A Sense of Music, an interview with Amanda Ventura

Amanda Ventura is a young harmonica player based in the city of Curitiba, Brazil. I first saw her playing on Instagram and was blown away with her “True Blues” style of playing.

How long have you been playing harmonica?

I’ve been playing harmonica since I was 18 years old, so I’ve been A SENSE OF playing for six years now. At first, I learned from a teacher in my city called Tiago Juk. After a few months, I continued to study by myself using MUSIC YouTube including those from the great Brazilian harmonica player Igor Kasuya.

An interview with What brought you to playing harmonica?

Amanda Ventura When I was a teenager, I loved a harmonica solo of a song called “Morena” by a band called Scracho. I Steve Pardue, Editorial team remember repeating the solo part over and over again. At the time I was studying acoustic guitar, but I was so fascinated by the sound and expressiveness of the harmonica that I switched instruments.

What harmonica do you play?

I like to play different harmonicas according to the style of music I’m playing. When I play old school blues, for example, I choose a Hohner Marine Band. I love its wood tone and I think the sound suits this style of music a lot. When I want a more modern sound, I play with Suzuki or Seydel models. My favourites from these brands are the Suzuki Manji and the Seydel 1847 Noble.

How do you practise?

I practise every day. My favourite exercise is to search for cool backing tracks on YouTube and from these I create my own melodies. I just play and have fun. Before the pandemic, I played gigs with different bands from my city. It was such a good experience for me to show people the music I practise alone.

How long have you been teaching?

I’ve been teaching classes for about a year. My lessons usually start with first learning to play single notes and develop the “embocadura” (embrochure). After the first class, I give my students a simple song so that they start to feel the music, even before they know how to perform the techniques. This helps my students to develop their sense of music and learn to use their ears.

I will play something to them and then ask them to repeat the same notes I played, without reading the tabs. I do use tabs too, but I think developing the ear is the most important thing. After that we learn songs together. I also encourage them to create their own melodies and improvise. I like to create songs and video productions for YouTube and Instagram and [am] constantly building my social media presence. I have always liked photography, so on my Instagram, there are pictures that I take of places and things I like and usually me posing like a model (laughs). Usually with a harmonica though (laughs again). My main influence on harmonica is Indiara Sfair - she’s amazing and so creative with her melodies. I think she has a great sense of music, and everything she does with the harp sounds good. I also like to listen to another Brazilian harmonica player called Flávio Guimarães and also Jean Jacques Milteau, Billy Branch and Dale Spalding.

What are your future plans?

I will continue to teach and produce music and videos. I also want [to] make an album, play in Brazilian blues festivals, and I would love to travel and visit some blues places like Chicago and Mississippi. My dream is to play with big names of the blues. I think I would be nervous, but I would also feel very happy and fulfilled.

Instagram:

www.instagram.com/amandaventura

YouTube:

www.youtube.com/c/AmandaVentura