16 yr old guy from sydney aus. Help!

Log in to your Harp Column account to post or reply in the forums. If you don’t have an account yet, you’ll need to email us to set one up.

This topic has 7 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 20 years, 8 months ago by unknown-user.

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

Author

Posts
May 18, 2004 at 4:00 am #167914

unknown-user
Participant

First off, congratulations on choosing to learn the harp! It’s a wonderful instrument to
play!
Maybe you should look in the internet for something in Sydney-I’m sure there are harp
teachers there. I would not really recommend using a book, even though you could
probably control what you are doing well enough, it’s not the same as having a teacher to
show you.
I don’t know if having played the guitar will help with finger technique, but if you’ve played
it for 5 years then at least you can most likely read music very well!
There are lots of different kinds of harps; we’ll start with the simple ones(I’m only
mentioning the three kinds I’ve already played on) -they’re orginated in germany/austria
(where I’m from!) and it’s with simple lever/pedals. You can only put the 7 pedals down
once, instead of twice. (1 pedal for each note of the scale) Then you can get semi-grands,
which already have the double-pedal system, but are smaller in size and reasonably
priced. Oh and I should mention on a tirolean harp the repetoire is quite limited. And last
but not least the concert grnads. wonderful isntruments, rich in sound and the full power
of w fully-fledged instrument. (ha that must have sounded dumb!) The last thing you
should know are the different brands-but that’s a lesser problem. You can have look on
http://www.lyonhealy.com for a nice selection of good harps. But for a CG one does have to pay a
pretty penny.
Well anyways, these are my 2 cents, I hope it helped some!
Katrina

May 18, 2004 at 4:00 am #167913

unknown-user
Participant

hey, i really want to take up the harp. if anyone knows any teachers
in sydney or knows where i can possibly find teachers in sydney, it
would be greatly appeciated. Is it possible to teach yourself with
books?

i have 5 years of solid expreience with the classical guitar. Would
learning the harp alter my guitar proficiency or would that cause
any troubles learning the harp.

What harp should i but first if i am very keen on contiuning? i know
harps have different numbers of strings but are there different
types of harps? sorry if i am repeating another forum topic with any
of this.

May 19, 2004 at 4:00 am #167915

patricia-jaeger
Member

Rohan, The renowned Luigi M. Tedeschi, who was Professor at the Milan Conservatory two generations ago, was first a virtuoso classical guitarist before turning to the harp. Then he performed concerts on harp, taught the instrument at the Conservatory, and composed many beautiful harp pieces which are part of the repertoire of every professional. So I would say I frankly do not know whether your guitar technique would suffer if you want to play both instruments, but your left thumb will now be a playing member of your hand, rather than holding the neck of the guitar. You may be so happy to have an orchestral range of notes, and as many as eight to sound at any one time (we do not use the little finger of either hand; it is just too short)that you may gradually start to play less and less on your guitar, as Tedeschi did.
Regarding a teacher in Sydney, you can e-mail me and I will give you a name and telephone number. Between live lessons, which are really essential, you can supplement your learning with a Beginning Harp Book and Video, which really enhance your weekly encounter with any teacher, so that if you practice diligently you can play better, sooner.Best of luck to you!

May 19, 2004 at 4:00 am #167916

unknown-user
Participant

wow! thankyou very much both of you, this is an excellent forum.
As for the guitar issue, i spoke to this guy who plays the harp in sydney, he played the classical guitar and lute before taking up the harp, he said that i will find it easy to play with my right hand, but the left hand will need to learn some coordination. I really want to be able to play both instruments because i absolutly love the guitar, electric and classical, and i love harp music.

The harps in http://www.lyonhealy.com are, (quite unfortunatly!), out of my price range. i did some research and found a maufacturer in Sydney, who sell harp kits (30 stringed) for AUD$1000 with is about $700US. are these advisable? they also sell ready made harps for a bit extra, would this be a better option?

May 24, 2004 at 4:00 am #167917

unknown-user
Participant

Id get the ready made. that way you can be sure you’re getting something of “good
quality”. not meant badly, but that way you can absolutely sure that it’s of good quality.
but harps to make are really fun. hm. *considers getting one*

June 9, 2004 at 4:00 am #167918

alexander-rider
Participant

Dear Rohan,
i just thought

July 24, 2004 at 4:00 am #167919

unknown-user
Participant

Personally, I have no experience with woodwork, so I would never make my own harp. If you do, you could consider this, but I recommend getting a ready-made. You could rent a harp. There are teachers who offer lessons and rentals, though I don’t know of any in Sydney.
Just a side note, avoid harps on ebay or the internet in general, particularly the lap harps unless you see a brand name you know ex: Swanson, Lyon and Healy, Salvi, Triplett etc.

August 17, 2004 at 4:00 am #167920

unknown-user
Participant

Rohan

Sounds like you’ve made some progress in your harp search in Sydney but if you haven’t
come across the Harp Society of NSW you might like to have a look at their website –
http://www.harpsocietyofnsw.info.
Author

Posts