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Thanks so much for posting this! I agree with Gretchen! I have enjoyed playing “Take Five” on pedal harp for years, but never on lever harp–I will have to go try it. Best wishes to all of you!
I have owned lever harps in walnut and in cherry–real solid wood, not just a “finish” they put on the harp. I agree with Brook, the tone of both woods is very similar, on the warm side. You may like to listen to the examples on Dusty Strings’ website to compare the sounds of the different types of wood!
Good to hear from you, Gretchen! These are all excellent suggestions. We enjoyed spending time with Josh Layne at the Camac Festival. He is so nice and willing to help folks learn all about the harp, with his own special pedaling technique, so fun to watch him do!
I wanted to add about doing the chromatic arpeggios, that one good way to practice them is to use all sharps going up, then all flats going down. Incidentally, this is a super exercise to also do on the lever harp. I keep my lever harp tuned in C Major, so everything has to be a sharp instead of a flat using this tuning. It helps me to think “outside the box” with substituting sharps for flats, like A# for B flat, etc. (A C7 chord is SO interesting spelled c-e-g-a#, ha, ha!) But at least, Gretchen, there are NO C flats on my lever harp, you know! 🙂
Have a great Thanksgiving,
BalfourJerusha, I also attended the wonderful Camac Festival in Alexandria, VA. I agree totally with Kathy. All the performers were great and the harps were extraordinary. The Canopee was especially beautiful in tone and artistic inlay.
Brook, all your new harps are gorgeous! Thanks for all your posts.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone in the U.S.A.!
Harp Hugs,
BalfourI just read these posts, and agree with Saul and Elizabeth. Also, Andelin, I was taught to practice arpeggios beginning with C-E-G, in all keys. Do them left hand on C-E-G, then right hand on the same notes an octave higher, left hand an octave higher, right hand an octave higher, topping with the key note (C) with the left hand before descending. Then change pedals to play D flat-F-A flat and do the same type of arpeggio up and down alternating hands as before. Continue on to D-F#-A, etc. and work all the major arpeggios up the harp until you get to C-E-G once more, which will be an octave higher than you started on. Does this make sense? It would be much easier to write it down on music paper, ha, ha!
After you master this, try it all with the minor arpeggios. I guarantee that you will be totally familiar with all the positions of ALL the pedals after practicing these exercises! Good Luck!
Harp Hugs,
BalfourHi, Julietta and Sylvia,
Just read your posts and agree with Sylvia about “it is the family, not the funeral home, who hires the music.” This is certainly true for our area in Western North Carolina. Once in a while, a local funeral home hires me because the family of the deceased wants a harpist, but usually it is folks who know me. An example is that I played a wedding a few years ago and got two funerals as a result–the bride’s grandmother told the family at the wedding “when I go, get that man to play the harp at my funeral,” which they did. Then, the bride’s uncle died unexpectedly and they got me to play for his funeral.
When I do not know the family, my charge is usually around $200. depending on how much I need to play, usually 30 minutes of prelude music before the service and any music needed during the service. If it is a friend, then I usually say “contribute something toward my harp string fund,” which generally gets an honorarium.
Hope this is helpful!
Harp hugs,
BalfourI agree with 1000 Years! I have used that one for most of the outdoor weddings I have played this entire year. Two others that always seem good are the theme song from Somewhere In Time and the Eighteenth Variation by Rachmaninoff that was also used often in the movie. In a recent conversation I had with Angi Bemiss, Simply the Harp productions in Atlanta, GA, she affirmed this about the continued popularity of the two songs/pieces from Somewhere In Time. She and I have published simple harp arrangements of these two which can also be used as “fake book” versions for those of you who can add and improvise. Contact her if you are interested!
Best to all of you,
BalfourBest advice you were given–attend harp festivals! This Camac Festival in Washington, D. C. is just the GREATEST!
Hello, Todd (and Gretchen!)
I would check with the owner to see if a certain brand of strings is preferred. I still love Bow Brand, even with their problems of breakage a while back, and they are willing to work with their customers if the strings do not hold up. I recently inquired and they seem to have the problems worked out. I agree with Gretchen about the Vanderbilt and Premier gut strings being good choices, but do check with the owner, since Lyon and Healy harps are strung with Bow Brand when they are manufactured. Don’t forget the nylon strings in the top octave, Gretchen, ha, ha!
It is good that the owner will pay for the regulation. That would usually cost from $300. to $350., depending on who does the work. It sounds like a good way to split up the expense of getting new strings and a regulation. By the way, Vanderbilt Strings can provide a complete set of strings for this harp, which saves money over just buying wires, guts or nylons separately.
Hope this helps. Harp Hugs and Happy Fall,
BalfourHello, Evolene,
I agree with Biagio about buying the monofilament nylons in bulk. I have owned, for many years, 25-yard coils made by Vermont Strings in the U.S.A. I store them away from sunlight in plastic bags and have had great success with them over the years, on multiple harps. No aging is apparent, and they last as long as brand new strings, in my opinion. Vermont also makes them in Red and Blue, so you do not have to dye them yourself, even though the colored ones are more expensive.
I keep an extra set of the wound strings from Dusty Strings for my current lever harp, a beautiful FH36S, and will just replace the ones that break so I keep the set current. To date, only one string has ever broken on this two-year-old harp, the highest G, thank goodness! I usually restring my harps every three years, and have 3 or 4 strings break in between stringings. Also, some strings do go “false,” and I replace them. These are all reasons to have extra strings in stock, from my long experience.
Hope this helps. Good to hear from Biagio and Wil!
Hugs and best wishes,
BalfourIt is a good idea to always have a spare set of strings around for your harp. That way, you can replace them as soon as they break and have time to order a new replacement for the one you just used. Always keep your extra set of strings up-to-date! At least, the nylon strings of the Dusty are not expensive compared to gut ones for the pedal harp and some lever harps.
Harp Hugs,
BalfourSo good to hear from you, Biagio! That C order on the wire harp makes the most sense to me, too, my friend. I enjoy my Dusty most of all, but, like you say, I can’t play the great French harp music on that harp!
I hope some of you can shed some light on the history and pedal order of the five-pedal harp before the seven pedals came into use. This is fascinating stuff, especially to an old almost-retired harpist who has time to wonder about all this, ha, ha!
Hope to see some of you at the Camac Festival in November–we can’t wait!
Best to all of you,
Balfour
