PLACING IN SEQUENCE

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

In response to Diane’s query about ascending scale placements: A few years ago, I noticed that I had started crossing under with 4,3 in my left hand quite unconsciously. Now my left hand scales are smoother and more comfortable than my right! I don’t place them before placing the 2nd finger, though. It happens at the usual time, but the only difference is that both the fourth and third fingers place simultaneously. When I read that article, I was relieved to see that I wasn’t the only one doing this! Back to the topic, though: in Lariviere’s Exercices et Etudes, there are some scale exercises which force you to place in sequence, probably because it is such an important skill to have.

[David Ice]

Well, I know I’m not verbalizing it well.

[carl-swanson]

Well then whatever it is you do, KEEP DOING IT!!! I’ll look forward to a demonstration some time. Now, about that Ice Cream…

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

I just realized that I did not clarify what I meant by “similar”. In cascading passages, I place the thumb first, then 2,3 simultaneously, then 4 as I play 3. It’s sequential placing with a slight difference. In thumb slides, if they’re happening as part of a larger sequence, I place the other fingers simultaneously as I slide the thumb, not before. If the thumb slide occurs at the beginning of a piece or a phrase, then I place the other fingers before the slide.

[carl-swanson]

Elizabeth- That makes sense. I think I probably do it the same way. The questions I was asking at the start of this thread were: 1)Do other people use this technique(placing in sequence or whatever else you choose to call it) and 2) Do you consciously teach it as an identifyable technical point? It seems to me that those of us who use it pretty much figured out on our own that it was necessary, and we each figured out on our own how to do it. I teach it to students at a fairly early level. I’m just wondering what other teachers do?

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

Ah, yes, Carl, I do teach it. I also explain to my students, right from the start, that their musical taste should dictate how they are going to place and finger every passage.

[unknown-user]

Then why wouldn’t you teach this technique to the students at first instead of teaching them placing in blocks, if this “placing in sequence” technique is better then “placing in block”?

I am not a professional harpist but I am very interested to know about it as I was taught to place in blocks.

[carl-swanson]

You have to go through the stage of placing in blocks first. You have to be able to form very precise patterns in the air first(octaves, triads, 4 note chords, V7 arpeggios in all the positions to give just a few examples) in order to place your fingers on the strings accurately. Placing in blocks forces you to learn those patterns. For example, if you place a 4 note chord, placing all 4 fingers simultaneously, and one or more fingers is wrong, you know immediately that you’ve made a mistake. Once you can place in blocks very accurately, then the next step is to place the same notes in sequence. Even at the advanced level, a harpist learning a difficult piece will probably place in blocks initially until the patterns are learned, then move on to placing in sequence.

[carl-swanson]

I wanted to add one more thought. Your teacher was absoloutely right to teach you to place in blocks. But at some point in your development it will be time to teach you the more advanced technique of placing in sequence.

[tony-morosco]

I was definitely taught this, but was never given a specific name for it. Only “placing one finger at a time.”

I was never specifically taught when to use it, however. But as I advanced my teacher would simply indicate the passages where I should use it.

I always start using block placing when learning something new, but find that in certain instances I just naturally start placing one finger at a time without really thinking about it. I just kind of feel when one kind of placing seems right or another.

Of course I seem to be forever revising and refining my fingerings. It is almost an obsession for me. No matter how good a fingering seems I can never shake the feeling that I could find a better way with a little more trial and error. But I typically try numerous fingerings and placing one at a time rather than block placement tends to be one of the first things I try.

[carl-swanson]

Tony- That’s almost exactly how I work too. On the subject of fingerings, I usually start a new piece by reading through it several time and writing in pedals and fingerings as a point of departure. But as I get to know the piece better, I frequently find that a fingering I originally put in doesn’t work, maybe because it causes a buzz, or at a faster tempo is awkward, etc. Sometimes I find that pedals have to be moved around too as I get to know the piece better.

Placing in sequence is something that ultimately is intuitive. I don’t think about it or do it consciously. It just happens as I get more familiar with the piece. The same with muffling. Almost all of the muffling I do is with individual fingers in the left hand. i almost never muffle with the flat of my hand. Again, this is intuitive and just seems to happen as the piece gets closer to performance level.

One of the problems I have to work on is making sure that the piece I have learned reflects accurately the way I actually play the piece. A lot of times during the learning process, I’ll change a fingering but not write it down. If I go back to the piece a few years later, I sometimes have to try to figure out what it was I actually did in the piece. I’m getting better at writing down the changes though.

[kimberly-rowe]

Carl:

Interesting thread! (I see a Harp Column article in your future….)

I wanted to pipe in that I think teaching students block placing is crucial in the beginning. So much of beginning learning on the harp involves shapes and as Carl mentioned, envisioning the shape you want your hand to land on before it hits the strings. Not only from a technique standpoint, learning block placing also strengthens music theory concepts for beginning harpists—root position chords, inversions, etc… Also, I think block placing is REALLY important in the left hand. I’ve seen too many students want to place big left hand chords one note at a time, from bottom to top, and not only does that distort the shape of their hand and lead to a lot of moving around, but they often can’t get big left hand chords quickly enough that way.

I think this is a classic example of “you have to know the rule before you can break it.” A student has to be advanced enough to understand where this kind of technique is going to be a benefit, and they have to have enough basic skills that placing one note at a time isn’t going to mess them up from keeping a steady hand.

[carl-swanson]

Kim- I don’t even think of this as ‘breaking a rule.’ Playing the harp involves many techniques, and some of those techniques cannot be learned until another one is solid. Placing in blocks is fundamental to learning many skills on the harp, and placing in sequence doesn’t replace it, but rather is a variation, or if you want, an advanced form of placing in blocks.

This is why I am such a stickler for learning a good solid technical foundation. Ultimately you want your technique to be so firm, so complete, that you never have to think about it.

Some good examples where you would use placing in sequence on chords are the opening statement of the Impromptu of Faure and the beginning of the harp cadenza in Britten’s Young Person’s Guide… Both have 8 note chords that you want to ring as long as possible, and both repeat notes that were just played. To simply learn the chords in each of these examples, you have to practice placing in blocks until you can find the notes quickly and easily. BUT THEN, you have to place each chord from the bottom to the top, placing only one or two fingers at a time, and placing the right hand after the left, so that you don’t hear any strings being muffled or buzzing.

[carl-swanson]

Stephan- I thought of something else that should be mentioned for the benefit of everyone who has never heard of this technique and may want to learn it. When you place in sequence, it is crucial that each finger that is placed on a string touch the string at exactly the same moment that the finger already on another string plucks. In other words, in placing in sequence, one finger is placed and another finger plucks the string exactly together. That way, if the finger being placed either creates a small buzz or stops a vibrating string, it is camouflaged by the sound of another string being plucked. You do not ever place a finger before, even a microsecond before, another string is plucked. Needless to say, the technique of placing in sequence is exactly the same in both hands.

[diane-michaels]

In thinking about the earliest examples a beginning harpist would encounter for using this sequential placement, I’ve

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