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What a lovely inheritance and memory from your grandmother. ❤️ How long did she play?
This harp does look like a small harp made in Pakistan.Looks Ike I’m the odd man out here, but I’d recommend teaching her to tune her harp in C with the levers down. (And don’t forget that a hand should always be on the tuning key when it’s on the harp!) However, find what works best for you and the student. 😀
I tend to teach students to tune in a circle of fiths…that also has the benefit of reinforcing a little theory. If you do decide to go the levers down, key of Eb route, I have a video & cheat sheet up for tuning a lever harp up that might help : https://www.fischarper.com/smp-review/.
In my own practice, I often tune starting on A(b), go down and then go back to the A and up.
Phew, I just gave you a really long-winded response. 🥳
This is so cool! I hope you’ll keep us up to date with your progress! Are you sharing the journey anywhere on the interwebs?
I also have some arrangements up for smaller harp (I often list the range on the music and/or in the description). You can browse them at https://www.fischarper.com/shop. I’m also happy to take requests via my website contact form. 😀
I also have some arrangements up for smaller harp (I often list the range on the music and/or in the description). You can browse them at https://www.fischarper.com/shop. I’m also happy to take requests via my website contact form. 😀
SMP is great! I think I learned about it through Christy-Lyn.
I even have a blog post about it, which might answer a few questions too: https://www.fischarper.com/smp-review/
I have a Camac Clio (electro-acoustic) with an extended soundboard and am quite happy with it! The last several strings don’t have gears, but I don’t find that too difficult to work around. The light weight is really convenient too. 🙂
I played on a Venus at one of the colleges I attended. As far as I can remember, it was a great harp. The one thing to note is that this one was a beast! Moving it will probably build up some muscles. But if you like one at a good price, I see no reason to turn it down because it’s a Venus. 🙂
Have you checked with your university to see if they have a harp? Or if there’s a harp teacher on faculty, he/she could probably give you some pointers as well. And have you considered a small harp (like those cute cardboard ones) until you nail down what you like and/or save up some extra money? (This doesn’t sound like what you’re going for, but just in case.)
Happy harp hunting!
Have you thought about reading from a fake book or something similar? I enjoy the books with the melody line written out and the chords on top. 🙂
I’d say give yourself time and be easy on yourself. Maybe lay out some goals (do you want to play for fun, play at nursing homes, play in an orchestra, etc?).
GlissBliss – Congrats on picking up the harp and sticking to it even when you don’t have an instrument! I believe that it’s absolutely possible to practice away from the harp. You can analyze the piece, practice it on another instrument(s), practice the fingerings, and even practice saying/singing the notes (letter names, scale degrees, or solfège…or even humming).
You could also practice some away-from-the-harp strength exercises (I think there are some in one of the threads about older students…but I think they could be beneficial for any age!), and use something like this note of the week activity to keep you brushed up on harp and note-reading.
I agree that adding glisses to songs is a great way to “harp” it up! I second that musictheory.net is also a great (free!) resource. I’m actually working on a bass clef note reading ecourse. If you (or any reader!) would like to try it out for free as a beta tester, just send me an email at barbara AT fischarper DOT com.
Keep up your great work, and make sure to have fun! Please keep us updated on your harp journey!
Jeesh! I must be really lucky. I almost never break strings. I leave them on my harp for years at a time, both gut and nylon. If a gut string breaks at one end or the other, I patch it and get a couple more years out of it. Because I am a harp repairman, I have a big box of old strings(so did Mildred Dilling!) and I fish around in that for replacements when I need them(so did Mildred!). I don’t pay any particular attention to string brand, simply because my sound comes from how I play the instrument, not from the brand of strings I use. But that’s just me…
By patching the strings, do you mean knotting two strings together (like in Salzedo’s Method)?
