Salvi Daphne 40

[unknown-user]

Hi Mark,

I just wanted to add that I put Bow Brand pedal light strings on a couple of Salvi pedal harps

[sherry-lenox]

I have to disagree with John also. For better or for worse, it is certainly easier to provide a decent inexpensive violin for a student than it is to provide a decent quality harp, and it has been my personal experience in a reasonably middle class part of the tri-state NY area that very few students have exposure to the harp in their high school musical experiences.

Naturally, this is compounded by the fact that districts spend loads of money on marching band, but that is a discussion for another time.

I am familiar with one nearby school district that bought a lever harp for a student enrolled there. My personal choice in the particular situation would have been a small pedal harp, but there are so few students who were interested that at least there was a harp for students to see and hear.

I couldn’t agree more with CW’s comment about the flutes! Even a flute-harp package, offered as such, allows the student to march with h/h friends AND do something a bit more out of the mainstream at the same time.

[Leigh Griffith]

As someone who played flute in school (5th grade through high school)
so that I could play in the school setting, I wish the public schools
would include orchestra instruments in their curriculums. I find it
interesting that students could take violin lessons in elementary
school, but once in Jr. high, it was band or nothing. I hated marching
and hated football even more, but was required to attend all games in
order to be in the band, the only venue for instruments in the school
system. Our band was very good, and I’m glad I participated, but if a
harp had been available, that’s where I would have been!

My two cents,

Leigh

[barbara-low]

Not to cause an uproar here, but John does have a point.

Though it would be wonderful to have harps in the public school system, or any school, it would be very difficult to get administration behind the idea. Even with donated harps, they would be very resistant to providing funds for maintenance, let along funding a harp teacher. There was an attempt recently to donation 6 lever harps in excellent condition to a publicly funded creative arts school in a major city. The school turned it down for the reasons stated above. We even tried to secure outside funding for maintenance by contacting a member of the City Council, a harpist. She never returned our calls.

Bottom line, the harp is the cheapest part of the whole operation. Funding a teacher, the strings, maintenance, the room and all the other stuff is what’s expensive. And how many band directors know the first thing about a harp?

P.S. The public high school I attended had an old gold semi-grand Lyon and Healy that was used in orchestra (I was a violinist then). I loved watching and hearing the harpist play. There was no harp instructor so she took lessons privately. After she graduated, the harp pretty much stayed in its trunk.

[unknown-user]

We bought the harp with donated money and the studetn harpist is elated.

[barbara-low]

Congratulations! Looks like a win-win for everyone.

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