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Thanks, Elizabeth. My sweet wife thought of another suggestion: try to check out the venue ahead of time, as far in advance of the actual gig as you can, before you actually have to take your harp! That way you can be better prepared and can visualize the entire situation before you do the gig. This can also help to calm nerves, getting to actually be in that place without having to perform yet. It also lets you know where you have to unload the harp, how many steps/ramps you must climb, how many doors you have to roll the harp through, whether there is an elevator conveniently located, whether there will be amplification supplied, etc.
I know that this isn’t always possible, particularly when the venue is a long way from your home. But it is well worth the time/gas if it isn’t very far to travel! Be sure to contact the place to see if it is open before you go, though!
Thanks for not being “cross” with us for sidetracking your forum, and it has been great fun to be a part of it.
Best regards,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)That sounds great, Gretchen. Start one on “most requested gig music,” please. Sorry we got off track!
Best thoughts,
BalfourSylvia, I have been performing professionally since about 1962, and “Stairway to Heaven” came out in 1971. It was done by Led Zeppelin, and truthfully, it is about the only song they did that I like! You can “google it” on YouTube and listen to it, if you like. There are many versions of it on YouTube, even on harp! Sylvia Woods once told us that she thought that it was the most-requested piece for harpists, ever! Since I have always tried to make my public happy by learning their “requests,” I had to keep up with all this “stuff.” I am semi-retired now, so I don’t have to!
Best wishes,
BalfourWell, I see it like this, Rachael: the guitar only has six or twelve strings, so why not have a 26-string harp? Some of the small harps can have large voices. Try some and see. Hope this helps!
That was good, Gretchen! The first time I was ever asked to play “Stairway to Heaven” on the harp was for the funeral of an 18-year-old boy who committed suicide because he thought that no one cared about him. His poor little 75-year-old grandmother, who had raised him, came up to do the eulogy, looked out at the packed church, and said, “and he thought no one cared about him!” Everyone cried. “Stairway to Heaven” had been the boy’s favorite piece, so I played it in church, even though that particular church did not usually allow pop music to be played.
You will be asked to play that piece. It must have something to do with the harp as a heavenly instrument!
Good wishes to all of you,
BalfourI agree with all that has been covered here! In addition, BE A PERSON OF YOUR WORD–honor the gig, no matter what other, more attractive gig comes up, and be early or at least on time! Act like an angel always. You ARE an ambassador for your beautiful instrument!
Best thoughts,
BalfourSaul, I agree about how good the Bow Brand gut strings have been over the last few years. Also, their Burgundy gut is a cheaper option which I sometimes use, and to me, they are just as good. Some harpists think that they do not look quite as nice, since they are advertised as “having slight visual imperfections.” I have never found that to be a problem.
However, I would never advise anyone to restring a pedal harp with nylon in the 4th or 5th octaves. We encountered a Salvi strung with nylon recently, from the top of the harp all the way down to the wire strings. It felt like (and sounded like) it was strung with rubber bands! Go the extra expense for gut–it is worth it! From my experience, the top octave is the best one to string in nylon, then possibly the second octave, and MAYBE the third, although I would not do any except the top octave in nylon. This is exactly what Lyon & Healy recommends, by the way.
Best wishes,
BalfourJinji, my Lyon & Healy 85GP, in my photo, is the “brightest” sounding pedal harp that I have ever played. (Even Tom Bell, the harp tech, remarked that “this small harp has no right to sound this good!” when he regulated her recently.) I purchased this 44-string harp rather than a Concert Grand for this tonal reason. But even she does not have nearly the same tone as my two lever (Celtic) harps. That is why I own three harps, and cannot just be happy with one, ha, ha! Hope this helps.
Best wishes,
BalfourI, too, have had great luck with “When You Wish Upon a Star.” At one of our concerts where there was a good group of children, we had them come up to get a close look at the pedal harp and had a “childrens’ time.” I played “When You Wish Upon a Star” with all the pedal changes, so the children could see what a harpist has to do–they were amazed! After that concert, the local high-school principal came up and said that his favorite part of the concert was the “Disney Star piece.”
I also thought of “Claire de Lune” and “Some Enchanted Evening” as good slow, show-off pieces. The original “Fur Elise” by Beethoven works well on pedal harp, too, although not what I would really consider a “slow” piece. It usually gets comments like “I didn’t know that piece could be played on the harp!”
Happy Harping, Friends!
BalfourSylvia, I think that would be a great interpretation of “Never On Sunday.” But I also would think that there are kids at the weddings and receptions you play for, too. There always are at the ones we do here, all ages of people. That’s one thing that is so great about a family event such as a wedding; all generations come together to celebrate! By the way, I am thoroughly enjoying reading your wedding books, one story at a time so I can savor them! Anyone who plays for weddings should read your books.
I hope this did not get too far off the original thread–I apologize if it did!
All the best,
BalfourOh, Sylvia, don’t keep that wonderful, energetic piece from the kids you play for–they will love it! I had a lot of youth and children in that audience, and they “ate it up,” ha, ha! I play it fast and dazzling, with lots of glissandos! Everything OLD is NEW AGAIN, as they say.
Well, Sylvia, I can’t resist, either! I did a concert of pops on the lever harp and ended with my arrangement of “Never On Sunday” which brought the audience to their feet. It was a hoot, ha, ha!
Sid & Emily, I love all of your suggestions, too! Particularly the Moonlight Sonata–I drool over it on the pedal harp. The tones can just ring out on the harp like Beethoven intended, with very little hand damping. His piano did not have the long sustain of the modern grand piano, so I feel like the harp makes it sound more like Beethoven’s piano would have sounded. (There is an indication on Beethoven’s piano score that means “play without dampers” which is impossible on the modern piano. It gets way too “muddy” right away, for my taste, but not too muddy on the harp!)
Emily, The Little Shepherd and Greensleeves (What Child Is This?) always find their way onto my Christmas concerts! They are absolutely beautiful on the harp!
Have a great day, all of you!
BalfourBrook,
I enjoyed that thread, too, and in answer to your question, I like to play the Rachmaninoff 18th Variation on a Theme by Paganini. I adapted the original piano score for harp, and I play it on pedal harp very much like the original, except in D instead of D Flat. An arrangement of it by me and Angi Bemiss, for lever harp, appears in CLASSICAL SELECTIONS, Book Two, published by Simply the Harp in Atlanta. I usually follow this selection by adding the Theme from the movie SOMEWHERE IN TIME, since both pieces were used in the movie. Incidentally, the popular theme can be found in UNFORGETTABLE THEATRE TREASURES, Book One, also arranged for lever harp by me and Angi. Be looking for new arrangements from Simply the Harp coming soon!
With my best wishes,
BalfourAlso, be sure to check out Jerry Brown’s harp kits at http://www.harpkit.com (Musicmakers) Biagio and I are very familiar with all their harps, and they are great designs.
