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I have boy-girl twins, so I had to get them used to bottles and nursing right from the beginning. This makes it much easier to let baby-sitters take over when you have to work. My kids got comfortable being looked after by several different people. When they were very little, I was too exhausted to teach much, but it would have been impossible to teach without a baby-sitter. Once I was back at work playing and teaching full-time, we got a nanny. Even so, whenever I was teaching at home, I left gaps in the schedule so that I could spend time with my adorable babies. Now they’re grown up and I’m so glad I did. An aside: I believe that it helps a child’s social development to get friendly with lots of people from an early age. They suggest this routine for puppies, too!
My husband majored in music, spent a few years touring with a brass quintet, (yes, I am another harpist married to a trumpet player), then decided to switch careers. He took one year to get his teacher’s diploma, and, with his music background, immediately got a job teaching elementary band. After a number of years, he became vice-principal, went back and got his Master’s and now is a principal. He plays his trumpet for fun and a little extra money. I have a friend who got his degree in engineering, then got a symphony position as soon as he graduated. Another friend got his degree in Music Education, then got a job playing French horn in one of the best orchestras in the world. This all goes to show that there is more than one path to success. Whatever you don’t learn in school, you can learn later, but it is certainly easier to do it while you’re young and unburdened by other concerns such as laundry, children and groceries.
Sunita Staneslow has published several books of Jewish wedding music, and also her other books of harp solos have some wonderful Jewish and particularly Ladino pieces. Her books are well laid-out, too, with good page turns and legible print, and not too difficult, so that you can throw together a program quickly.
Alexander, has your teacher considered making her edition available for purchase? I occasionally tinker with my own version of the Handel from the original score, but I never seem to have time to finish it. I am not a specialist in Baroque music, though I have read parts of Neuman’s treatise on this subject. I would love to see an edition by someone with those qualifications.
I learned the Salzedo, but I prefer more historically accurate editions. Others prefer the bigger, lusher, more modern editions.
I have occasionally run into these types of parents, and it always seems to end badly. Every kid has their own talents, and some learn faster than others. And you are abolutely right that harp music is much more labor-intensive to learn than that of a single-line instrument. Piano is much more tactile and doesn’t require flamenco feet doing a whole separate choreography. I hope, with enough back-up opinions, you can convince this parent to let the child take a reasonable pace and not push her into hating the harp. The important thing right now is to step back and let her finish building her technique! It will do her no favor to let her continue without the building blocks of relaxed, strong hands and gorgeous sound. Strong, slow practice, with enough time to pay attention to detail will get her to winning competitions FASTER than rushing into them now. Hope this helps!
I agree that their rate shouldn’t be ridiculously low, but serious students will want a professional teacher anyway. I do believe there should be some differential between the rates of those who are just starting and those with 30 years of experience and a track record of producing excellent students.
New teachers charge about $30 to $35 (Canadian) an hour here, and as they gain experience and confidence, the rate goes up.
Have you tried changing your fingering? Can you take some notes in the other hand? Experiment and see if this helps. I don’t have this piece, so I can’t look it up for you.
There’s a 26-string Dusty Strings Ravenna with full levers for about $1000. They are good harps, and the company has an excellent reputation. They are making a bigger Ravenna now, as well, for just a bit more money. They have a new computerized way of making them, which brings up the reliability of quality, and brings down the cost.
1. relaxing between each note, and deep breathing, to prevent buildup of tension
2. creative fingerings for comfort, phrasing, and watching conductors
3. how to mark orchestra parts, i.e. splitting up bars of rests into phrases, getting all pedals set in advance where possible, use of enharmonics, how to edit impossible parts, etc.
4. how to perform special effects and dampenings
5. being meticulous about intonation, rhythm, and listening to the musicians around you – learn how to play in ensembles
6. and all of the above harpists’ great suggestions
I think I remember a Beth Schwarz at Camden when I was studying there with Miss Chalifoux! Am I hallucinating or is it the same person? It would have been in the mid-70’s.
In case you cannot find a suitable summer camp, or they are full, Judy Loman teaches throughout the summer. It’s not a “camp” per se, but she’s an amazing teacher and an unbelievably great harpist. I studied with Judy through university, and in the summer several of us harp students would meet up at Judy’s farm and take lessons. If you’re ever in Vancouver, BC, I also teach through most of the summer. I am thinking of starting up a summer program some day, but for this summer, I am going to see about rounding up an ensemble of harp students to play together and then play for each other.
There are some good books on this subject, such as “How to Write For the Harp in the Commercial Orchestra” by Lisa Coffey, and Beatrice Schroder Rose’s “The Harp in the Orchestra”. Carl is right; it would be much better if you could sit down at the harp and play it before you write. But a lot of composers write something, then take it to a good harpist for a consultation and then go back to the drawing board. Keep in mind that you should be writing for harpists with average-size hands and abilities, not some freakishly-endowed Paganini of the instrument. Check out this web site for some further information.
http://www.harpspectrum.org/harpworks/composing_for_harp/composing_for_harp.shtml
