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just to clarify: I meant for less than what the total cost would add up to with shipping and duty. Also, with an instrument like the Pilgrims you need to consider what you do when it needs a repair.
In this market you could definitely find a used pedal harp in the US for less than that, (and a used full-range lever harp for MUCH less than that). But you need to be sure you have a teacher or other competent harpist who knows what to look for to help you find one, or there’s also plenty of trouble out there for the unwary.
>Talk with your teacher. They should have an idea of the rate you’re progressing and when it will be necessary to have a pedal harp.
I’d love to second this advice, but realistically, my own experience is that most teachers with a strictly pedal harp background would say the time is NOW, regardless. There are just not that many teachers who’ve bothered to really try to understand what can be done with levers, although there are some wonderful teachers who do know how to teach lever harp as a ‘real’ instrument.
It’s not a question of “when” you need to move. Although I majored in harp at Eastman and don’t play celtic music at all except for Danny Boy or whatever when requested, I myself play the lever harp pretty much exclusively these days, including things like classical trio performance. I agree that it would be very, very hard to do this on a 26 string harp, especially without a full set of levers.
The real question is not when do you “need” a pedal harp: it’s how much you want one and when you can afford to go that way. If you really, really, really want one and don’t like playing a lever harp at all, then the time is now, if you can swing it. If your goal is to play in a symphony orchestra, then you need pedals.
But don’t be deluded that you can’t play a LOT of very complex classical music on a full-range lever harp. I’ve certainly got more music than I’ll learn to play well in the rest of my life, even if my pedal harp went away forever tomorrow.
Listen to what people like John Manno or Anne Marie O’Farrell (she’s on itunes–can’t link to it from here) do with levers before you write off the lever harp for classical music. It’s definitely harder to play this kind of music with levers than with pedals, but it can certainly be done.
It’s very, very important how large the boat is and whether it’s going to be moored while you play. I don’t like to play on boats because it makes me queasy to watch my strings sway while I play, but I knew someone whose concert grand went for a swim. She foolishly took a job on a pontoon boat that would be sailing around during the event, and a large cigarette-type boat came roaring by. The wake caused her harp to fall, and of course it fell into the water.
You want to ask a lot of questions before you commit to a job on a boat.
When you see that–one plus sign down low, it usually means to put the hand flat on the strings to muffle the strings below while playing the note with the thumb. That’s why you’d use the thumb rather than fourth finger.
There is also a difference in gauge. Pedal harp strings ar thicker than the strings sold as “folk harp” strings.
>I don’t do money on the Internet
You don’t need to. Go to the grocery store or wherever, and buy an itunes gift card and use that. When you go to redeem it itunes will try to cajole you into giving them a credit card number, too, but you can just skip that part.
Your best bet, especially for a damaged harp, is to find a shipping place that can foam and crate it for you. Any place that ships antiques or fine furniture can do this.
Stick it into the Input jack, clip it onto your harp (a rib works great on a L&H, but wooden ribs are often too thick, so you can clip to the edge of a sound hole or even to a tuning pin), and tune away.
You’re welcome. Incidentally, I was assuming you meant ‘The Little Fountain’. ‘La Source’ is either Zabel or Hasselmans. The Hasselmans is available in the solos by Annie Louise David (although that one is missing a page from the original) or either of those is available on its own.
You’re welcome. Incidentally, I was assuming you meant ‘The Little Fountain’. ‘La Source’ is either Zabel or Hasselmans. The Hasselmans is available in the solos by Annie Louise David (although that one is missing a page from the original) or either of those is available on its own.
You’re welcome. Incidentally, I was assuming you meant ‘The Little Fountain’. ‘La Source’ is either Zabel or Hasselmans. The Hasselmans is available in the solos by Annie Louise David (although that one is missing a page from the original) or either of those is available on its own.
