Swollen and aching thumb and hands

[balfour-knight]

Lily, here is a photo of my Dusty FH36S (Cherie) in front of my grand piano! I made the cherry stool myself to match the harp. Enjoy!

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[Gregg Bailey]

Lily,

What was the piece you played that called for the top B and C strings? The funny thing is, Sylvia Woods says that she’s the only person who has ever written or arranged any lever harp music that calls for anything higher than the top “A,” and she says it’s just two pieces that call for the top “B” that she wrote. Maybe that was true at one time, but I’ve seen other pieces by other composers/arrangers that call for those higher notes!

Balfour, I always love seeing the photos of Cherie! I also didn’t know that you all grow your own aloe vera plants; how neat!

-Gregg

[Lily-White]

WOW!!! Balfour, you have quite a collection of beautiful instruments there! I have seen a picture of your Camac Atlantide Prestige before… And the CHERRY 😉 on the cake – a large layer one! – is that stool that makes my heart melt! <3

I believe every word you say about Aloe Vera, and I love natural products as well. Fortunately I get very good results with my creams, even though the don’t contain any Aloe Vera.

Gregg, the piece is “Moonlight” by Susan McDonald (the very first piece I played, and I still play it – it’s very simple, relaxing and still very “harpy”). I would have needed the C string, not the B string. But now that I looked at my sheet music, it’s not the original version of the piece, a couple of notes have been changed. In Susan McDonald’s original version you DON’T need those two extra strings, you can play the original version on my Ravenna 34! Interesting, I’m glad you asked! I now very much want to play the original version and hear how it sounds…
I’m also glad you asked because I’m in the process of trying to understand what kind of a harp I really need. The number of strings is one of my question marks. I guess you can play a lot on a 34-string harp like my Ravenna! 🙂

– Lily

[Gregg Bailey]

Hi, Lily,

Yes, you can play quite a lot of music on 34 strings. Of course, the more strings, the better! From what I’ve read, 34 strings (at least in the United States) is considered to be the minimum number for serious harp study. However, Chiara Pedrazzetti on YouTube doesn’t care for harps that don’t go down to “A” in the bass, which is usually on harps that have at least 38 strings, though Rees Harps offers optional “A-to-A” stringing on their 36-string Aberdeen Meadows harp model (as opposed to the standard C-to-C stringing). I actually have one of those on order that they’re currently building for me, and I requested the A-to-A stringing, in part because I LOVE bass, and because the overall tone of that harp model is noticeably much mellower in that stringing in videos I’ve heard, and I LOVE mellow harp tone!

That’s so interesting that your very first harp piece called for the high-C, since most harp students don’t encounter those high notes for awhile!

When do you think you can resume even playing for a few minutes a day?

-Gregg

[balfour-knight]

Good to see your posts, Lily and Gregg! I wanted to add that I play a lot in the Keys of D Major and B minor with two sharps, and I use that High B very much in B minor. The harp is such a “C Major” instrument, it is hard for me to think of it any other way until I raise the sharping levers, or use the pedals to get to a different key. When you sit down to a piano or organ, and see all the white keys, they ARE the Key of C, and it just all makes sense. “A” minor usually requires G#’s anyway (Harmonic minor) so I think C Major more than A minor on the white keys. Lily, those white keys are FOR YOU, ha, ha!

Best wishes, with hugs,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)

[Lily-White]

Hi Gregg and Balfour,

Gregg, I agree! My teacher is quite demanding, beginning with such a piece. First it felt impossible. But it wasn’t, it just took some time. And I still love the piece! I’m happy she chose it for me. At home I have method books with pieces I wouldn’t necessary choose myself. I play them to learn the technique, later I can choose all my pieces myself! But even if a piece is boring, it’s so rewarding when you get it right! 😀

I just played the original version of the piece “Moonlight”. I so much wanted to hear and feel it. I liked it a lot, there was more harpy stuff than in the version I had played before. But now my hands are protesting, argh!

And Balfour, I would SO MUCH like to tune my harp in C major!!! Everything would make sense to me (maybe because of my piano background). I have been taught to tune it in Eb…

– Lily

[Gregg Bailey]

Lily,

That’s such a bummer that your hands are protesting again after playing just a little bit. I still wonder if your hands could handle at least playing on something with lighter tension like a Grand Harpsicle 33 or a MusicMakers Ballad 34 without too much problem when your hands are otherwise in this state.

