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Sorry! Aak! Brain cramp! I meant the Six Etudes by Eric Schmidt! They are published by
Leduc. As far as I know, there are no “Six Etudes” by Ibert.
There is a set of six etudes by Ibert which are good enough to perform as pieces. Those
Salzedo pieces you mentioned are also excellent for technique. The Handel Passacaille is
like a series of short etudes, as is The Harmonious Blacksmith.
There is also a long list of teachers in The Harp Mall online. Make a list of what you think
is important to you, and ask each teacher your questions. You might want to know if they
are rigid adherents to a particular school of playing, if they insist on weekly lessons or
allow some flexibility, the PRICE, where they are performing so that you can come and
hear them, if they have student recitals once ot twice a year, etc. Maybe they will even give
you some references or a package of information.
I got this info by googling royal harpists: Past Royal Harpists include: William More
(sixteenth century), harpist to Henry VIII; Cormack MacDermott (1605); Philip Squire
(1618); Lewis Williams/Evans, harpist to James I, Charles I, and Charles II; Charles Evans
(1660); William Powell (died 1750), for whom Handel wrote his Harp Concerto, and the
blind harpist John Parry (1710-1782), harpists to the Prince of Wales; John Balsir
Chatterton (1840) and John Thomas (1871), harpists to Queen Victoria. Now Catrin Finch is
the Royal Harpist.At the beginning of a new term, I will sometimes let a student borrow several pieces to
look through them, then decide which one(s) they would like to study. Other times, I will
loan music so that the student can copy in my fingerings and phrasing suggestions. (But
this can be dangerous; I have lost some music this way. Always write down who you
loaned it to!)
If the student won’t practice even when they have to get a performance ready, then I would
say they really do not want to be studying music at all. If they are really enjoying it, but
haven’t got the discipline to put any work into it, and you have enough time to teach them,
that’s fine. But if it’s really getting on your nerves that they are not investing any energy,
then I would pull the plug. Maybe you could suggest to the parent that their child find
some other field (i.e. sports, debating, dance) that does get them excited enough to work
hard towards a goal.
I’m not sure I understand your question, but here goes…yes, the first note is where you
start, then you sometimes have to figure out the duration of the gliss by counting
backwards from where it ends. Occasionally they will write the first note as the actual
length of the glissando. For example, a dotted quarter note as the first note of the gliss
means that the whole gliss lasts for that dotted quarter note’s duration. And yes, you
follow the direction of the squiggly line up or down. Sometimes conductors will ask you to
add more flourishes, even when the music doesn’t show it. Always note the dynamics of a
gliss! Sometimes they diminuendo instead of crescendo. If you have a hand free, it’s
helpful to grab the last note with the thumb as you gliss up to it with the other hand. That
way, you can look at the conductor and yet not worry about missing that final note.
Sorry…you got more than you asked for!
I wrote an article on this very subject a few years ago, which was published in the
Teachers’ Forum of the American Harp Society magazine. They will have it in their
archives.I must admit, there have been occasions when a student has really wanted to learn a piece
that was too hard for them, and I have acquiesced. I always regret it! But, to be fair,
sometimes it is hard to judge what a student is capable of. When I have suggested
dropping the piece and coming back to it at a later date, sometimes the student insists
that they can do it if I just give them more time. I resolve in future to be more assertive,
because it is so counter-productive to let the student perform something they can’t play
well. Performing should not be an ordeal.
Poenitz is probably written as P?nitz in German, in which the ? would sound like the “oo”
in “book”. The emphasis is on the first syllable, and the “z” sounds like an “s”.Here are some ways: affiliation with music stores, performing in schools or educational
concerts, getting on faculty at universities or academies of music.
When I saw this posting, I couldn’t believe it, but, sure enough, I have been getting e-mails
from someone with atrocious grammar, who won’t take no for an answer. Has anyone
been charged with fraud yet?
If you get these e-mails, you can alert abuse@yahoo or abuse@hotmail, and let them know
that their services are being used for criminal purposes. For example, if the person’s e-
mail address is @yahoo.co.uk, then you would contact abuse@yahoo.co.uk.
The police are very aware of these types of fraud. To report in Canada, forward the e-
mails to wafl@phonebusters.com. I don’t know who you would report to in the States, but
it’s a good idea to shut these guys down, so please report them, even if you haven’t lost
any money.
