your advice please

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This topic has 13 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 2 months ago by Philippa mcauliffe.

Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)

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January 21, 2011 at 11:50 pm #148546

mr-s
Member

a new adult girl 22 years old came to me and asked to start hapr lessons and to prepare to the conservatory entrance exam, i

January 22, 2011 at 3:15 am #148547

patricia-jaeger
Member

I would say to keep this student but tell her honestly that trying to play difficult, conservatory-entrance-required exam pieces at age

January 22, 2011 at 10:48 pm #148548

mr-s
Member

Hi

January 23, 2011 at 1:34 am #148549

patricia-jaeger
Member

This is an age-old problem, to teach”by the book” with rules to obey, or to teach to needs of an individual student, bending the rules. You alone must decide which you will do, and take the consequences of your decision. We are all unique; I lean in the direction of helping the student with a compromise when necessary, for the happiness of the student.

January 23, 2011 at 11:53 pm #148550

mr-s
Member

hi Patricia again, the shape of the hand and fingers position is very strict in my School, i was taught differently from what you had, for me the fingers position has a big influence on the sound production, so not playing the same way i was learned and teaching it will produce a different sound , in petersburg conservatory in Russia were tow classes when i studied one my teacher and one another and the beautiful sound of the students of my teacher was remarkable by me from the other harp students , and i was able to know a long time graduate harpists if they belong to my school or to other from sound ,and that all come from the hands position.

January 26, 2011 at 2:28 am #148551

patricia-jaeger
Member

Dear Mr. S, perhaps you have heard or seen performances of the young violin virtuoso Hilary Hahn. On http://www.youtube.com she speaks about teachers and how she believes the best ones would teach. Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/user/hilaryhahnvideos#p/u/2/x695xrkrvfI

January 30, 2011 at 3:40 am #148552

Dwyn .
Participant

Personally I think it’s silly to insist that everyone “shape” their fingers exactly the same way when playing the harp.

January 30, 2011 at 2:58 pm #148553

Karen Johns
Participant

And sometimes, even when a student has short fingers and small hands (like me) they can adapt and overcome this problem. By rolling my wrist I can now manage a 1-5-10 chord. This is a huge accomplishment for me as my ring (4th)

January 30, 2011 at 5:33 pm #148554

jessica-wolff
Participant

Kare, that’s encouraging. I have kid-size hands and short fingers too. Though from your description of that rolling action, I wonder whether you aren’t throwing your timing off.

January 30, 2011 at 6:39 pm #148555

eleanor-turner
Member

I have studied many methods – Renie, Salzedo and personal methods by teachers all around the world. There are SO MANY WAYS of reaching the most wonderful musical conclusions and they do not depend on a hand or finger shape – they depend on a musical ear and a musical soul, and a REALLY great teacher to nurture that player’s musical expression through their large/small/flexible/unflexible joints. If the joints are not very flexible, more ‘souplesse’ can be put in the wrist. If the fingers cannot be trained to all pull in the same direction, the teacher must help the student find the best way for that individual to train their hands to get to the same musical conclusion despite the difficulties. Nothing should be seen as a problem.
As Salzedo said, there is nothing difficult, only that which is new. Harpists come in hundreds of different shapes and sizes, just like athletes do – teacher and student work together to find the individual method for each student. Try to be open minded and the rewards for YOU, as the teacher, will be immense!

January 31, 2011 at 4:39 am #148556

Saul Davis Zlatkovski
Participant

I often think of playing the harp as choreography. Your finger touches the string and goes into your hand, but how you move, the way in which you do it and what you do after that affects the music so much!

February 8, 2011 at 11:12 pm #148557

mr-s
Member

Sorry dears but i am talking about School of playing and the school i am following is very strict and clear and no one from the Dulova’s School can accept what you are talking ,maybe in other schools its acceptable to shape hands and fingers differently from the written Methods, i can understand what you say, buti used to deal with fingers like that and also love to keep like that .

February 9, 2011 at 1:41 am #148558

jennifer-buehler
Member

Then you have to decide.

February 9, 2011 at 1:57 am #148559

Philippa mcauliffe
Participant

You have answered your own question.
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