I feel like tuning a lever harp in 3 flats vs C major should be a personal choice. If you’re not having to play anything with flats, why should you have to tune in flats if you’d rather not? I personally tune in 3 flats like you’ve been taught, but that’s just my own choice. Maybe your teacher anticipates having you start to play pieces with flats before long. As Balfour likes to point out, however, you can still tune in C and then play in the corresponding sharp key when you come across flat key signatures. For example, if you have a piece in F major but you’ve tuned in C, you could set your levers to F# major. If you’re not playing along with any other instruments, it shouldn’t matter. Bb major would become B major, and Eb major would become E major, etc. Certain accidentals would have to be played enharmonically, however.

Just a thought!

-Gregg

[Gregg Bailey]

Just to be clear, Lily, I’m not suggesting you completely switch over to a lower-tension harp; I’m just wondering if having such a harp around could “hold you over” when your hands get like this until you can play on the Ravenna tension again without trouble. This may be something you have to deal with repeatedly, though I hope not!

-Gregg

[balfour-knight]

Thanks Gregg–that was all very good, and I know that when my hands and fingers are especially bothering me from the arthritis, or playing too much, I can play on Cherie much more comfortably than on Angelica. (lever harp with medium high tension as opposed to pedal harp with standard “high” tension)

I agree with Gregg about the C tuning. It is a personal choice. I used to teach a few harp students along with my usual piano and organ students, and I always started them out with the C tuning. It was so much easier to do, and to understand. When they progressed to a piece with B flats in it, I showed them how to retune those notes, only as they were needed. With the C tuning, you can play in ALL the sharp keys, of course, and I personally would rather have it that way than half and half with something like the E flat or A flat tuning. The pedal harp being able to play in all keys is of course THE BEST!

Harp Hugs,
Balfour

[Lily-White]

Hi Balfour and Gregg,

You are the best! I feel so much better after your wise advise and your support! <3

About the tuning, I could tune it in C major and change it back if necessary. I will ask my teacher as well, so far she has listened very carefully to what I would like to do 😉

About the hands, to be honest, I think I will have to deal with this in the future as well. In periods. At least so far I don’t think it means I have to quit the harp, I just have to find my way to do it. At least try, I love the harp so much! I’m very grateful for all your suggestions, you know so much more about this than I do. I’m not sure about the Harpsicle, it’s so small. Only after getting the highest legs available for my Mélanie I really felt “at home” with her. I like a steady floor harp that is high. Mélanie is perfect in that sense. I’m very tall, and, of course, we all have different preferences.

That is, I need to feel generally relaxed and comfortable, in order to have the right hand position and be able to relax the hands (still working on that, e.g. my pinkies still have a life of their own…). With a high floor harp everything is easier and more comfortable for me. A lap harp is not for me.

There is one harp that is a mystery to me: the Camac Ulysse. Nobody writes anything about it (or maybe I have just missed it…). It has “only” 34 strings and isn’t very high. But it’s VERY light and can take changes in temperature and humidity very well (a big bonus if you live in my country!). It’s not all wood, unfortunately. But they make it in white! 😀
I would like to know about its sound and its string tension / quality (for my hands) – compared to my Ravenna. Maybe I should write a separate post about it, if anyone out there would know these things.

Actually, it’s strange to me that they say it can take changes in temperature and humidity. I understand it when it comes to the body, because of the special material, but not the sound board and the strings (which are pretty important parts of a harp…). But I guess I don’t have to understand everything, I’m just curious by nature… 😀

– Lily

[Gregg Bailey]

Hi, Lily,

I just want to be sure you know I’m referring to the Grand Harpsicle model, which is one of the floor harp models in the Harpsicle line, NOT a lap harp. It has a full octave below the lowest string of the lap models. It IS quite light, however, and does sit a little lower than, say, the Ravenna 34 even with the Ravenna on the lower default legs. The MusicMakers Ballad 34 is probably somewhere between the Grand Harpsicle and the Ravenna 34 in size, tension, weight, etc. The Brilliant Harpsicle is even larger than the Grand Harpsicle and is perhaps between the MusicMakers Ballad and the DS Ravenna in terms of string tension.

