Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I hate heavy doors at gig locations that don’t stay open on their own. It’s so hard to wheel a pedal harp through a door that won’t stay open.
I hate shoulder welts (or as they are affectionately known around here, “shoulder hickies”) from carrying lever harps too far.
I hate not having a dining room anymore since the harps and their stuff took over (I finally gave up and put the furniture in storage)!
I hate the adventure of climate controlling a one-hundred-year-old house in an area where it’s 100 humid degrees in the summer and 10 dry degrees in the winter.
I hate brides who insist the outdoor wedding continue as planned even when it’s dumping down rain or snow.
But you know… when I think back to my pre-harp days, when I wanted to play more than anything, I remember swearing I could never hate anything about it. I would do ANYTHING to be a harpist. So all those things I said I hated… I take it back… Except the rainy brides…!! 😉
I grew up in England surrounded by Celtic music and LOTS of Celtic harps. I’m a major history buff and at first I was fascinated at how easily the harp can evoke the romance of the past for people. It’s timeless. Playing historical music made me feel a connection with the eras I most enjoyed, and I enjoyed having that effect on others, as well. It’s completely addictive to play– very sensual and tactile and satisfying. Admittedly, I also like that it’s uncommon; I love when people get excited about something I love. And the harps not only draw one in with sound, but with their looks, too… oooh how I love the lines of a well-designed harp. I guess getting drawn into the world of the harp is like falling in love: one is immediately seduced by the sexy curves of the instrument, and then one falls in love with its deeper personality and substance…
OK, OK… I’ll quit while I’m ahead! LOL… my husband is rolling his eyes and says he doesn’t like to think of the harps as competition, LOL…
Make sure you are sitting on a bench that offers adjustable lumbar support and encourages you to sit ergonomically. ConcertDesign makes several style of harp bench that offer adjustable height, cushion tilt, lumbar adjustment, etc. so you can really customize. I found that it did help with fatigue I was feeling in my lower back. Dusty Strings also makes a clever little musician’s stool now that has adjustable height and lumbar support, being cheaper than Concert Design but with a few less bells and whistles. In either case, I’ve found these to be the best seating, especially for being at the harp for very long periods of time. And yes, sit in a way that’s ergonomically correct for you (as per the Harper’S Handbook and such) and then find a way to lift the harp accordingly.
I agree with Saul that any information about the songs’ usage and context would be FABULOUS! It would help harpists who are less familiar with Jewish repertoire make much more educated suggestions to brides. I’m sometimes embarrassingly at a loss for giving them options and I am concerned about inadvertently choosing inappropriate selections. Keep those lovely arrangements and suggestions coming, Sunita! We need you! 🙂
Just a note on Sunita’s music… very useful stuff but I have had a rabbi and some Jewish friends question why a couple of the particular pieces were in Sunita’s book of wedding music (they didn’t see the songs’ connection to weddings, and not being Jewish myself, I really couldn’t specifically answer them), so be sure and double check your selections with the rabbi in question for appropriateness/relevance. I suppose tradition varies by region and interpretation. As with all faiths, the officiants would much rather field questions from the musicians in advance than have surprises on the day, and it’s so much more comfortable being confident in your selections! Good luck!
Be sure and check out the arrangements for intermediate pedal harp by Barbara and Joe Dechario (Timeless Jewish Songs Vols. 1 & 2, and Three Hassidic Songs Without Words). They are generally available from Melody’s Traditional Music amongst other places, and they are also available on CD if you are unfamiliar with the tunes and would like to hear them as they should be done. In many cases, they are arranged for harp or piano with voice/melody instruments, but can be adapted for solo harp. Martha Rock Birnbaum also provides translations and IPA (phoenetic) lyrics. Excellent and lovely arrangements by two outstanding musicians, including some lovely pieces for weddings. If you can’t locate all the CD’s or music, they can also be purchased off Barbara’s website (www.barbaraharp.com).
