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Hi, Catherine;
I’m sorry to hear you’re having this trouble. I’ve just finished reading a book,-
Grain Brain
that might be helpful to you. It’s written by a neurologist, Dr. David Perlmutter, who is also a nutritionist. He describes treating patients with symptoms similar to yours. It might help you, might not, but definitely worth a look. So many illnesses take years to diagnose — don’t despair! Anyway, this book is a real page turner despite the serious science in it. If nothing else, it explains how the current wave of alzheimer’s and diabetes type 2 is related to diet and can be avoided. I hope it helps you.
DianaHi, Tacye;
Having ridden both school and race horses –I can’t resist a response to the analogy. You really can’t learn to ride on a race horse, but you can easily learn to (briefly) fly, and abruptly land from one. 🙂 And unfortunately, there are a lot of school horses who can teach you the same lesson. Learning harp is a bit safer…
Diana
Hi, Elizabeth, is it possible for you to rent a harp for your first year of playing? Most people’s taste in harp tone changes a lot as they develop their ear for it. If you are still playing after a year or so, you’ll know more about what you want in terms of tone, strings, levers, etc. And you won’t have to worry about selling a harp you may no longer enjoy. Just my two cents. Best wishes —
Deb, this is wonderful news. I can only imagine what you and your family have been through, but I’ll send some positive energy your way. I’m glad you feel you can play the harp again.
Best wishes, DianaAs an “older” student myself and one who has dealt with arthritis, I can sympathize with teachers who aren’t sure how to approach the problem of how to teach correct technique. Playing the harp has helped me to greatly improve and nearly eliminate the pain in my right thumb, though. I’ve learned to play with correct technique mainly through the encouragement of a patient teacher who didn’t patronize me by making excuses for me, but who also hasn’t demanded more than I can produce at the moment. It’s a bit of a tight rope for the teacher, but please know that even older joints can become more flexible and that age doesn’t necessarily diminish the desire to learn and improve. We’re all different–but many of us appreciate teachers who don’t try to put us all into the same box of “older and lesser.”
Ok, I guess I’ll be the odd one out here in saying that I really like the style of the 150. To my eyes, it’s a clean, sleek design. If it weighed about ten pounds less and came in ebony and sounded like a L & H 23 (grins), I’d really be tempted.
I was surprised to learn that “River Flows In You” was never part of the Twilight series. Sylvia Woods tries to clear this up on her site, but I wonder how it got connected……
Your playing is lovely. So many people have thought of playing both guitar and harp and are frustrated by the nails or no nails question. Have you thought about going about it from the other direction? In other words, looking into playing the guitar with the pads of your fingers instead of using nails? I know the use of the nails was not always popular in classical guitar, with great players such as Fernando Sol playing with the pads of his fingers. If you did that you could easily play both instruments, though you might not care for the sound of the guitar played without nails!
Having had both horses and harps, I can offer my two cents on the hidden costs, but I believe you were just raising the idea of buying a horse for the sake of comparison. Anyway, here’s a look at the bright side of things. Granted, harps can be costly depending on how far you pursue your training. Horses, on the other hand, can cost you a bundle whether you go with a top trainer or not. One colic surgery can cost more than a harp car, for instance….and with a harp you don’t have to worry about having any emergency trips to the vet school! Best wishes for your harp journey with your daughter.
Hi, Frank,
You might want to join the Yahoo group, Virtual Harp Circle. There are quite a few people there who have built harps from kits as well as some luthiers. Hope you can find some relief for your shoulder.
DianaHave you thought about recording yourself with video using an iPad or something similar? There’s nothing like seeing as well as hearing yourself as an incentive to improve your technique!
Kay, this is so true and so hard to remember. There’s a saying I’ve heard, “Make haste slowly”, that I should stick on my music stand.
I’m glad to know others have the same
After the study you’ve done, I don’t think you’ll find it hard at all to move to pedal harp. Be sure to try the Lyon & Healy Chicago 40 — they have a lovely tone and only weigh 62 pounds — light by pedal harp standards.
