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And to answer that last question of yours – I’d love to see a greater selection of very easy duets. 🙂 That one book has enough to last me for a little while, but I’m going to get to a point before the end of year where I’ll need to start writing my own.
I’ve never played pedal harp, so I can’t compare the two.
However, I use Friou’s Harp Exercises for Agility and Speed to work on technique. Denise Grupp-Verbon’s Lever Drill is the only systematic work on lever-throwing I’ve found; it really got me over my fear of lever changes within pieces.
I use what I’ve come to understand as “classic” technique – thumbs up, fingers down. I’ve only touched a pedal harp once, and the pull didn’t seem much greater than my Heartland Sylvan, though the gut strings are definitely stickier than my harp’s nylon. Therefore, I believe the difference in technique between lever and pedal can be minimal. Celtic harpers sometimes play with their thumbs low and palms facing each other; the book I started with didn’t use this method, so I don’t know anything about the reasoning behind it.
When I taught myself the basics years ago, I used Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp. I suspect there are more lever-oriented (as opposed to folk-oriented) manuals out there now. I “teach” lever harp to novices – by which I mean I provide some guidance and accountability – and I’ve accrued a couple of books I haven’t found very helpful. Laurie Riley’s Basic Harp for Beginners is, in my personal opinion, both too simple and too complicated. It teaches harp tabulature, which to me is not worth it, and doesn’t get very far by the end of the book. On the other end of the spectrum, Yolanda Kondonassis’ On Playing the Harp is much too in-depth for middle-aged women who just want to “play the harp,” rather than study it. (But if you have a student who is extremely serious, nearly the entire book can be played on a lever harp.)
My harp is 36 strings, C to C. 34 strings is considered a minimum for a full-range folk instrument, and I think that always starts at the low C. 36 is generally considered full-sized in the U.S. — again, with the low C on bottom. Lever harps go up to about 40 strings; after 36 they add low notes. The more strings, the more likely the harp is geared toward classical music as opposed to folk; and indeed, the larger lever harps are often designed to look like pedal harps.
Lever harpers are more likely to play-and-sing, especially singer-songwriter type music, so learning how to read and manifest chord symbols can be important. I teach this as I go along, in both the roman-numeral method and the contemporary one used on lead sheets. Shirley Starke wrote How to Play the Folk Harp from Chord Symbols, which is a self-study book specifically geared toward using a lead sheet. If that’s not something you do yourself very often, it would be a helpful book.
My students all start out with traditional lessons – reading music, the theory and playing of chords, hand position, posture, pulling into the palm, etc. However, since they are mostly adults, there have been a couple who start out this way, but whose lives get massively in the way so that they can’t realistically practice. For them I transition to workshop-type lessons without a practice expectation. We learn very simple songs that can be taught in the folk tradition (verbally), or very simple duets. I’ve found that the duets are extremely successful. The beginner gets the experience of playing with another musician; the experience of reading music while playing (can’t memorize it if you’re not practicing!); plus the richer, fuller sound of more strings playing, even though she is herself only plucking one string at a time.
For workshop-style solos, I’ve used the slower/easier tunes in the Sylvia Woods books, as well as some of the shorter pieces in Sharon Thormalen’s “A Rose in Winter.” Some of these are quite repetitive, with an ostinato in the LH, so the student ends up with a whole piece, though only learning about half the amount of music. Kathryn Cater’s “Enchanted Melodies for Two Harps” is a good resource for very, very easy duet material.
I agree with Tacye, there is much more variability among lever harps and their music than with pedal harps. For one thing, though they often look the same, there can be some differences between lever harps and Celtic harps (string spacing, tension). String tension and sustain varies quite a bit among lever harps from different makers. Also, the goals of lever harpers are generally less lofty than pedal harpists. There aren’t any orchestral ambitions, and there are basically no competitive opportunities in the U.S. for lever harpers; though there are a few in the U.S. for Celtic harpers.
I hope this information is helpful to you.
AngelaBecause it takes over your life! You have to start buying cars for the harp, home design or purchase is based around the harp, and the harp needs to be stored away from direct sunlight in a room that has air conditioning, heat, a dehumidifier, and a humidifier. My dog, a living creature, doesn’t get that kind of pampering!
