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Balfour(and Saul)
The reason I wrote A GUIDE FOR HARPISTS is that it was so difficult to find the information I was looking for in Sam Pratt’s book. I had to read it cover to cover to find the one or two sentences that told me what I wanted to know. So I decided to write my own book with a separate chapter for each little repair so that someone could just scan the titles to see the subject they were interested in. I also made the decision to organize it like a cook book, with the “ingredients”(tools needed) listed at the beginning of the chapter, and then to list the steps needed to make the repair or adjustment in numerical order.
Once I had written a chapter, I had two harpists read it and do the repair together, with me just watching to see how they interpreted what I had said. I told them to read out loud what they were focused on and to say out loud what they were thinking. This way I could see how someone would likely interpret what I wrote. Some of the chapters had to be rewritten 4 or 5 times to get the instructions so that they would be correctly understood on the first reading. I had actually first asked another technician to read it and give me feedback before asking the two harpists. He said to me “I’m probably the worst person in the world to give you feedback. I’d know exactly what you were talking about.” So that’s when I asked the two harpists to read it. I think the book has been very helpful to many harpists over the years.
One of the things that you should be aware of is that there are basically two different types of lever harps. One uses strings the same gauge as a pedal harp and therefore has roughly the same tension and type of sound. The other type of lever harp is much lighter strung, with much thinner strings that resonate a long time. I call those folk harps. I’m not saying that one is better than the other, just different. You need to decide which one you want to go with. The technique on a lever harp strung with pedal harp strings is going to be the same as pedal harp. If you play a folk harp though, I think you’d have to lighten your touch considerably.
Can you tell me what the make of the instrument is? I have my hunch as to what make it is, but just tell me. Also I’d like to know how old the harp is. That may be a major factor in this.
There used to be nylon strings wrapped with nylon(like the wire strings, but just nylon core and nylon wrapping). If those still exist and you can find them, you might use them for C’s and F’s. They would feel slightly different, and thus help you to orient easier to where you are on the instrument.
I know you want to play the harp. But in this case I think that studying the piano first for a year or so would help you understand so much about music theory and how music functions. That’s because you can easily feel the relationship of natural notes to sharp and flat notes on a keyboard. I think that if you came to the harp with some piano background, then your harp studies would make a lot more sense more quickly. By the way, do you have perfect pitch? If you did, I would think that would also help you a lot in learning an instrument.
Thank you for the recommendation of my book A GUIDE FOR HARPISTS. It is currently printed and sold by Vanderbilt Music Company. There is a chapter in there explaining regulation, as well as other chapters that deal with small adjustments and repairs, like changing felts, adjusting or changing pedal rods, etc.
When I wrote that book, I felt, and still feel, that it is important for a harpist to understand how the instrument works and how to do emergency repairs on it. I do strongly recommend though that you have a qualified technician look at the instrument and regulate it at least every 3 or 4 years. I have about 35 different types and sizes of discs that I can use to improve the regulation, particularly in the upper registers. A harpist is not going to have that on hand. In addition I have many spare parts in case something needs to be replaced or breaks(replacement screws as one example). But having me or any qualified technician look at your instrument gives you a chance to accurately assess the overall condition of your instrument and talk about any possible repairs that will be needed. You don’t have to break your neck every year to get the harp to a technician. But every couple of years should not be too difficult to arrange.
Andelin- I agree with you. The point is not to tie the child into knots nor to make the learning process intimidating. That serves no purpose at all. I’m not saying everything has to be perfect either. I think that often, as with anything in life, you have to pick your battles. As far as harp teaching is concerned, which is the original question, keeping the pieces short and simple, combined with focusing on the major issues(pulling the fingers correctly down into the palm, keeping a stable hand position, etc.), should help a lot to keep the child on track and prevent the forming of bad habits(bad muscle memory). The beauty of a good set of etudes as the basis for forming and developing good technique is that the player only has to focus on one type of pattern at a time, allowing him to work on only one or two technical points at a time.
Good technique is what is going to get you into more difficult repertoire. We learn whatever we do over and over again. So if a young student is playing with bad technique, he is going to develop muscle memory for that, making it more difficult later on to eliminate this muscle memory.
Make sure the pieces you are assigning are easy enough for the student to play correctly. If he can’t focus on the technique, then the piece is too difficult. My rule of thumb is that a student at any level should be able to learn one page of music in a maximum of 3 weeks. If it takes longer than that, then the music is too difficult for him. On numerous occasions I have assigned a piece of music and then withdrawn it a couple of weeks later because the student was having too many problems learning it, or couldn’t learn it correctly.
I would also strongly recommend using etudes on the student, which focus on one pattern at a time and work it long enough to develop muscle memory for that pattern. Your student might find those easier to play correctly.
As many of you know, I am one of those people who reacted very badly to “stage nerves.” I wrote an article about it in the Harp Column, and I’ve been very open about it. The amount of adrenaline I crank out for a performance is enough to kill a horse. One of the manifestations of the adrenaline rush is that nasty inner voice. It made it impossible to focus on what I was doing, which was playing the harp before an audience. When I started using beta blockers for performing, that inner voice completely disappeared. I can focus completely on playing, and I kind of enter a zone where I’m aware of nothing but what I’m doing. I’ve played recitals where someone would come up to me afterwards and apologize for someone who was making noise, or a child who was misbehaving. I was totally unaware.
If you can find a mind set that will help you to control that inner voice while you play, good for you. I can’t. Beta blockers are the only way for me(and many MANY other musicians, particularly in symphony orchestras).
His mother, Micheline Kahn, died in 1987. He lived with his mother her whole life. He definitely did not play the harp himself, but of course his mother was right there and may have helped him to keep his harp music playable.
What Salzedo edition? The piece was under copyright well past Salzedo’s death, so he couldn’t have published an edition of the Sonate.
It would be best to consult a good harpist about the whole harp part. The harpist will very likely have suggestions not only about how to notate that chord, but also about better ways of voicing it so it sounds the way you want it to sound.
Julietta- I think there are two problems here. The first is that your students have to learn to “feel” their way around the instrument. They should be able to feel octaves, triads, etc. without having to look too often at the instrument. The best way to develop this ability is with etudes, which work one pattern or another so much that the player develops muscle memory for that pattern. Playing scales and chord patterns also helps with this. You may have to help the student to break the habit of constantly looking at the strings. While the student is playing, take a sheet of paper or a piece of music and hold it between the student’s head and hands, so he/she can’t see his or her hands. The student will learn eventually how to minimize the amount of time spent looking at his hands.
The second problem has to do with reading music. Playing from music(rather than from memory) involves being able to glance at a measure or two and remember it so that you can then glance at the conductor or the strings and not be completely lost on what you are playing. This ability is true for playing something you know from music AND for sight reading. Good sight readers can look at several measures and remember them while they play those measures and look ahead at the same time.
I would start by getting your student to look less at the strings and to feel his way around more. Use the paper to hide the hands. Once the student improves on that, then work on the reading skills.
