can be purchased at the Yellow Pine Tavern.

Advanced Harmonica Bootcamp: Saturday, August 2, 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. at the Yellow Pine Community Hall

Cost of the workshop is $50. Seating is limited so register early. You may wish to bring several harps to the workshop.

Intermediate/Advanced Harmonica Bootcamp: Friday, August 1, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the Yellow Pine Community Hall

Cost of the workshop is $125. Seating is limited so register early. You may wish to bring several harps to the workshop.

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Registration Fee

Beginning Harmonica Workshop - $ 95.00
Intermediate Harmonica Bootcamp - $ 125.00
Advanced Harmonica Workshop - $ 50.00

Total

360.00

Accompanist

Melissa Gerard’s Bio for the Harmonica Workshop

Melissa Gerard is a singer, songwriter and guitarist. She is from Bellevue Idaho just 15 minutes away

from a tiny desert music mecca where traveling artists call home on road breaks. An assortment of tiny

cabins and even bigger personalities, they come together and make up the side acts of The Magic Circus.

Melissa as a solo artist is known as “Loon Cricket” and also performs as a singer and guitarist for the

Irish band Paddywagon . Melissa is well accustomed to sharing the stage with Harmonica players and is

very much looking forward to providing guitar back up for the Yellow Pine Harmonica workshop

attendees so they can practice the skills they learn during the class.

Melissa’s collaborations and achievements: Paddywagon hit the recording studio and produced a

record. The Irish band looked forward to a CD launch party on March 17, 2020 and the annual pub

performances when the world had stopped. Isolation for artists was a lonely time and to make good use

of the pandemic that reached all corners of the world Melissa picked up a dusty guitar that was gifted to

her when she started singing. She is a self-taught guitarist, influenced by members of the East Magic

community. Large performance artists took the time to come together and show her some ways of the

musical arts. As a result her solo act Loon Cricket was born and she never looked back.

With a CD for Paddywagon behind her and a guitar in her hand she started performing at open mics and

local stages as a solo act to open for friends and the opportunity to join artists such as Spike Coggins,

Metal Marty, Annie of Hurdy Gurdy Girls, Nate of Rookery 8 and ring leader of the Magic Circus . She

loves to share her music and sing for anyone that will listen. She was a backup vocalist on Metal Marty’s

Greatest Hits and joined him and Annie of the Hurdy Gurdy Girls on stages throughout central Idaho,

Wisconsin, Minnesota and The Outlaw Country Cruise on the high seas! Melissa has attended and

performed at the Yellow Pine Harmonica Festival for the past several years and will be joining friends at

the festival once again in 2024.