Singer-Songwriters who self-accompany on the harp

[michael-rockowitz]

I’ve wondered about other harpcolumn members who write their own songs, sing them while self-accompanying on the harp, and put the results on a publicly available video. I don’t know if there are too many out there.

[michael-rockowitz]

Well,

[patricia-jaeger]

Michael, I haven’t looked on You Tube for

[michael-rockowitz]

Patricia, thank you so much for drawing my attention to those performers – great players, with beautiful voices who I think, use the harp in a secondary, understated (but technically facile) way to accompany their voices.

[michael-rockowitz]

Well, singer/songwriters on the harp must be truly rare – my work is the only material populating this thread!

I trust there will be more, eventually.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

One thing I noticed about self-accompanying: if you are accustomed to playing the harp as a soloist, you have to adjust to the role of accompanist, which is quite different, otherwise your voice and harp will be dueling for attention. I think sitting and looking at the strings affects vocal projection, so you should be able to play your accompaniments without looking. That will be all the more impressive, and allow you to keep your focus on the audience while singing.

[michael-rockowitz]

I’ve spent some time yesterday observing videos of various professional harpist/singers – Deborah Henson Conant, Mary O’Hara, Orla Fallon, and various others.

[onita-sanders]

Please do not laugh, but I would take a couple of selections that I know very, very well and perform them at home with all the lights out(in the dark). Imagining that you are performing at a recital or church function, etc. See how you do. After all there is such a thing as non-sighted harpists who seem to negotiate this very well. Have some fun with it.

[zoraida-avila]

The Si b Editions in Spain has been published a collection of original songs for singing and accompanying themselves on the celtic or pedal harp. There are 3 books with CD included (beginners, medium, advanced) named Cantores Viajeros, written by the spaniard composer Antonio García-Palao (Fingering: Z. Avila).
You can get its through http://www.concursoibericoisolda.com/scores

Zoraida Avila

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

One exercise is to practice moving your eyeballs, but not your head. What is most distracting is the head movement. If your eyelids are half-closed, it would also be less noticable. Another technique would be to arrange your accompaniments so that once you are placed on the strings, you never leave them, so everything is connected and placeable.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

And, so, you want to make your accompaniments supportive in role, complementary, not competing for attention. It’s just like the difference in listening to a singer accompanied by a solo pianist or an accompanist. The approach and sensitivity are different.

[michael-rockowitz]

Saul, since I read your past comments, I have been trying to minimize my looking at my hands as I play, and rather gaze out at an (during my practice, imaginary) audience.

[shelby-m]

I don’t sing, so I doubt I’ll ever contribute to this thread.

[helen-rudd]

Not me! But I have come across a few on youtube.

Erin Hill-Mixes sci-fi lyrics with the harp, very neat songs on her website.
http://www.erinhill.com/music/music.htm
Try Giant Mushrooms and Silver feet on her site, so great! Especially Silver Feet-my new favorite xmas song.

Gillian Grassie-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY1hgcwjNQ4&feature=channel&list=UL

[avital-rom]

Just found this thread (and along with it this wonderful forum. I was googling for “harp singing accompaniment”)!
Michael- Your songs are sweet. There’s something in them that reminds me of other times.

I’ve enjoyed very much the links to singing-harpists here, some of them are fantastic!! I would add to those:
[loreena mckennitt] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU_Tn-HxULM) is quite famous I think. She does many covers but I think she also writes for herself.

and a discovery I’ve made on youtube is [Natalya Zarraga] (http://www.natalyazarraga.com/) who’s got a really interesting and sweet voice, along with some very unusual music.

I’m also looking for ways to combine the harp and the singing. So far I’ve only uploaded to youtube a Sinead O’Cconor cover, and I’m not sure if it’s allowed to upload covers here, but soon am supposed to have one studio recording of a song of mine (in Hebrew) which I’ll play and sing… Anyway, I’m still looking for ways to self accompany my singing on the harp, so if by chance you get more interesting tips, please do share them 🙂
(I don’t play as well as you as most of the rest of the people here, I’m afraid…)

Best,
Avital.

[Author]

Posts