Did Bach ever write a harmonica piece? No, but a lot of his music can be played on diatonic harmonica by those who have sufficient technique.

If you are up for a challenge, this might be something for you to try! (the mp3, score and harmonica part are available, and the piano track is a free download at: https://levyland.com/notation)

I will be playing this piece on tomorrow’s Thursday Night Happening- remember to tune in! (on Facebook: HowardLevyFanPage)

A little background…

This particular slow movement from Bach’s Bm Flute Sonata always sounded like Blues to me- the opening 6 notes are basically the same as the opening notes of Little Walter’s “Off the Wall”! 

So, I recorded a bluesy, gospel-tinged piano part to play harmonica with.

I played a diatonic harmonica in the key of G instead of flute, trying to balance the beauty and elegance of Bach’s writing with the feeling of blues and jazz. Much of my harmonica part is improvised, but I transcribed and notated it exactly. (The entire piano part was improvised, but only after I memorized the piece- the notated piano part is very close to what I played. Classical pianists will find it fairly easy to play.)

Other instrumentalists are welcome to try playing my arrangement as well- it fits perfectly on violin, for example.