Harmonica Teacher

Meet our Harmonica Teacher

Guto playing in one of his many performances

Guto Santana

Teacher and Musician

Oct. 19, 2025 Updated 3:17 p.m.

Guto Santana, from Paraíba, was born on September 29, 1979. He began his musical experiences at a young age, singing and imitating various artists he heard or saw on radio and TV. Soon after, he joined a church choir and sang at Mass. However, he began his formal musical studies in 1997 in the city of Vitória, Espírito Santo, taking guitar lessons.

In 2001, while attending a show by the Espírito Santo blues band "Big Bat Blues Band," featuring Rio de Janeiro-based harmonica player César Távora, he decided to delve into the world of harmonica. He began studying the diatonic harmonica, better known as the blues harmonica, in 2001 under the guidance of his friend Fernando Amaral [owner of the website "Canto da Gaita"].

He then continued his studies as a self-taught musician. In 2001, he moved to João Pessoa, Paraíba. In 2004, he began teaching harmonica and music theory lessons, as well as performing harmonica maintenance. Since September 2007, he has also been teaching in Recife. In 2008, he moved to the capital of Pernambuco.

Through the "Oi Blues by Night" project, he had the opportunity to meet and share the stage with major names in national and international blues. Among them were harmonica players Peter Madcat, Ruth, and Benevides Jr. of the band "Mister Jack," and guitarists Nuno Mindelis and Fernando Noronha. In August 2007, during the debut of "Projeto AbluesADO," the band he was with, he participated in the re-opening of "Oi Blues by Night" in João Pessoa, opening for Vasco Faé and Andréas Kisser.

He is a harmonica player active in the Recife music scene, performing in concerts and recordings. He has played alongside the bands El Mocambo, Uptown Band, Bluestamontes, guitarist Beto Kaiser, and American Kenny Brown. He also performed at events such as Recife Jazz, held in September 2008 at the Santa Isabel Theater.

In November 2006, he attended the Brazilian Harmonica Forum. There, he had the opportunity to meet and interact with some of the country's greatest harmonica players, including Robson Fernandes, Ivan Márcio, Júlio Rêgo, Gabriel Grossi, Jehovah da Gaita, Johnny Rover, and Pablo Fagundes.

In 2010, he was one of the attractions at FENART, the most important cultural event in the state of Paraíba. And in 2013, he was one of the main attractions at "All Blues," a blues event that held its first edition in Campina Grande, also in Paraíba. He holds a bachelor's degree in music from UFPE and is a founding member of Código Babel.

Currently, his focus is on producing his own solo work, as well as promoting and teaching the harmonica through classes and workshops. He has been working on developing and researching a hybrid system of chromatic and diatonic harmonica, allowing the possibility of playing any musical style on a single harmonica. This research is also part of his postgraduate project in music. Follow him on social media: @GUTERIAONLINE