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I’m with Angela – it can sometimes be a tricky occupation for some customers who do not appreciate the time and effort – a time & cost sink requiring constant mental efforts & perseverance. I think Garrison Keillor got it about right, exaggerated of course, when he described it as “keeping you humble and at home. You can’t run around with a harp, having one is like living with an elderly parent in poor health, hard to get them in and out of cars & hard to keep them happy. It takes fourteen hours to tune a harp which remains in tune for twenty minutes or until someone opens the door. It’s an instrument for a saint…. ” He concludes with “if a harpist could find a good percussionist, they wouldn’t need anybody else they could just settle down and make perfectly good music, just the two of them”…..leads into a simply ascending arpeggio to which the triangle gets the final ping !!
From the 1800’s and the days of Erard harps, we have a different numbering system for notes and octaves on the harp and never use the standard scientific convention you are referring to and so best if you adopt this nomenclature when talking to other harpists and retailers.
The recognised harp range of notes is expressed as high 1st E at the top, down to 6th or 7th octaves in the lower register – so numbered in the opposite direction.
The top note you envisage needing is what we all know as 2nd octave C – however you will appreciate that the vertex of the harp at the top lends itself to being replete with strings so often the top string is 1st Octave G or A, simply because of the physics of string material (mass), tension and length – or you’d have a gap where 6 strings could be.
Quite sensibly for playing two octaves below middle C, you’ll need to go down to 6th C and you will find that for this you are likely to need a 34 stringed harp – so 30 strings would be a minimum to get to the bass G, on the bottom line of the bass clef. I would also add that if you are an adult the size of 34 strings or upwards is better for your physique, otherwise you will be crouching over an instrument with too small a frame.depends entirely on the child but “El Numero Uno” in the Grandjany Wiedensaul book is listed as Trinity grade 2 & would provide contrast to the usual selection at that level……… opening chords are played pdlt evocative of a simple Spanish guitar chord followed by rhythmic knocking on the soundboard to set up the mood and the motif following, great novelty value for a young harpist but upon reflection she might be just too young musically for this, anyway see if she likes and ‘understands’ it.
To UU2: my earlier entry has been updated… oh and I’ve made my elbow tendons very sore using my i-pad over the last week, but here’s an example of overstretching……..
A pupil hadn’t been playing very long, a matter of months, when she complained of soreness on the forearm behind the wrist bone in line with the 5th finger – I looked at her playing just thirds with 1&2 and saw she was pointing her second finger down too much, so when I experimented myself, pressing my other index finger on the spot I felt the tension right there behind the wrist. So we corrected that, she stopped for a week and the injury hasn’t recurred…….. Sometimes we don’t realize how a learnt action is hurting us.When I use a forearm in the pronated position a lot with the hand turned over lookup pronation (palm down) and supination(palm up)….. then I find the wear on the forearm and tendons at the elbow is greatly aggravated and also on the harp the right elbow is always bent more than the left with a tendency to droop, so is vulnerable to overuse resulting in soreness of golf+tennis elbow plus weakness in the hand. I also think that a lot of stretching and lifting of the back of the hand aggravates the top of the forearm. Once you drop the hand ever so slightly the relaxation becomes possible because you can play without cocking the wrist. If you have a L&H and large hands you might find too much control is needed with the narrow spacing and that causes extra tension – so perhaps return to a harp with wider spacing – on which the spacing is similar to your knuckles, otherwise you have to fine tune your placing extremely carefully – I noticed this when I tried out a new L&H. As Saul remarks, swiping a tablet really does tire my hands – this is about computers but relevant to RSI: http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/9/4448592/my-keyboard-tried-to-kill-me-overly-complicated-ergonomics-war
Charades is a set of interesting and tuneful 10-12 studies to develop your skills from about grade 2 onwards – so it would be a good investment. If you have only been playing 6 months there is still a lot of groundwork for you to cover and you will find them challenging but interesting…… and they will develop your reading, placing and articulation.
in a crammed hall I took my seat next to the double basses and was just sitting back correcting my part when the player next to me had a coughing fit, slammed down her instrument and its spike sent her music stand flying into mine and the harp…. Huh – I had momentarily decided not to watch her antics to concentrate on my corrections so sitting back unguarded resulted in a chip to the edge of my instrument. Stands, music and her bow all flew onto my harp and you can imagine how awful this was – so now I understand how a little bit of nervousness has its purpose – to be sure it spoilt the day and my harp although thankfully barely noticeable – the moral is – steer clear of bass players and tall stands …
the first few bars of arpeggios in Hasselman’s La Source – but otherwise I struggle to find a favorite that I think will appeal. Sometimes I indulge in the beginning of Debussy’s Arabesque after tuning a lever harp in Eb, just so that the youngsters and their parents can hear something lush.
There are a few jewels in y Telynor Clasurol = The Classical Harpist – compiled by Christopher Powell – easier versions of Handel’s Chaconne, Sonatina, Pasacaille, Carillon & Purcell’s Hornpipe, Croft’s Adagio. This is new to me, not trivial for pupils and three pieces are AB grade 3 list A. Sightly confusing are the lever markings 3C#, 3Ab referring to 3rd C# and 3rd A flat, I guess they are precise at least.
then email me or one of the others ! I heard this piece again on the radio today – it surely is one of my favorites, curiously it was at a much lower tempo so less stress for the harpist, but musically almost too slow – I guess one gets used to works in a certain tempo range.
Suggest you go back to Grandjany’s Arabesque – a grade 6 piece – a good place to learn 3 against 2 – oh and tap on your knees (thighs) RH triplets, LH quarter notes.
That’s what I thought……. Some Enchanted Evening…. sounds more enjoyable than a disenchanted wedding !! I think I would have dried up and played something else (but it is funny reading your stories). As for checking out the parents’ agility – that takes some forethought..
Yes they do and they are more stable generally even if they are stiff round corners – use your back carefully without twisting or straining & if you do accept help upstairs, the simple instruction to pull works better than a novice doing what they always do from below tipping it sideways & off balance…… by lifting and pushing. You can let it down carefully too.
