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George – this is exactly why I created the course “Hands on Harmony” (http://www.HandsonHarmony.com) – to show harpists how harmony ‘works’ on our instrument — so you have the skills to build musical inventions.
Asking for a game-type environment for learning is brilliant — I’d say that Hands on Harmony is less like Solitaire or Scrabble, though – and more like Lego’s: small pieces you can use together to build things over and over and over, taking them apart and putting them together in different ways.
There’s also a free chart I created that shows all the chord types (Minor, Major, ‘7 (b9)” etc.) – it’s not the kind of ‘drill’ or game-environment it sounds like you’re looking for, but it’s a place to start for free and and you can see it (and other free resources) on this page: https://www.hipharp.com/freestuff
Bravo to you for wanting fluency and asking for specifics. That says to me that you’re someone who’s really committed to collaborating in your own learning – and that’s my favorite type of person to work with as a coach an teacher – and that approach helps everyone in any learning environment. So … Bravissimo!
I also like how Gretchen is thinking: in other words, really approaching the situation professionally, having a checklist of questions, thinking through what you’ll really be doing. It may seem silly the first time you do the job, to have created a checklist, but the time you spend on it will save you time and headaches even if you only do it once.
It also sounds like you may have to educate this person on what it means to get a harp back up to pitch if it hasn’t been touched in 10 years (if that’s even possible). And if the harp is really old and really hasn’t been touched in 10 years, more than strings could break if you try to pull it up to pitch in one session (or even in 3)!
In a situation like that, I’d want to talk to a harp tech. Not to scare you, but if it really hasn’t been touched in 10 years, there’s a chance it could literally explode depending on how (and how quickly) you start pulling it up to pitch.
Two hundred million gazillion dollars. No, make that Euros. No, make that pounds.
Actually, Eliza — I often recommend that musicians use either their performance or lesson fee as a basis for charging for non-standard work. For example, when I ask a percussionist to give me a composer’s consultation (to help me compose for her instrument), she’ll rarely have a ‘composer consultation’ fee – so we generally default to her lesson fee.
I also suggest you have some sort of minimum or travel fee, especially if you’re traveling.
I LOVED “Medieval to Modern” and still do! I played it solo, I made my best-friend-cellist play some of the tunes with me (she played the bass clef notes and I played the melodies). I improvised on many of the pieces, and eventually fell in love with one of the melodies he introduced me to, and used it as the theme for a concerto. Thank you Sam Milligan!!
Barbara Brundage, you just made me very happy with this post! I will go try it all out right now!! – DHC
I know I’m responding to an old post, but back in the 70’s my Physics-Student boyfriend told me he could get my 22 into a VW Beetle. Not only was he right, but once we figured it out, my cellist-partner and I frequently put the harp, cello and her and me into that VW Bug (after taking out both the passenger seat and the backseat). I can’t remember exactly what she sat on — but we all fit!
