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P.S.- I love your artwork. The birds look great! (It wouldn’t let me edit to add this to my previous post)
Oh Mae, it’s beautiful!
What did you use to do the finish? The walnut looks amazing.
I can’t wait to see it with strings and hear it, too!I also tend to look a little too serious when I play. To combat that, I usually just try raising my eyebrows (just to stop the concentration-frown) and turning up the corners of my mouth a little when I don’t feel it’s appropriate to do a full smile (which is most of the time for me–I would feel a bit silly trying to grin through an entire piece).
When I’m working up a piece for public playing, I will practice in front of a mirror and/or video record myself playing. It helps me see when I’m frowning the most, so I can focus on my facial expression at those parts. When I’m playing from written music, sometimes I even make a little smiley face before the tough passages to remind me to lighten up. 🙂Haha– perhaps because I could have bought so many guitars or djembes, plus lessons, music, and accessories for the money I’ve spent on a couple harps… 😉 (it’s totally worth it)
That’s an interesting question. I look forward to seeing what others say, too.
When I’m sight reading, I see both treble and bass, and spend more time looking at my hands. Once I’ve learned the melody and have that under my fingers, I find I mainly look at the bass clef. I play the right hand by ear/feel, and am free to look at the left hand when needed. 🙂I started on a 22 string harp, so I was adapting and arranging from the beginning. It’s not difficult. 🙂 I found that I was mostly jumping up an octave when needed, or using different chord inversions when they would normally have been below the harp’s range. Sometimes I would just play one note in the left hand if doing inversions would make my hand run into each other.
(Of course, had I known about double strung harps at that time, I may have gotten ahold of one of those and not had to worry about my hands running into each other at all.)Have fun finding your small harp, and may you have many happy days playing it. 🙂
I can relate to wanting a lower range than “normal” with a small number of strings! 🙂 It’s too bad that physics works against us most of the time for string length and good sound with a small harp frame… 😉
I’ve noticed that Blevins has smallish harps that tend to have a lower range than other brands of similar size. I’ve never actually played one, but from what I see on their site, I really like some of their harps.
This one may be a possibility for you: http://www.blevinsharps.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=282_305&zenid=odk10sm32ff8esja4ef93p1ju5
It has 2 octaves below middle C, 30 strings total.I don’t think it’s weird at all. I’ve always loved singing, and have accompanied myself with guitar and piano before, but have not combined singing and harp. It’s hard for me to adjust to an accompaniment mindset on the harp,when that’s not how I’ve learned it. I also prefer to let the harp be heard on its own most of the time. I think it’s all a matter of personal preference. I say whatever kind of music speaks to you, do that!
Hi, welcome to harping!
Here are my personal preferences, which will certainly differ from other people’s, because we all have different needs from our harps.
1) I would choose the double Brittany, no question. I am considering that very one as a possibility in the future, in fact. 🙂
2) The reasons I would choose double over cross are:
A–I like the diatonic nature of the harp (meaning I am not interested in a fully chromatic one). I love that once I set the levers, I don’t have to worry about remembering if it’s an F or F# and having to find a different string. I’ve played piano since childhood and I’m just not interested in having my harp mimic that chromatic setup.
B–I already have a large single-course harp, so I would be using a double lap harp for traveling or harp therapy, since it is smaller and easier to carry (just strap it on) than my big one. It would be a different harp for different use than the one I have…
…Which brings me to a couple questions that may help us help you:1) Do you know what type(s)/genre(s) of music you want to play? How you plan to use the harp can make a difference in your choice.
2) Have you had a chance to play any harps yet? Even just plinking around and getting a feel for the instrument can help you figure out what you like/dislike.
(Now, I say that as someone who bought her first harp without ever even touching a harp, so it’s not like you have to try it out first. It is a good idea though, if you have access to any harps. I didn’t.)Stoney End makes good, solid, sweet-sounding harps so I don’t think you can go wrong with them. I borrowed an Eve last summer, and it was quite nice. 🙂
Good luck, and have fun! It’s so exciting picking out a new instrument!
Can I just say that I’m completely reveling in all the info coming out in this thread?!
Mae- THANK YOU for undertaking this project and sharing it with us!! I may be a little weird, but I now make sure I check this thread on a Monday, just in case the weekend brought more pics. 😉
Thank you to everyone else for all of your input, too!
I’m seriously considering a double kit or ITW in the future, and I prefer a lower range as well, so this has been totally ideal for me and my lap harp dreams.
Oh, it makes me sad to see text-yelling in response to a simple conversation about beautiful music. I once made the mistake of improperly differentiating between tunes and songs, too. I was gently and politely instructed about the difference, for which I was grateful. I think if I had been scolded, I would have felt very embarrassed and reluctant to contribute to the forum in the future.
I went from guitar to harp, so I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of strings in the beginning, too. It will take some time to get used to it, but before you know it you’ll be tuning quickly and spending more time playing than tuning. 🙂
