Harmonium Courses

The harmonium, frequently referred to as the reed organ or pump organ, is a keyboard instrument that produces sound using foot-powered or hand-powered bellows. The tone of a harmonium is a pleasant, reedy sound characterized by a breathy raspiness. This tone comes from the use of wind to generate sound. The pumps feed air into a pressure-equalizing chamber, in which metal reeds vibrate over corresponding slots to produce pitches. These reeds vary in size and shape to make different tone colors. The space around the reeds also affects the tone, with constricted chambers creating stronger vibrations and clearer tones. Harmoniums are often used in non-Western music, such as Hindustani vocal accompaniment, religious music across northern India, and Islamic Qawwali music. In Western music, it has been popularized by bands like Sigur Ros and The Beatles.

Harmonium is an excellent instrument for beginners, as it is easy to learn and easy to progress on. After learning how to set up and position the instrument, it is simple to play a single chord on the harmonium and have it sound pleasing to the ears. A harmonium’s keyboard is similar to a piano's keyboard, making learning the necessary theory easy for beginners. The simplest way to start learning harmonium is to begin with chords, as these give you something to sing along to and help lay the groundwork for understanding more complex structures like scales. One of the benefits of starting on harmonium is that the pumping action lets you sustain notes indefinitely while modulating their volume, giving you the ability to play whole songs with one hand.

The instrument you choose to learn should not be driven by concerns of which is easier, but rather by which one interests you most. If you would like to recreate the tone and music of a harmonium, then the harmonium is the instrument for you. Conversely, if you want to play the keyboard, you should pursue the keyboard instead. However, the good news is that learning one will directly translate to skills on the other — particularly learning keyboard first. The reason keyboard skills better guarantee a grasp of harmonium skills is that pianos are meant to be played with both hands and build a great degree of dexterity. When applying these skills to the harmonium, which often involves sustained notes and chords, you are likely to have a better mastery of the instrument from the start.