[cheryl grohn]

I have been teaching lever harp for 10+ years. I used several really excellent resources to get me started: “The Art of Teaching The Harp” by Suzanne Balderston and “Teaching the Lever Harp” by Joyce Rice. I too find the Harp Olympics series and the Play the Harp Beautifully series to work for almost every beginning student except young children, then I use one of the series designed for children.
I have developed a harp lesson book I print out and give to each new student. The contents include:
1. A review of my studio policies including need to give more than 24 hours notice or the student will be charged for the missed lesson.
2. A goal page, including questions for the student to answer like “what are your goals for for the next year with your harp lessons?” “As you picture yourself a year from now, what would you like to be able to play on the harp?” “What steps will you take to achieve your goals?” Then I review the goals, adding and subtracting as lessons progress, regularly, usually ever 6 months.
3. Harp posture checklist, plus simple stretches for harp players.
4. Basics at the harp including posture, height of chair and harp, arm positions.
5. Harp practice tips
6. A section for assignments, where I write each lesson’s assignments in detail, including a) music theory b) songs c) exercises d) notes
7. Some beginner exercises I’ve found on free sites or developed on my own
8. Introductory music theory information such as note types, time signatures, repeats, rests (I remove this section for those who can read music)
9. Songs: I use copies from free sites such as http://www.makingmusicfun.net as introductory songs.
Each student gets a 3 ring binder with this information, and we add/subtract materials at each lesson. I’ve found this method to keep both me and my students on track and clear on assignments, what is next, and what progress is being made.

Hope this helps.
Cheryl

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