Published in the March 19-April 1, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Mark Fenichel

Mark Fenichel

Mark Fenichel

Thirty-five-year Morgan Hill resident Dave Barrett has been into music since he started playing sax in the third grade at Jackson Elementary School. He always had the music in him but, unlike most musicians, performing and entertaining on a regular basis has never been his true desire, even though he still performs occasionally. You see, David is considered one of the most prolific harmonica teachers in the world. The sax was temporary for him and he switched to trumpet simply to try something else, but when he was 14 he got tired of the “school band thing” yet wanted to keep playing music.

The movie “Crossroads” was his introduction to the blues harmonica. After that he went right to The Music Tree where Mark Johnson (who is still there) sold him a harmonica and the book Blues Harp, by Phil Duncan. He learned from the book and bought more harmonicas in different keys so he could emulate what he heard. He was constantly buying harmonica music and played for two more years as he puts it “with no direction.”

At 16 he won tickets to JJ’s Blues Festival where he met local harmonica hero Gary Smith and begged him for lessons. Gary finally agreed to mentor him with seven lessons. Gary took David to his first live performance at JJ’s Blues club in San Jose. Then he started going to many of JJ’s jams to practice what he was learning. That’s where he met drummer Kevin Coggins and bass player Frank DeRose (a current Morgan Hill resident). At that time those guys had no idea that 25 years later they would be working as music teachers at David’s School of the Blues in South San Jose.

In his senior year David decided to play music and become the Stevie Ray Vaughn of the harmonica. Majoring in music at De Anza Community College, he was serious about learning to read music, music theory and composition. At 18 he started teaching blues harmonica at Porcellas in Gilroy, Guitar Showcase in San Jose, and The Music Tree in Morgan Hill. He realized there were no method books available for blues harmonica so he started writing and doing workshops while he worked as manager of The Music Tree. At 20 he wrote his first method book “Building Harmonica Technique.” Then came more books. He is now the world’s most published author of harmonica lesson books with 70 published. In 1994 he created the Harmonica Masterclass Workshop which grew quickly and became an annual event. He traveled the country with his event and brought the workshops around the world. His workshops featured the most famous world-class harmonica players teaching students, techniques, improvisation, styles, performance, jamming and much more.

In 2002 David started School Of The Blues bringing together serious educators with a focus on teaching the blues via harmonica, guitar, bass and vocals. David realized he could reach more students through the Internet and in 2007 started online subscription lessons at bluesharmonica.com. David is endorsed by Hohner harmonicas and if you buy a harmonica anywhere in the world inside the box are free lessons from bluesharmonica.com. David is celebrating his 20th anniversary of the Harmonica Masterclass with a large event at the Hilton in San Jose April 10 to 13. It includes nightly concerts, jam sessions, interactive workshops, recording and equipment sales and repairs, and student help rooms. This is a must event for anyone who loves the blues. Details at www.harmonicamasterclass.com.

ON ANOTHER NOTE:

The March 8 benefit for Teresa Glover was a smashing success with headliners Smash Mouth and numerous local acts. I was honored to be host and emcee as well as the opening act. The event raised $20,025. That’s about two months worth of treatments.