[Beginner Sarah]

Thank you all for some really interesting ideas and opinions. These will all help inform the piece of academic work I am doing.

It seems to me that for those who wish to progress to a high standard of performance, face to face lessons are fairly essential BUT from what randal says, it would be possible for someone who wished to play for their own enjoyment to learn on their own.

I think that many of us music teachers/performers presume our own desire for as high a standard as possible is reflected in the ambitions of our students. After twenty years of teaching, I’ve finally realised (and made peace with the fact) this is not true. While I’ve been lucky enough to train several young musicians who gained entry to the best Conservatoire in Scotland, I’ve also taught many adults who simply want to play for their own enjoyment. I coach a wind quartet whose members all learned to play a wind instrument on their retiral. They get huge pleasure from playing together and are now good enough to play in the care homes in our area and perform well enough to give enjoyment to the residents. I consider their achievement to be on a par with those of my young students who went on to become professional musicians.

I would imagine that someone determined to learn to play the harp to the standard of the members of my retired group would be able to do so using OERs. In fact, I would expect someone with previous musical background might even go a little further.

Again, thank you so much for all your detailed replies – I’ll let you know how my project goes and also keep frequenting the various fora for information.

This website is an amazing resource!

Best Wishes,

Sarah

[Beginner Sarah]

Hello Tayce,

Thank you for directing me to ‘The First Six Weeks’. It definitely counts as an OER! I’ll explore IMSLP further…

I had come across Eleri Turner’s tutorials but haven’t used them yet. So far, I’ve used Harp Tuesday and I’ve had a look at Chris Caswell’s tutorials on Youtube but I haven’t actually used them yet.

Thank you,

Sarah

[Beginner Sarah]

Thank you for your reply, Biagio.

I’ll have a look at the online groups you suggest. Apart from Harp Column, I’ve also explored the Viva Harp forum run by the Associated Board in the UK but it’s good to have other options.

I completely understand what you are saying about the importance of a teacher. As a clarinet and sax teacher, I fully appreciated what you are saying about good technique. Do you feel this advice is particularly true of the harp? I’m thinking about my husband, who is a professional electric guitarist/bassist and has never had a lesson in his life. The first (and only) guitar exam he sat was his teacher’s diploma!

I tend to assume, as you do, that one can’t do without a teacher’s support (even if lessons are intermittent), but I can think of lots of examples of musicians who have learned independently. I’ve got so many questions about this – eg. is the harp particularly difficult without a teacher?, is it classical musicians who presume lessons are an essential? etc.

Thank you also for the list of books – I’ve got a couple on my shelves already but further recommendations are always useful. Of course, I’m forcing myself NOT to look at them until the period the experiment is complete.

Thanks again for all your help,

Sarah

[Beginner Sarah]

Hi wil-weten,

I’ve just checked out Ray Pool’s video – exactly the kind of thing I’m looking for.

Thank you so much,

Sarah

[Beginner Sarah]

Hi Sylvia,

I’ve got a 34 string Pilgrim Clarsach. It is a lever harp. I got it second-hand from Pilgrim. It is elderly but quite sprightly!

Thanks for your interest.

Sarah

[Beginner Sarah]

Hi wil-weten,

I’ve been using Josh Layne’s ‘Harp Tuesdays’ but I’ve not tried the ‘Slow Motion Mondays’. Thank you for the idea – I’ll go and explore!

Sarah

[Author]

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