September 11, 2026
Story by Cheri Ghan, ghanc@health.missouri.edu
For 36 years, Kevin Lockette has helped physical therapy patients with disabilities keep moving — the past 30 of those years focused primarily on Parkinson’s disease.
But there was one thing the 1989 Mizzou College of Health Sciences grad had a hard time helping them retain: their voice. As Parkinson’s disease progresses, many patients struggle to speak, often withdrawing into isolation.
Lockette didn’t expect his passion for music to offer a potential solution. Then a couple of years ago, he started wondering whether the seemingly humble harmonica might benefit some of his patients. That hunch paid off: Patients who picked up the harmonica not only created beautiful music but also made real improvements in their speech.
Now, Lockette is preparing to take “The Harmonica Parkinson’s Project” to a global stage. Thanks to a compelling presentation of the research at the World Parkinson Congress in Phoenix over the summer and a new partnership with a major harmonica manufacturer, he’s well on his way to achieving that goal.
Just Move It
After graduating from Mizzou, Lockette took a job with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. He developed a strength and conditioning program for people with physical disabilities and became head coach for the U.S. Disabled Sports Team, leading his athletes to the 1992 Paralympics in Barcelona, Spain.
With little existing research to draw on, he wrote the first of what would become four books, “Conditioning with Physical Disabilities,” published in 1994.
“I ended up having so many disabilities to work with, and there was not a whole lot of research or literature at that time, so we [wrote] a book,” he said.
Lockette and his wife, Ginger, eventually moved to Hawaii, and he began to focus more on Parkinson’s patients. He now serves as a therapy consultant/clinical specialist for Boston Scientific Neuromodulation and continues to coordinate Parkinson’s support groups as well as serving as a longtime board member of the Hawaii Parkinson’s Association.
Bending the Tin Sandwich
According to the National Institutes on Health, nearly 90% of individuals with Parkinson’s disease experience some sort of speech disorder. Lockette saw the toll it took on patients, even as he worked to keep them physically active.
There’s an old saying that stuck in Lockette’s head: “If you can breathe, you can play harmonica.” He began to wonder if the same skills musicians use to play the harmonica (e.g., phonation, breath control, pitch, articulation) could be used to help Parkinson’s patients hold onto their voices.
“Parkinson’s is such an odd disease in its motor and non-motor presentation, so you have to counter it with unique strategies,” Lockette said. “What drew me to this project is that many things that speech therapists work on for PD are the same things that you work on when playing the harmonica.”
Lockette enlisted the help of two neurologists and two speech-language pathologists to create a novel research project, and the Hawaii Parkinson Association contributed $5,000 to fund the work. They recruited 26 subjects for a randomized control group study, with 13 participants starting in the harmonica group and 13 in a control group.
Pretesting for both groups took place in late 2024, followed by two Zoom lessons a week for the harmonica group from January through March 2025. After post-testing in April, the control group crossed over and received its own three months of lessons.
“We had very high compliance with the lessons. The fact that it was over Zoom took out any transportation issues,” Lockette said. “Probably the biggest challenge was getting them all set up with Zoom on their home computers. I had to enlist some grandchildren to help.”
Since the study wrapped, Lockette has brought the two groups back together to play multiple times. They’ve enjoyed their own jam sessions as well as performances at local parks. A favorite song in their set is one Lockette penned himself: “Parkinson Jive.”
Couple Time
Lockette encouraged patient caregivers to participate, and four couples joined the project. One of those couples was Cheryl Lippman, a former school principal, and her husband Neal Tomita, retired head of fine arts for the Hawaii Department of Education. Tomita was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2002.
“One of the saddest things about Parkinson’s is how they progress,” Lippman said. “Their voice gets very soft, then they stop talking because people can’t hear it. So when Kevin was talking about doing a harmonica thing, we thought we want to do this; it sounds great. And, of course, it was fabulous.”
Lockette noticed the lessons became a social outlet for the participants as well as a research project. Lippman said the social aspect extended to their personal lives.
“[Neal] speaks more when we have people over,” she said. “He doesn’t withdraw as much as he was for a while there.”
Tomita said playing the harmonica has strengthened his voice and helped him speak louder. He and Lippman still practice weekly and continue to do monthly lessons with Lockette.
“Playing the harmonica and taking harmonica classes has improved my life by giving me an enjoyable way to work on my speech,” Tomita said. “It has helped me feel more confident. It is an entertaining activity my wife and I can do together.”
The Main Stage
Lockette’s research became the foundation for his latest book, “The Harmonica Parkinson’s Project.” He has since launched a companion website and is recording YouTube lessons to complement the written material.
“The book is just the start,” he said. “The bigger plan is developing a ‘program in the box’ so that this can be emulated anywhere.”
After publishing the book in late 2025, Lockette partnered with Lee Oskar Harmonicas and earned the chance to present his research at the World Parkinson Congress in Phoenix. Through its charitable arm, Harmonicas for Humanity, Lee Oskar provided a limited-edition harmonica for World Parkinson Congress attendees.
“Along with sharing the data from our scientific abstract study, we had the privilege to present the Harmonica Parkinson’s Project at the music leadership workshop — as well as multiple performances and presentations,” Lockette said.
While the search for a cure for Parkinson’s disease continues, Lockette is doing his best to make life better for patients and their loved ones in the meantime. And fatefully, the harmonica has proven to be one option that works. Considering how many lives are touched by Parkinson’s, he said, there’s endless potential to do good in the world.
“I bet everyone knows someone, or has some kind of direct or indirect contact with someone, with Parkinson’s disease,” Lockette said. “When people learn of my involvement with PD, they always say something like, ‘My uncle has PD,’ or ‘My girlfriend’s dad has PD.’ I’ve never heard anyone say they had no connection to Parkinson’s disease.”