an octave reach

[Alison]

I was surprised to find a pupil already about 5ft tall can’t stretch the octave span in either hand with 1 and 4, not even to play them as separate notes comfortably. Maybe I am the dummie here…..but I can’t really remember when I needed to play LH straight octaves in pieces…..nor have I noticed whether elementary pieces require or avoid them, although Hasselmans Petite Berceuse (a grade1-2 piece) has them as Sfz well I guess I just wait and find elementary pieces without octaves in the LH. It’s a nil brainer I suppose….???

[patricia-jaeger]

Alison, does your pupil still have some growing years ahead? Is there a way for him/her to use a harp with narrower spacing between the strings? With harp and piano, hand breadth matters considerably. Here are some measurements between middle C and the next higher C:
Troubadour 4 harp: 4 1/2 inches
Pedal harp of 46 strings: 4 inches
Grand piano (Steinway): 7 1/2 inches.
Physical differences limit prowess on different instruments: flute players do best with thin lips, while brass players need thicker ones. Clarinet and saxophone players must not already have an overbite or the playing will make problems with the jaw. Violin and viola players need their little fingers to be at least the length of the last joint of the 4th finger; longer is quite an advantage. My mother-in-law, from Germany, studied piano many years growing up until she realized she could never play Rachmaninoff or other works in advanced piano literature because her hands were too small. She felt it was quite reprehensible of the teacher not to advise her early on, that her hands were too small. You don’t want to incur such blame later, so in my view it would be a kindness to have a frank talk, if the pupil cannot reach an octave, with the parent about these difficulties already in the way of future progress with harp.

[Tacye]

Is the problem with stretch, hand size or turning the reach into playing? If the student lays his or her hand on the harp as for open hand octaves can the strings be easily touched if not played?

[Alison]

Not yet 12, her parents are shorter than average I’d say but children usually outgrow their parents don’t they ? I’ve never measured an octave span with a ruler !! She couldn’t really reach the LH flat octave very well either. For what it’s worth I find an 11th tricky but doable in my LH and a 10th in my RH an inconvenience on a Salvi. On a Pleyel piano I couldn’t stretch a 10th so good job I don’t play piano much…….. anyway this is not about me…….

[Alison]

whilst we’re on this topic, how do you play a LH octave with the top note a harmonic, in the Watkins Nocturne, I think I do the Godefroid as a quick spread. Anyone use the pinky little finger ?

[Tacye]

If instead of using the side of your hand to get the harmonic you use the fleshy bottom of your thumb (I have seen this in a method but can’t remember which one – might have been Renie) the stretch for a large lower interval becomes easier.

[Alison]

Now I think about it, I didn’t play between the ages of 12 -14 so when I resumed playing I never noticed the stretch, but these players below find it a struggle:

http://www.harpcolumn.com/forums/amateur-harpists/posts/47381

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

To play an octave with a harmonic top note, use the opposite side of the fourth finger. Place your hand in an upward-curving arc with the outside of the fourth finger on the string, and use your normal callous, but come off the string on the wrong side of it, playing the harmonic with the thumb in the normal way.
As for your student, avoid the octaves until her hand grows. You can gradually increase the stretch through exercises, if she can reach a fifth, use that, then a sixth, then a seventh, until the octave becomes possible. The hand can stretch a lot between the thumb and the fingers. Break the octaves greatly and she should be able to jump from one to the other string. Eventually, it will become a reach, and then eventually placeable.

[Alison]

thanks Saul

[Author]

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