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Hi Phwuoc Luong,
Are you going to take lessons? Let’s us know how you are doing. Your teacher can help you, if and when you find one.
All the best,
Elizabeth-
This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by
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This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by
“If you tune in the key of C, then you only have sharp keys available to you. Your teacher can, and should have explained all of this to you.”
Indeed; I often wonder why some teachers do not explain the harp’s basic design to their students. Simply put, for any given string the note (sharp flat or natural) is linearly related to it’s vibrating length. On a double actin design – pedal harps that is – notice that the discs are spaced at increasingly greater distances from each other as the strings get longer.
One would need to have two levers on each string to achieve the same flexibility on a lever harp. That’s doable but not worth the cost nor (probably) how cumbersome it would be. Of course one could order a custom lever harp with two sharping devices on each string.
Tuning to open Eb as Carl mentioned provides the most flexibility for lever harpists. But one might also consider the music one plays and whether with others or solo. If solo it is easy enough to transpose.
Most harp makers design to an open Cmaj since that is the most straight forward way to do it and the lever harp movement grew out of Celtic wire harp designs (no levers often tuned to Gmaj). It is then up to the player to decide alternative open tuning. There have been experiments with a relatvely inexpensive double action lever design but so far it has proven to be more expensive than just buying a good pedal harp.
Biagio
I’m sure you are right Emma – in fact that’s the subject for the first few pages of every pedal harp method book I know. My observation probably is based more on people teaching the lever harp who have not had a thorough grounding in theory. One reason I suspect that some teachers require the student to have some piano training.
On the other hand, how often do we hear comments such as “Never put gut strings on a nylon harp”? When I’ve asked the person espousing this view it often turns out that they are misquoting their teacher, or else the teacher did not understand the issue. The player who asks this is invariably a lever harper; perhaps the teacher never learned either.
I’m afraid I’ve gone way off topic but since I have….
My observation extends well beyond gut vs. nylon – that’s just the most obvious example.
For instance, some just accept that a spruce sound board is the only way to go (but don’t actually have any substantive reasons beyond tradition and their personal experiences.) What species of spruce, by the way, Engelmann or Sitka? What of the angle where the strings reach the board? How about composite boards (one species in certain octaves, another elsewhere)? Shall we touch on the merits and detractions of veneered boards?
Then there’s the argument that a lighter neck “transfers the vibration back to board, which enhances the sound.” Maybe, if by “enhances” they mean those vibrations muffle the volume and reduce sympathetic string vibrations. Some however mean that a light neck actually imparts certain frequencies over others which is ridiculous on its face.
Consider also the questions regarding wood used for the body. If the box walls are thin enough maple will certainly sound brighter than let us say walnut. But predicting that is problematic – a lot depends on the specific tree from which the wood is cut and how the box is shaped.
Levers – is one inherently better than others? Everyone has their favorites and for different reasons. Lovelands are just fine and cost less than Truitts or Camacs, but the latter are easier to mount and regulate. Broughs were wonderful while Peter still made them. And so on.
Not to be quarrlesome and I agree that “standard string sets” may not be suitable. That is because there are no lever harp standards in terms of vibrating length, as there are with pedal harps. But I cannot agree with the idea that gut strings have limits in what can substitute for nylon; only the diameter matters. Gut comes in much finer diameter gradations although it is true that you cannot rely on the published specs alone (X octave Y note).
You have to also know the diameters and that takes research. You will only run into a problem with Cs and Fs, and if the string design is well thought out that will not be much of a problem either. Some may be pedal gut, others lever gut: you (or rather the harp maker) just have to figure out which would be appropriate where. And of course there is there are the options of N/N, fluorocarbon, SFN, BFN, FS and so on.
For example, take a look at Dusty’s gut set for their FH36:
https://manufacturing.dustystrings.com/harps/stringsThat is only one harp model of course but I’ll make you a bet: Give me the intended note and vibrating length for any well made nylon strung harp and I or a professional string designer will be able to provide a gut substitution that comes as close to the deigned tension as makes no difference. The bet would have to be for a reasonable wager LOL, as that would take some time but I have no doubt that it could be done.
I’m not suggesting that good teachers need be aware of these things in great depth. But I do think that if the general principles were more common knowledge beginning students might be less confused.
Or possibly not, just confused at a higher level LOL. However, if the teacher understands these things she or he is in a better place to guide the student – not only in that first harp purchase but in minute approaches to their technique.
So much for the morning rant – sorry guys,
BiagioI regret, Evolene, if that little discourse appeared to be a criticism of students. I meant it more as a reaction to things I sometimes hear from teachers, including some very well respected ones.
One must also admit that what is said may be only a brief comment, that is subsequently taken as a general statement!
When I made that first harp it was like, “Wow, finally such a simple instrument that I can actually get beautiful sounds from.” Back then I knew practically nothing about theory – only the treble clef and a vague notion of what the markings meant. Then I found a wonderful teacher – Jocelyn insisted that the students start right from the beginning – clapping and stamping to internalize rhythm, plucking only one string at a time with each finger to internalize the sound. This no matter how well versed the student was otherwise.
Then, when she began to teach music theory she insisted that we analyze our own harps: string lengths, materials, sound boards, the whole thing and compare that to others’. This was an eye-opening event! Maybe that experience just colors my views. “Why does this harp sound different from that one?” she would ask. “What do you think would it sound like if you changed the range or string materials?” “OK, you love this model but WHY?” and so on.
Anyway, I apologize if the “message” came across as arrogant. There are just so many beautiful harps available and I hope that others experience the joy of discovery that Jocelyn gave to us.
iagio
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