Lever Etudes

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

What are the best lever harp etudes you know, I mean top-drawer musically and technically.

[patricia-jaeger]

Saul, at a certain point my students get the 12 etudes by Angelo Bovio, Op. 26. No levers are needed once the etudes, in many different keys, are begun, and advanced technique takes the fingers over the whole range of the harp.These are out of print but my teacher let me photocopy her volume. Bovio was harp Professor at the Royal Conservatory in Milan. He was succeeded by his pupil, Tedeschi. Tedeschi taught Graziella Pampari, who taught in St Louis, Mo. Pampari taught Albertina (nee Flach) Weygandt, and took her,

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Well, they do sound interesting. There is so much more Italian harp music than we ever hear about here.

[carl-swanson]

Try to find out exactly what is drawing him to the harp and what he thinks he would like to play. Then adjust your approach to his goal. One way you can keep him interested is to play duets with him, with you playing either piano or harp. You can take some piece that he likes, let him play the melody while you play the harmony and rhythm. it will make him sound much more advanced than he is and make him want to advance more. Good luck.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

My student had a volume of exercises by Kastner, edited by Kathy Bundock Moore, which are perfect. Thank you, Kathy!

[zoraida-avila]

Jean Michel Damase – 10 easy and progressive studies (Ed. Billaudot)
Pierick Houdy – Jeux de mains Jeux d’esprit – 15 studies (Salvi Pub.)
Zoraida

[barbara-brundage]

Yes, I like the Damase, too. I also like the 12 etudes + Theme and Variations for lever harp by Naderman, but they are more exercises than musical studies.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Yes I would like to get the Houdy, haven’t gotten around to it yet, and there is so much Damase to acquire I hadn’t gotten to that yet, either.

[unknown-user]

I am a student, not a teacher, and just posted the following on the amateur forum.

[vincent-pierce]

That’s great! My little brother always wants to play the harp when I bring one home (which is not that often, since I go to school almost 700 miles away). I think he has some natural ability or affinity for music, and I would love to teach him harp. He’s only 7, so I have some time. I’m pushing my parents to get him into piano lessons, but he’s a little too wild sometimes! I know lots of harpists with siblings that play, and I think it’s great. I know one harpist who has two younger sisters that play also. They started with her and moved up to her former teacher. They play together on a pedal harp, a prelude, and a lap harp – small, medium and large. I think that’s totally adorable! Good luck!

[patricia-jaeger]

Elaine, perhaps someone else knows of something in print that addresses “how to flip levers”. Here is what you could do until such a guide is found: Play the new piece twice through, just activating a needed lever when the next note demands it. Then, from the beginning,

[barbara-brundage]

Elaine, can you clarify? I thought you meant you have trouble with pieces with marked lever changes?

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