Because harps aren’t guitars, and sound techs don’t get it. You’ll try to class up your local talent show with a little pretty music and spend weeks fighting for what your instrument needs, only to find yourself tuning in a piano box three minutes before you go on because the sound team simply refuses to turn off the rock music they’re blasting during intermission. TRUE STORY.
Because live harp music is too loud for a lullaby, so your husband will ask you to stop practicing just when you’re really getting into it. 🙂
angelabiggs.com
Rachel, I acquired a Fullsicle a few years ago and tried doing that. While the re-arranging itself is not difficult, I found it amounted to learning each piece twice — once for the large harp, and once for the small one. This seemed like a waste of time to me.
In the end I used a harp therapy music book, and learned some pieces that fit into the 26 strings of the smaller harp. It was simpler to transfer music from the smaller harp to the larger one than the other way around.
Now I’m waiting for the day when I can afford the Heartland Infinity and have the best of both worlds….
Hi Rachel,
It’s funny, I’m actually moving in the opposite direction. Playing harp on its own is so stressful for me that I’m starting to write more songs. My solo harp skills were far above what I need to accompany myself, so this is much easier and more enjoyable for me.
But if you don’t want to combine harp and voice, why should you? Take advantage of the fact that you’re not some pop star being paid beaucoup bucks to churn out the same stuff for decades. Enjoy being an artist! Explore! 🙂
Angela
Well, if cost isn’t a concern — I’ve been drooling over the Heartland Infinitysince it came out. It’s a full 36-string lever range, but only weighs 8 pounds, and the body is virtually indestructible. I don’t think it will fit into an overhead bin, but if you check it you won’t need to worry about damage. Also, it’s much less reactive to temperature and humidity changes, which is pretty awesome.
Saul, I looked into stanchions/ropes a couple of years ago, after my only wedding experience. They are hugely expensive. Not really an option! lol
Alan, I’d recommend taking Deborah Henson-Conant’s “Blues: Harp Style” course. I signed up for the first session in Summer 2013 and it was amazing. It’s also intense: there’s actually a huge amount of information that goes into playing blues on the harp. Be prepared to spend a lot of time practicing. Think in terms of an online college course. 🙂
Angela
Hi Mia,
Paul’s idea may be a good one. If you can see the white strings better, it will be easier to infer where the blue and red ones are.
Another thing you might try is green and orange high-visibility tape on the Cs and Fs just above or below where you play.
I hope you find something that works!
AngelaHi Kristen,
That’s just slightly less than an hour of music, but depending on the type of service it could be about 2 hours of playing/waiting to play. A Catholic Mass, for example, is about one hour long, plus 30 minutes before and 15 minutes after: plus carting, plus the early set-up to allow your harp to acclimate. Charge your normal rate for two hours of playing (which should include setup and travel in the fee for the first hour). It’s not just the playing itself, it’s also your time, and the danger to your instrument while it’s out of your house.
I live in a rural area in western NH and play(ed) the lever harp as my second instrument. I would have charged about $200 for your scenario, maybe a little bit less if there was a very good reason.
If this is your own church, you could consider giving them a discount. I refuse to do this in a situation where it is expected because it sets a poor precedent, but if your church is respectful of musicians it can be a nice thing to do. Please don’t give a discount to a church that is not your own or to which you don’t have a very close tie. In my neck of the woods, churches are really, really disrespectful of musicians, in large part because musicians keep playing and singing for free. Consequently, I have to drive 35 minutes just to get to a church with music that doesn’t distract me from worship: and I live a five-minute walk from two churches of my denomination. Please choose not to contribute to this.
Hope that helps!
AngelaI’m sorry I don’t have these details, but have you tried a string purveyor? A place like VT Strings keeps lots of different string charts on hand and may be able to help you.
Hello again,
I played out for over an hour on Friday, and the whole time felt heavy. The only thing I really got out of it was a sunburn. 🙂
Whatever I decide to do in the long run, right now I need to put this instrument down. Unfortunately I’ve been treating the harp like a “going concern,” so I have a couple of gigs coming up over the next few months, but they’re fairly low-key and I can get away with using music I already know. The good news is that I do have a good amount of this. I played on Friday after being away from my instrument for two weeks, and still had enough repertoire in my fingers to play for more than an hour. There were mistakes, and I skipped some pieces, but that’s still not bad.
