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Sonya, below is a link to a very useful site on how to change wire strings. I used it to change my wires the first time I did it and did not have any problems. I was terrified to even start at first. Go slow and wear eye protection. I think it took me about 3 hours the first time. Remember the cut ends of the wires can scratch your harp so be careful with them. Hope this is helpful. Actually once you loosen the string you can use a good wire cutter and cut the string near just below the bridge pins.
Mr S. I’m not sure if this is what you are looking for but further down on page 5 under professional harpist there is a title– harp dresses. It mentions several sites for concert attire for both men and women. One of them is concertattire.com. Hope this means you are safe and well.
Yes Carl, it is the Bochsa 40 easy etudes Opus 318. To answer your question, If I can work in the lever flips in the music I will do them. Lever flipping is as much a part of the music as pedal changes are and need to be planned and played consistently. In other cases I will ignore them, the exercises and practice are just as valuable. Thanks for starting this topic. It obviously demonstrates some needs.
Carl,
I agree with what Biagio and others have said. There is no one answer to the question. I play a L&H Prelude 40 (gut, concert tension and spacing,1E to 6A) and a Dusty Strings Crescendo 34 (nylon, medium tension and slightly closer spacing, C to C ). My teacher is Salzado trained and started me out on Salzedo’s Method for Harp, Lawrence and Salzedo, Pathfinder to the Harp and Conditioning Exercises. When lever flipping became impossibly difficult in Salzedo’s material my teacher either adapted it or I didn’t do those exercises. I also use Friou’s Exercises for speed and agility. I also have used Bochsa 40. I was taught traditional pedal harp technique which I found I had to adapt a little when playing on the Dusty.ie: I would tend to overplay and had a lot of “buzzy” strings initially. Now I can go back and forth between harps quite comfortably.I have a fairly sturdy wire stand (Cordoba) came with carry bag which I purchased from Guitar Center (they are also online). It folds up pretty small and is not heavy. I also have a Peak stand also but it is much larger when folded although it holds big binders better.
Janis here is a link to an easy piano version . You may be able to adapt for harp. http://www.sheetmusic2print.com/Beethoven/Russian-Folk-Song-107-7.aspx
Also the complete score here. http://imslp.org/wiki/10_National_Airs_with_Variations_for_Flute_and_Piano,_Op.107_(Beethoven,_Ludwig_van)
Thanks, Elizabeth for the suggestions. I will look at these and share with the conductor. Our next concert isn’t until summer 2015.
Janis, My Dusty Crescendo (same size as Ravenna) fits across the back seat of my Toyota Camry. I have to tilt it just a bit to get it through the top part of the door. Good Luck and enjoy! DonnaO
There is an excellent article in Harp Column Jan/Feb 1997. You can search the magazine on this site. For some reason I cannot get the link here. It has excellent diagrams for how things should look.
Natalie, Good for your daughter! Even though I am decades older, I know why she enjoys it. The piece I played most recently was “Poem for Orchestra” by John Tatgenhorst. It goes from C to G flat but lots of rests for flipping levers. I had to re-tune my harp in G flat though. If she hasn’t played it yet she might suggest it to her director. It’s really lovely.
Sylvia and Saul I appreciate your input but a pedal harp is not financially feasible or realistic. Saul I am the only harp player around for miles so finding others to play with isn’t an option for me although it’s a good idea.
On an upbeat note, I went to rehearsal yesterday and got a copy of the Christmas music being played. I am currently busy transposing my music into the correct keys and chords. It looks like some of this will work, so that I can play a few pieces at least.Thanks for the suggestions. I actually read chords fairly well. In fact for the concert we just finished, I played the guitar part for one section and the harp part later in the piece. I have Lousie Trotter’s fake book and I just recently purchased Ray Pool’s Anthology book at a workshop with him. This is all fairly new to me, but I’m learning.
Thanks Sid for your feedback. I appreciate anything that helps me understand the process better. I must admit I was really anxious about trying anything like this at first but I really enjoyed working with other musicians. It was quite challenging and I had never played with instruments other than the harp. The first concert was really successful, so I was eager and hoped to be included in the Christmas Concert.
Janis and kreig-kitts Thanks so much for your input.
kreig, I wasn’t necessarily looking to play a solo but I appreciate your feedback about my music not being useful to the conductor. I was feeling a tad “put off” when she did not want to look at it. Your comments help to put things into perspective for me. I have no frame of reference for how to arrange music. I can certainly handle Greensleeves and Silent Night so I will run that by the conductor. I know both of those are planned but not sure what arrangements. I am really reluctant to ask my teacher to do anything as he is a very busy professional with a lot of his own commitments especially with the holidays approaching.It has been happening for 1 to 1 1/2 weeks now. The notifications seem to be related to the trending scroll at the top ie; Harpmobile issue, Q&A Mason Morton, Sam Milligan etc. Don’t know if that helps or not.
