Little Fountain

[Irene C]

Hello,

I have a specific question regarding speed and accuracy in the Little Fountain.

[Misty Harrison]

It’s a fast piece but the important idea is making it flow like water and making the melody in the right hand thumb sing with all the other notes cascading from the melody. You can also listen to recordings of other fountain pieces for harp

Hasselmans La Source

Tourner Ver la Source dans le bois

Zabel

[barbara-brundage]

>Zabel Fountain I forget what this title actually is

Also “La Source” or “Am Springbrunnen”, depending.

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

Are you keeping your wrists stable, and not letting them follow your hands as the fingers cascade downwards?

Are you bringing your fingers downwards and into the palm?

Are you taking a couple of bars at a time and playing those quickly until you have them just the way you want?

You might be doing all this and more, but without knowing your playing, it’s hard to make any useful suggestions. I hope this helps!

[karen]

Congratulations! That is a piece I own the music for and really would love to be able to play someday! Glad you are mastering it (in your own way! How long have you been playing? (if you don’t mind me asking)

[Brittany DeYoung]

I love teaching this piece and think it is a great piece to work on several technical aspects. What I always suggest to my students os exactly the same thing my teacher taught me….. Practice the arpeggios as chords, making sure to place all 4 fingers of the hand at the same time and before the next hand plays. (terrible description!) eg.

starting at the beginning…..

Place both hands; play RH notes as chord, replace RH for next Chord; play LH notes as chord, replace LH for next chord, play RH notes as Chord, replace RH notes for next chord…..etc…..

After you have mastered this I also suggest practicing as arpeggios in Rhythms such as….

TWOs

dotted eighth-sixteenth-dotted eighth-sixteenth….

sixteenth-dotted eighth-sixteenth-dotted eighth….

THREEs

two sixteenths-eighth-two sixteenths-eighth…

sixteenth-eighth-two sixteenths-eighth-two sixteenths…

eighth-two sixteenths-eighth-two sixteenths….

FOURs

quarter-triplet-quarter-triplet….

etc….

Avoid rhythms that put a break between the 4th finger of one hand and the thumb of the next

I find these to be fun little games. Sevens are tricky, nines and elevens are really fun. Try to make the fast notes of the rhythms as fast as possible.

Finally remember to just relax and let the notes flow…. (ha ha thats cheesy)

I’m sure there is some one else who can describe this rhythm thing better. It’s easier to demonstrate or draw pictures of than write about.

[sherry-lenox]

Is this version of The Little Fountain the one in “Danses Pour la Dauphine”?

If so, I have a question about the second harp part. There is no tempo marking in the first harp part, but in the Harp II part, the tempo is marked “Andante”.

Is that marking intended to refer to the difference in the sound of the notes in each part? It doesn’t seem to make sense to be playing the second part andante and the first part at a tempo that would be considered fast, but it also doesn’t make sense that an editor would be referring to the overall speed of the piece and be meaning the relative duration of the notes.

Any opinions on this?

[virginia-schweninger]

After you have learned the part as thoroughly as all of the above folks have suggested . . . you sit on your stool with a very comfortable back, relaxed arms and shoulders, free your neck and notice that your arms are relaxed and as well as your fingers. The breathe out and throw caution to the wind. With a relaxed free hand you let your fingers flow without interference from your brain.

You have acquired the muscle memory you need. Now let go of the tension and let your fingers fly. Don’t hold anything back. It will be almost as if you fingers are flying. Stay with it and enjoy. It’s like stepping on the gas pedal of a really nice sports car. Just hold onto the steering wheel and focus.

The speed will be there if you have done your work . . . and you allow yourself to relax and let go.

Enjoy.

V

[patricia-jaeger]

Irene, all of the above suggestions are so valuable! Here are some more, regarding Harp I. It is awkward to have two page turns in this 5-page piece, especially since it has a DC al segno which makes two more turns necessary. Photocopy some pages so you have perhaps one turn, and better still, if you can memorize pages 2, 3, and

[patricia-jaeger]

After viewing several performances of this piece on http://www.youtube.com, my personal favorite for tempo and expression in the piece is cdhammond. He omits the last 7 measures, however. Another sensitive performance is by Anaharp, however she misinterprets the left hand muffles as played notes; her teacher should have explained that. Sam Pratt published the piece by means of a music typewriter, in the days before music software programs on computers. His creativity in helping the non pedal

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