I know what you mean about wanting the harp to be higher, and I think it’s a shame that many harp models don’t offer different height setups. I’m actually thinking about ordering the mid-length legs for my Ravenna 34 and Boulevard. My legs are fairly short, but I have a tall torso.

I hope someone will answer your questions about Camac lever harps. I think a separate thread for that would be a good idea. And I, too, would like to know about why a certain harp would be able to handle changes in temperature and humidity better without being an all-out carbon fiber harp. Maybe it’s a hybrid harp, which would perhaps explain it.

I’ll be so curious to know what you and your teacher work out as a solution to all this!

-Gregg

[Lily-White]

Hi Gregg,

I don’t know how to thank you for all the advise and support! <3

When I mentioned the lap harp earlier, I didn’t refer to the Grand Harpsicle, it was just a general comment. I like the idea of having a harp for practicing that’s kinder to my hands. But in that case it would have to come with the bonus of being less “loud” as well. I live in an apartment building and the joy of practicing is often disturbed by my thoughts: “Am I torturing my neighbors?”. But I guess a smaller harp like the Grand Harpsicle is automatically less “loud” than harps like my Ravenna 34 (?).

And I guess the DS FH36S is “louder” than the Ravenna 34? I know you can play any harp delicately, but in in general? Maybe Balfour would have an answer to this? I hope this was the the day we were allowed to ask stupid questions… 😀

Anyway, I am processing your idea about a hand-friendly harp to practice on, it’s a good idea! I would just have to find a kind harp I’m comfortable playing in general – this has a huge impact on the hands as well. There is no stand for the Grand Harpsicle for sitting when playing, just for standing. So at least for now I’m not ready to go for that one. I know you mentioned others as well, I just started with the Grand Harpsicle because they make it in white 😀

There’s also the financial factor. I just bought a new piano, which I have meant to do for a long time, I just haven’t been able to decide which one to go for. A clearance sale in a store finally got me moving 😀 . And I don’t want to rent a harp forever, so this would mean buying two harps… That’s why I’m also asking myself if I could get everything in one harp – a large AND hand-friendly harp. There is the Camac Mélusine for example. A concert model you can get in white 😀 , but I guess it’s quite “loud” for my apartment building. And a student model that isn’t so loud, but I’d have to settle for a walnut finish. However, those who love the Mélusine don’t want a bright and delicate sound, they like that deep and mellow tone of it. That’s why I’m so in love with the Dusty harps (Ravenna & FH36S), to me they have a warm and deep tone, but there is brightness and delicacy as well. If I hade to choose between these two types of sounds, I’d choose delicacy. But those strings are not for my hands.

Thank you if you finished this novel! In a nutshell: There’s a lot to consider.

I’ll post a question about the Camac models later, separately. Even if I don’t find my harp among those, it’s always so interesting to learn about different models! 🙂

Thank you once more for everything Gregg!

Lily

[balfour-knight]

Lily, I saw where you asked me if the DS FH36S is louder than the Ravenna 34. Let me just say that indeed it is capable of very much more volume! It also has a dreamy long sustain, which I love. The soundboard and harp body are longer and larger than Ravenna, since it sits on the floor without needing a stand. I am 5′ 6″ and the harp is at exactly the right height for me when sitting in a normal chair or on the stool I made for the harp. I am like Gregg in preferring a taller harp!

I will try to attach a photo of me playing Cherie, so you can see the relative height.

Harp Hugs,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)

[balfour-knight]

Well, that file was too big, ha, ha! On-line, you can search “Balfour Knight Harpist” and find some little informal video clips of me actually playing Cherie at our local Community Center, after one of our fun pot-luck dinners–Yum!

[Lily-White]

WOW!!! Balfour, I enjoyed every second of it! Beautiful pieces, played by a real pro! Now I love that harp even more… You are PERFECT together! – as I’m sure you are with Carol Lynn as well! <3

I love tall harps too. I’m 179 cm, so maybe I need an even taller harp… 😉

Huge Harp Hugs to You, Carol Lynn and Chérie!

Lily and Mélanie

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