OK, having read this post I was prepared to hate Lucia playing barefoot at Josh Groban’s
concert. But I have to tell you, I think she pulls it off well for a couple of reasons. Firstly,
she really has a very theatric playing style– it could come off as pretentious if her feet
didn’t “dress her down a bit”, LOL. Also, she dances quite a bit while she plays
(understatement), and the way she’s amped, her shoes would make enough noise to be
heard if she was wearing anything formal enough to match her dresses. In a dimly lit
venue, if I had to dance up and down slippery clear lucite steps while wearing an evening
gown and playing an instrument, I might want bare feet too! Since Josh himself was
wearing sneakers, I can’t imagine the focus was on footwear image. But I have to say I
applaud any performance that values a performer’s comfort for once! Hey, if taking off
shoes can make my playing as impressive as Lucia’s, I’m all about barefoot! (Especially if it
means I get to hang with yummy Josh, LOL….)Firstly, many thanks to all who have taken the time to add their
insights. I’ve incorporated much of what’s been suggested, and
felt I should update you all! I have not had problems with my
hands for months now, and have resumed normal function with
my harp playing, with all feeling back in my fingers! What has
worked for me is a prescription for Celebrex, which has been
managing the inflammation; physical therapy, to strengthen
everything and keep it supple; wrist splints at night; deep tissue
massage therapy with an emphasis on myofascial work; and
retraining my posture, in combination with an ergonomic harp
chair. It’s been a long, hard slog but it appears to be working so
far. To anyone else suffering from “Harpal Tunnel”, I would
recommend finding an excellent orthopedic/hand specialist, and
experimenting with these techniques to see if they help. (Another
FABULOUS discovery was “Wristies”… these are fleece “gloves”
minus the fingers, that go from knuckle to mid-arm, and keep
your hands and wrists warmed up. They have removable heat
packs, as well, which are superb for outdoor gigs. You can find
them at http://www.wristies.com. So far as I’m concerned, every harp
sold should come with a pair.) Thanks again, everyone… group
hug!!Hi Deb.
I myself don’t play cross-strung harp, but I did meet up with Harper Tasche (who is outstanding
on the cross-strung) in Canada this year and listened to him speak at length about his, and got to
give it a quick try. I’m by no means an expert, but I may be able to give you a very rudimentary
overview. The cross-strung is a fabulous instrument, but you may find a good deal of difficulty
finding a way to learn it, as not very many people play it (compared with more conventional
harps), and even fewer teach it. There are a few books and videotapes that are supposedly
available, but the ones I’ve seen go on the assumption that you’ve already got some harp
experience under your belt– they’re not geared towards people completely new to harping.
So even teaching yourself may prove difficult. Playing the cross-strung harp is very, very
different from playing “regular” harp, in that the hand positions are all different. One needs to think
“in three dimensions”, as your hands not only need to find the right place horizontally on the harp,
but also vertically in order to select the right combinations of strings above and/or below the
cross. While sitting at the harp, the string at the low left set is continued at the high right set, and
the strings beginning on the right end on the left, etc, so that the basic chord patterns for the two
hands are opposites. One must learn specialized (and different) hand positions for each hand
and each chord, therefore, which are often named after letters, like “v” , based on which fingers
are up or down for each combination. It is very complex to learn. Quite honestly, I wouldn’t
recommend you learn harp on a cross-strung to start out with unless you have a teacher locally to
guide you through it. You might be better off learning on a more conventional instrument and
then advancing to the cross-strung later on (not to discourage you, of course!) Coming from a
piano background myself, I can assure you that using sharping levers on a harp is not as bad as
it seems when you’re first setting out to learn. You get the hang of it quickly, and a surprising
amount of your piano repertoire can be adapted. If you are hoping to play primarily very
chromatic music, you may want to consider learning the pedal harp rather than lever harp, in any
case– teachers will be easier to find, your repertoire will be more directly transferable, and once
you are confident at the fundamentals of harping, you can always shoot for the cross-strung later
on. There are a number of places that will offer financing on pedal harps to make them more
affordable.
Hope that helps.
~Amy
