Beginning the harp as an adult

[Helen Holliday]

Thanks so much for this useful information Jennifer. I will certainly research these options.

[Chris Asmann]

Welcome to the club, Helen!

I am 43 I bought a lever harp in November of 2008 and

[Helen-ELizabeth Naylor]

Hi Helen

60% of my large teaching practise is ladies over 40!

Everyone loves playing the harp and its instant satisfaction with tunes being played in the first lesson.

Have a look at my website to see what my students say http://www.telyn.com

[kathryn williams]

Mine is a rosewood harp from Early music Shop, 28 string, and I paid £350 all in, including bag, tuning stuff, and a selection of books.
I really liked the Camac ones, and thought I liked the cheaper ones with the slightly coarse carving on them until I heard the tone of the Camac one. But I couldn’t afford a new Camac, and mine was second hand…
My music teacher reckons its possibly a better tone than hers…

[Dennis McKenzie]

This is a very large and complex subject. One place to start is go to Sweetwater.com they have some good information and Youtube has lots of tips. You can do alot of the work yourself in setting up a rooms “sound” very cheaply. I looked into this in great detail when setting up my “Hometheater Room” and it makes all the difference in the world. Just google it and have lots of fun. Sweetwater has a great book on setting up a home recording studio on your own. Enjoy the ride and it does not take thousands of dollars to do. If you are handy with tools.

[steven-todd-miller]

I use a Mac lap-top (and its built in microphone) with Garage Band. I’ve recorded 2 CDs as Christmas presents for friends – they sound great and you can have all the fun you want editing and adding other instruments and sounds (especially ambient nature effects to create your own new-age meditation tracks).

[Maria Myers]

Would an H-4 Zoom plus whatever software you want to use be adequate?

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Again, I would consider at least beginning with analog recording, which is very simple and easy to do by yourself, and then transferring it to digital for editing if necessary.

[harp guy]

A Zoom and the software should be fine. The audio quality on my zoom is comparable to equipment that I’ve used that was priced thousands beyond the amount I paid for my zoom.

You would just have to use the software carefully, have the room set up well, and have the microphone positioned properly.

[Kay Meek]

At age 65, I am just starting with the harp. Although I’m a music teacher and play classical guitar, this seems to an entirely different ball game.
I just received a 29 string Celtic harp for Christmas, so now I’m eager to get started. Can someone point me in the direction of any online sheet music that I can download?

Also, do I really need to clip my nails to play the harp? I really hope not, because I need them when I play my classical guitar.
Kay

[Rachel]

Some links to free music are here: http://www.madharpers.org/otherharpsites.html
but try to start off with lessons to develop technique, either in person or using skype.

[jennifer-buehler]

You don’t need a lot of nail to play guitar do you?

[V. B.]

I too started about a year ago.

[Author]

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