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If you have get back to your strings really quickly after flipping a lever, it is not necessary to go all the way back to the middle of the string. Place wherever you can get to in the time available, and work your way down as you continue to play. Practice your lever flips like choreography, in time. Practice them without actually playing any music, but just placing your fingers and then going to the next flip. If you haven’t already done so, put red and blue color of some sort on the F and C levers. (Some paint nail polish on the levers, others use hair elastics. There are some specially-made colored widgets that slip onto levers as well.)
As for hand position, experiment and see what works for you. I just grab the lever between thumb and forefinger, but technique may vary depending on the type of lever.
If you have get back to your strings really quickly after flipping a lever, it is not necessary to go all the way back to the middle of the string. Place wherever you can get to in the time available, and work your way down as you continue to play. Practice your lever flips like choreography, in time. Practice them without actually playing any music, but just placing your fingers and then going to the next flip. If you haven’t already done so, put red and blue color of some sort on the F and C levers. (Some paint nail polish on the levers, others use hair elastics. There are some specially-made colored widgets that slip onto levers as well.)
As for hand position, experiment and see what works for you. I just grab the lever between thumb and forefinger, but technique may vary depending on the type of lever.
If you have get back to your strings really quickly after flipping a lever, it is not necessary to go all the way back to the middle of the string. Place wherever you can get to in the time available, and work your way down as you continue to play. Practice your lever flips like choreography, in time. Practice them without actually playing any music, but just placing your fingers and then going to the next flip. If you haven’t already done so, put red and blue color of some sort on the F and C levers. (Some paint nail polish on the levers, others use hair elastics. There are some specially-made colored widgets that slip onto levers as well.)
As for hand position, experiment and see what works for you. I just grab the lever between thumb and forefinger, but technique may vary depending on the type of lever.
The pedal harp was an Aoyama, and the harpist sitting behind it was Alys Howe, a very talented harpist. As far as I know, the orchestra that was shown was miming the music that had been recorded earlier. The Vancouver Symphony pre-recorded the Olympic hymn and a great deal of music for the opening ceremonies. I am the harpist you hear in that music, the anthems and the music being played as they give out the medals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDS7hS4hBe4 – great YouTube video of Ion Ivan Roncea playing the Enescu Prelude. Incredible tone and clarity!
Hi, David! In the second movement, I start with the pedals set as D#, C, B, E, F#, G, A. At bar 37, I changed the A flat to a G# to avoid going from A# to Ab. In bar 40, I took the last C of the bass clef in the right hand instead. In the Allegro feroce section, depending on how feroce it gets, it’s possible to sneak in Fb enharmonics from bar 93-100, but then you have to keep switching back and forth to natural.
It really helps if you have a concept of what tone you are striving for. Once you have this sound inside your head, then you play the same note over and over until you get that sound. Change the angle of your fingers and palm and notice what that does. Notice what happens to the sound if you use more or less of the finger. It may even help to close your eyes. Then, once you get that gorgeous sound that you are after, analyze what you did.
It may also help to think of describing the finger action not as a “pull” but a “push”.
It really helps if you have a concept of what tone you are striving for. Once you have this sound inside your head, then you play the same note over and over until you get that sound. Change the angle of your fingers and palm and notice what that does. Notice what happens to the sound if you use more or less of the finger. It may even help to close your eyes. Then, once you get that gorgeous sound that you are after, analyze what you did.
It may also help to think of describing the finger action not as a “pull” but a “push”.
It really helps if you have a concept of what tone you are striving for. Once you have this sound inside your head, then you play the same note over and over until you get that sound. Change the angle of your fingers and palm and notice what that does. Notice what happens to the sound if you use more or less of the finger. It may even help to close your eyes. Then, once you get that gorgeous sound that you are after, analyze what you did.
It may also help to think of describing the finger action not as a “pull” but a “push”.
Geoff Bergler of the Seattle Symphony arranged The Cuban Overture by Gershwin for harp and brass quintet. It was premiered by the Annapolis Brass and Heidi Lehwalder. I am to play it at the AHS Conference in Tacoma this summer. It might also work for a band!
Laura Sofia Carmellino has written some atmospheric short pieces that intersperse with spoken religious poetry.
Patty Masri-Fletcher’s arrangement of Spanish Dance #1 by de Falla! The first harpist is supposed to play castanets mounted on a rack, but we used a castanet player.
Syllables are great for counting tuplets, but it’s really important to make sure that all the syllables are evenly stressed, or you end up with an incorrect rhythm. “University”, “Hippopotamus” and “Philadelphia” all work brilliantly for fives. “Strawberry” can be pronounced as an eighth note with two sixteenths, so I would suggest “hamburger”. In fact, “Hamburger, Pepsi” is good for going back and forth between triplet and duplet rhythm. Two against three was “old rattletrap” when I was learning piano. Sixes can be “hamburger hamburger”, if they are to be counted as two groups of three, or “Have you seen my homework?” if they are three groups of two.
Syllables are great for counting tuplets, but it’s really important to make sure that all the syllables are evenly stressed, or you end up with an incorrect rhythm. “University”, “Hippopotamus” and “Philadelphia” all work brilliantly for fives. “Strawberry” can be pronounced as an eighth note with two sixteenths, so I would suggest “hamburger”. In fact, “Hamburger, Pepsi” is good for going back and forth between triplet and duplet rhythm. Two against three was “old rattletrap” when I was learning piano. Sixes can be “hamburger hamburger”, if they are to be counted as two groups of three, or “Have you seen my homework?” if they are three groups of two.
Syllables are great for counting tuplets, but it’s really important to make sure that all the syllables are evenly stressed, or you end up with an incorrect rhythm. “University”, “Hippopotamus” and “Philadelphia” all work brilliantly for fives. “Strawberry” can be pronounced as an eighth note with two sixteenths, so I would suggest “hamburger”. In fact, “Hamburger, Pepsi” is good for going back and forth between triplet and duplet rhythm. Two against three was “old rattletrap” when I was learning piano. Sixes can be “hamburger hamburger”, if they are to be counted as two groups of three, or “Have you seen my homework?” if they are three groups of two.
