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Hi, Mae! We hope you are still “out there” and part of this forum! All of us would love to hear from you and see/hear your wonderful double harp.
Best regards,
BalfourIf you have a pedal harp, try putting it in a pentatonic setting, for example, all pedals in flat except B and E naturals. A lever harp tuned in the Key of C can also do this–just sharp all the B’s and E’s. Have her gliss up and down the strings, enjoying the effects. Then try a simple pentatonic tune such as “Jesus Loves Me,” “Amazing Grace,” “How Firm A Foundation,” some Chinese folk songs, etc., any melody that could be played on the black keys of a piano. She can learn to pluck the tune with one finger, such as Wil-weten suggested, but she can also gliss up and down with the other hand to get an automatic nice effect–just magical to a child!
Hope this helps. Best wishes to all of you, and Happy Holidays!
BalfourDavid, that seems so rare to have any groom get involved with the planning of the wedding music. Usually, around here, they stay out of it and let the bride (or her mother!) plan everything. Of course, it could be two grooms and of course one or the other would certainly plan the wedding music!
Long ago, I learned “Stairway to Heaven” for a groom because that was his favorite and his bride only “allowed” him to pick ONE SONG while she selected everything else!
Jennifer, you may not be able to “make a stand” on this particular wedding and “draw the line,” but you certainly can make policies in the future. Most of the wedding couples and families I have dealt with over these many years have been reasonable. A few have been difficult and seemed to try to take advantage of my generosity, but thankfully, that was rare.
Hello David,
I agree with Biagio. I am a professional pedal harpist and lever harpist, and I owned a very nice Ravenna 34 for a number of years. It was one of the most versatile little harps I have ever played and easy to transport. The tension and string spacing were so close to my pedal harp that it did not bother me to switch from one harp to the other. The only reason I do not still have the Ravenna is that I found the PERFECT Dusty harp, a cherry FH36S, and needed to sell Ravenna so that I could afford to buy the FH36S.
I have never played one of the new Serranas, but I seriously doubt that one would be as useful and versatile as the Ravenna, in my humble opinion. I used to play all types of music successfully on Ravenna, and I wish she had been my very first harp!
I hope this helps you make a decision, David, and happy holidays to all of you!
Cheers,
BalfourJulie, the easiest way to shorten La Source is to begin at the recapitulation and just play to the end of the piece. This avoids the D minor section entirely, and you could even start with the Introduction before playing the recapitulation, to make it a little longer. Hope this helps.
Harp hugs,
BalfourI agree about Sylvia Woods’ books! I use them pretty much as “fake books,” since I play also by ear and love to add all sorts of variations to the printed music, ha, ha! Never play it the same way twice, I always say! One can count on Sylvia to use integrity regarding the melody and chords, so the professional performer can add to that basic framework for a really nice, unique arrangement.
Jerusha, you are welcome! I am so glad you could use “Infant Holy.” These last two weekends, I have included it in Christmas programs I have done at area churches. The kind folks who attended have loved my cherry Dusty FH36S “Cherie”. She is in fine “voice” for this wonderful holiday season, as I am sure your “Gabriel” harp is, too!
Happy Holidays!
BalfourThat sounds good, Tacye. We are indeed fortunate that the order of the pedals is not constantly changing now, from harp to harp! At least, harpists usually can take their own harps to their gigs, unlike pianists and organists, who have to put up with all kinds of variations on their instruments, like stop-lists (or specifications) on organs! As an organist, I am very used to the stops being “all over the place,” even on the same brand of organ, just a different model. Also, number of manuals (keyboards) from one to five or more! Is the pedal board radiating and concave, or is it a flat one? As a pianist, I have to play all manner and sizes of pianos, from uprights to grands, with totally different tone and actions, relying on my own “touch” to make up for the differences. Never blame the instrument? I confess, I have blamed a few, ha, ha!
Harp hugs and Happy Holidays to all of you,
BalfourTanya, just in case you CAN add another, think about “Away in a Manger.” There are at least three different tunes for it out there, with no necessary lever changes. Another possibility is “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly,” no lever changes. Check with Angi Bemiss at Simply the Harp, Atlanta, GA, for some simple lever harp arrangements of favorite Christmas music. She is the “queen” of eliminating lever changes. Good Luck!
Thanks, Tacye! I had also read that about B flat instead of A sharp in Roslyn Rensch’s writings. The part I cannot figure out is how the B pedal assumed its present position if originally it had been to the extreme right where the A pedal is now!
Tacye, by any chance, have you discovered what the order of the five pedals was on the first pedal harps? I suspect that it was like the black keys on a keyboard, C-D on the left side and F-G-A on the right side.