Sid, I ordered the book you recommended.
Those of you who recommended lessons: I’m thinking about that. I don’t have the resources right now, because I started taking voice lessons again last month (right before the latest harp failure). As a voice teacher, I rely on seeing minute changes in a student’s body, so I’m wary of Skype lessons via grainy webcams and monitors. And there aren’t any harp teachers nearby… but there must be someone on the eastern side of the state. By the time I’m ready to look at my harp again I may have the resources to do something about that, even if it’s limited by funds and distance to once a month. If I’m going to continue harp at all, clearly I need help.
I’m going to spend some time on the fringes of the harp. I’ve owned “Harps and Harpists” for about a year, but haven’t read it yet; I’ll get on that now. And Sid’s book. I’ll clean up the desk in my harp room. And I have a couple of novice workshops scheduled. I’ll avoid playing for as long as I can before I have to start freshening up for a low-pressure background gig in November, and I’ll be “unavailable” for harp gigs this Christmas.
Many things you kind people have written resonated with me, or might as well have been my own words! It’s very helpful to know I’m not alone. I would like to respond to each of you individually, but as you can see I’m wordy and that would probably become a journal-length article. 🙂
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your help and support.
AngelaOh my goodness everyone, thank you so much for your thoughtful and supportive responses. I’ve been spending some time processing them, and slowly developing some understanding which will hopefully lead me to a picture of my next season with (or without) my instrument.
Janis and Sylvia, I have played outside in public places, and didn’t find it particularly helpful. But – I have not done it often, usually only one outing at a time as part of prep for a specific performance. I spent most of this past summer trying to prep some new pieces and get them ready for busking, but they were difficult pieces and I didn’t make it. Now I’m turning over the idea that treating it like a performance instead of a just-get-out-there thing was a mistake.
Kay, the parts of harping I like best are playing for my own pleasure and teaching novice workshops. I enjoy learning and sharing, not presenting. Prepping for performance sours my entire life for weeks. I do very much feel the harp as an obligation; it was given to me for a specific purpose, and when I’ve tried to pull back on performing my concerns have been dismissed. Yesterday I calmly but firmly said flat-out that I’m not performing anymore. I feel like now I have a little room to breathe and decide if I want to. But putting my foot down created its own problem – is it right to spend a chunk of my limited time on earth with an expensive instrument that gets its own room, air conditioner, and dehumidifier, when it won’t benefit anyone but me? Music is made to be shared! Does it have any value when it isn’t? I’m not yet sure where questions like that fall within my value system, or whether busking could figure in as benefitting someone else.
Sylvia, I play for pay 3-5 times a year, but… well, now that I’m looking at it I guess I don’t play out casually much more than that either. It hadn’t occurred to me that this wasn’t a lot of playing. It takes me so long to prepare and I feel the burden so heavily that those 3-5 performances feel like they take up a good chunk of the year. But your perspective is intriguing, not least because I did do something similar when I was learning to sing. I started cantoring (leading song) at church when I was 12. For the next five years I got up in front of 400+ people at least twice a month, often more, and sang. By the time I got to college I was light-years ahead of my classmates in regards to stage fright. I guess I’ve felt like that’s built into me now, and automatically expanded to include to the new instrument: I often don’t experience these flops as fear. My brain or fingers just stop working. I wonder if that’s a different expression of the same old stage fright and I need to start over.
I tell you what, it’s a perfect day, and all my paraphernalia is still conveniently packed up from two weeks ago, sitting where I dropped it in the harp room. I’m going to go out to Opera House Square and just play whatever and see what happens. The thought is making me a little sick but I’ll just do it anyway.
Thank you all so very much for your support, and I’ll be back later to respond to more of you.
Wow, congratulations Sonya! I also found my performance harp on Craigslist. It’s a risk, but sometimes it pays off big time. Enjoy your new beauty!
Hi – That’s a Paraguayan harp, or at least a harp based on one. You turn the mechanical pieces on top to tune the strings. The tension is lighter than a lever harp and much lighter than a pedal harp.
Take a look inside the sound box. There will often be a sticker with a company name and a serial number in there.
