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Hi All,
It seem harpists, as well as other musicians, can be affected by awkward positions we have when playing. I can see, being a professional Harpist who has been playing harp for decades, I’m not alone when it comes to shoulder pain!
No one has mentioned seeing a chiropractor! Recently, my shoulder pain returned and I went to my chiropractor. He examined my left shoulder, had me rotate the arm and took some “hammer gizmo” (You can tell my medical knowledge is very lacking!) and hit a few spots softly. He told me to go home and put ice on it for 15 minutes. Then, he said “For every hour you practice, I want you to spend 15 minutes resting with ice on the shoulder. ” He also told me to do an exercise where I lower the shoulder and pull my arm back which squeezes the shoulder, shoulder blade and spine together.
I’ve followed his directions and the pain has gone away, but I have to keep doing the icing if the shoulder pain flares up. My chiropractor feels that the stretching we do when reaching for the bass strings pulls our shoulder, especially if tension is involved. and by reversing the front pulling and stretching by pulling back the other direction, it will relieve the pain.
Now I wait for my next chiropractor visit and most likely more hitting by “The Gizmo, but I’d rather do that than have surgery.
Hi Kay,
Yes I know Carol Johnson real well. She’s been playing with the Naples Harp Ensemble, but recently had to stop playing because of Health problems. I think it has something to do with the foot or nerves. We’re hoping she’ll be well enough to play with us again when we start preparing for our 2014 Naples Harp Ensemble Concert Series. Do you know how to get in touch with Carol? I have her e-mail address if you don’t have it.
Hi Tracey,
I’m glad you were able to get in touch with Dickie and Congratulations on renting a Prelude.
Dickie is a good friend and he’s director of the Naples Harp Ensemble . (I’m a member) The Naples Harp Ensemble is going to be playing a concert on June 25, 2014 at the AHS Conference in New Orleans. Dickie will be directing it and I’m Coordinator for the Adult Harp Ensemble. Would you like to play along with us? He’s also going to be directing the Harp Extravaganza Concert which will be a massive Harp Orchestra with all the Harp Ensemble participants.
Hi Tracey,
Try contacting Dickie Fleisher–Dickiesan46@ aol.com. He rents harps and is in Chicago for the summer.
I have found that in Wealthy Retirement Centers you can receive $100.00-200.00 for a one hour concert. Usually $200.00 if you play for a 2Hour reception.
I enjoyed that! What a great response to people who have the audacity to want harpists to play for gratis.
I believe that Kathleen Bride, the professor of Harp at Eastman School of Music and a former student of Grandjany is compiling such a book with the handwritten exercises and exerpts of solos from his former students. I know I have mailed her copies of my work with Mr. Grandjany, but haven’t heard any further
I broke my wrist when I slipped on ice. It hurt, but I had a gig to play. I played, not knowing my wrist was broken and during my gig my thumb suddenly collapsed and I could’t raise it. (Right hand)
Laura Lou Roth’s e-mail is: lauralourothharpist@comcast.net
Her phone: (239) 597-3739
She’s a real good friend of mine and we work together in “Love of Harps” Harp Ensemble.
I would be interested in finding out if any harpists like me had a mother who was/is a harpist and there was/is a harp right in the home. My mom infuenced me and I took harp lessons at an early age. My mom never forced me to practice and I remember a few times I went to me lesson totally unprepared because I’d rather go play outside with the other kids. My mom would say “Go ahead, I don’t care.” Naturally I caught “You know what?” from my harp teacher.
About middle school, I found out that I really wanted harp to be an integral part of my life and I seriously started practicing. I became obsessed at becoming a harpist. I spent a summer studying with Marcel Grandjany. Got involved with All State and AllNorthwest Orchestras. My health teacher in high school got thoroughly disgusted with me when I put that “Gregor Handel” expermented with peas rather than Gregor Mendel. (I was learning the Handel Concerto at that time!) on a test.
So my mom was the main influence for me wanting to become a harpist.
Thanks, Saul. I assume the nut is the guard at the bottom point of the string where it enters the soundboard, and that you mean the soundboard must have a high arch. Oberthuer describes the effect as a portamento, which can mean a shift of pitch toward the next note, as with fingerboard instruments. His example shows stepwise motion, but both up and down, and the pitch shift could only be up, as it tightens the string tension. Seems similar to the effect of a mandolin. For notation he suggests the carot mark, like the accent, but it appears there is no standard notation or abbreviation. I inherited his manual from my mom, a professional harpist in Seattle and my first teacher. She never told me about the manual. Maybe she never used it herself.
