Michael McInerney has been playing the harmonica for over 30 years and is currently Ireland's most experienced teacher having been, since starting at Waltons New School of Music in 1995, the only full time harmonica teacher in the country. Being one of the few players to be equally proficient on both Chromatic and Diatonic harmonicas allows for a remarkable versatility in both his playing and teaching.
While primarily a Blues and Jazz player he is as adept with the Classical repetoire as he is with Traditional Irish Music, Folk and Rock and Pop. He is also an experienced harmonica customiser and repairer with an extensive knowledge of alternate tunings and their use in different styles of playing. He has mastered the advanced technique of 'over bends' through his studies of Howard Levy and the great jazz players.
Like a lot of players Michael is almost entirely self-taught, however, from 2002 to 2004 he studied at Newpark Music Centre where he was awarded an LGSM (P), DipJazz from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama making him the first person to be awarded a 3rd level qualification in Ireland on the harmonica.
Michael has composed and performed a range of music for a number of theatre productions, and as a session musician he has recorded for both film and television. He has performed with The RTE Concert Orchestra, Don Baker, Richard Hunter, Brendan Power, and Mick Kinsella to name a few. In addition he has facilitated workshops introducing the harmonica to children in The Ark, and lectured on Blues History and Appreciation in Adult Education at UCD.
Over the years Michael has collected an extensive library of recordings and books, including many of his own meticulous transcriptions, and in 2010 to make it easier for his students to access this matierial he opened his own teaching studio: Blue Third Music.
As well as Blue Third, and Waltons, Michael also currently teaches Traditional Irish Music on harmonica in Ceoltoiri Chluain Tarbh, and in Visionaries School of the Arts – a school for the blind and visually impaired. Michael is also an accomplished guitarist specialising mainly in acoustic fingertsyle, blues, and slide guitar. In addition to his Jazz Diploma he also holds a B.A. in English and Philosophy from NUI Maynooth, and a Diploma in Drama Studies, and an M.A. in Modern Drama from UCD.
