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The phantom hand turning the page! Nearly spat my tea out when it appeared. She needs an iPad with a foot pedal.
Yes, it happened to my old LH 17 twice. The second time it happened while I was playing for afternoon tea at a posh hotel. The peg flew off and narrowly avoided hitting a guest!! Both times I just ordered a new one from the UK LH dealer and replaced it myself. I got the regulation as good as I could and then had it checked at the next service.
You might be interested in this. It was posted by a harp dealer here in the UK on Facebook in October. It’s looking like Bow Brand’s problems are not yet under control.
One other thing to consider is how far forward you sit on your stool. If you are too far back, you won’t be able to lift both legs easily. It’s important to perch towards the front and pull yourself up straight and not sit back and into your hips.
To practice moving both legs to their extremes (as well as getting an excellent core workout, resulting in a flat stomach and abs to die for) I recommend the pedal slides at the start of “The Pink Panther” 😉Interesting. I play an LH 23 and a Camac Big Blue. I’m 5ft 6 but don’t have any trouble with balancing the harp or taking both feet off the floor, although I try to avoid it by pivoting on my heels. I wonder if it’s because I always play in heels? Not massive ones, 2″ maximum, but I find they give me a good lever. I always find the natural balance point of the harp and support it lightly on both knees – no weight on my shoulder at all.
Very interesting point Carl. There’s a fascinating section in the book “An Alexander Technique approach to Harp Technique” that looks into the many and varied reasons that musicians become injured, burn out or fail. One section might interest you….
“The Music Teacher Who Had The Most Power Over You Lied to You.
This is the most unconscious block and possibly the most painful thing to be admitted of all, because the source of this artificial limit on your ability came from the person who was supposed to help you reach your potential. You go to a conservatory to study with a world renowned teacher, and before you know it you’re burned out, you doubt your ability, and/or you’re injured. Is this an accident, or has a very ambitious music teacher who did not realize his or her dream as a world famous performer, and sees this potential in you, 100% unconsciously set you up for failure and/or injury? If a wonderful instrumental or voice teacher pushes a talented student, and the teacher wants the student to succeed, then the student will probably succeed. But if a bitter great teacher works with talented students, I’m willing to bet most of that teacher’s students will not be in music after five years of leaving the conservatory. I would suggest that if you are going to study with a world famous teacher, that you look at the success rate for that teacher’s students. If it is extremely low, look elsewhere. I would also suggest that if you are studying with a great teacher, that you trust your own judgment. If you are being set up to fail, find a different teacher as quickly as possible.”If I ever want to find a piece of music I tend to google the title along with “sheet music, piano” and then go to “images”. Very often the first page of an arrangement will be visible. Sometimes the whole piece is free to download or it can be bought for a few pounds. I sometimes Google harp but piano arrangements are more common. Even if they don’t work perfectly they are a good basis to make my own arrangement from.
Biagio, for example I just typed Memory in and came up with this…
http://www.ahdoe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/memory-from-okuribito-complete-piano-sheet.pdf
I haven’t given it more than a quick glance yet, so no idea how it would work on the harp! Worth a try though….it’s a beautiful piece.Not sure the actual colour matters as long as it’s plain and not too pale……and nothing like this (courtesy of a recent wedding venue!!)
Nail clippers here! I have wire cutters for the wires. They were my Dads and he gave them to me when I first had a wire break. They do the job easily. I’ve never really thought about them! I too have the wires changed by the tech. but every now and then one breaks and I have to do it myself.
Oh my goodness Gretchen, I’m so sorry to hear that. When I broke my wrist in December I also seriously injured my 3rd and 4th fingers too. No breaks but they don’t really know exactly what I did – tendons, ligaments all just shot. I’m still in a pain from them almost 6 months later and not playing properly. My consultant said that finger injuries can take up to 18 months to recover. (Sorry, I know that’s really hard to hear) However, once I was over the initial healing phase of about 8 weeks, he did say that, although they are painful, I am to use them as much as possible. I do lots of daily Physio and occupational therapy and I do play on them – just not at full strength. I am doing weddings again using amplification and some “adjusted” fingering. Things are improving all the time.
Once your bone has healed and you are out of the splint, you may find that you are surprised at just what you are able to do even without using your injured finger. Follow all the advice you are given and take it slowly. One of the things I have found very beneficial has been alternating between an ice filled bowl of water and a bowl of very hot water. It really keeps the circulation going and helps keep the swelling down. I also have a massage once a week to reduce the swelling (yup, I still have swelling!!!)
Wishing you a really speedy recovery. xxI agree with everything already said re wear/tuning etc. However, I have played both the Ravenna 34 and the Boulevard. I was so excited when the Boulevard first came out as I really like the Ravenna but I’m a fan of gut. I thought it would sound amazing. I was incredibly disappointed when I tried it. I wasn’t a patch on the Ravenna in my opinion. I tried it first in Sydney at the WHC, then again, back in the UK, when a pupil asked me to come and help her choose a new harp. I still wasn’t blown away and preferred the Ravenna. The pupil already owns a gut strung harp but, interestingly, she wasn’t keen on the boulevard either and decided on the Ravenna. (I didn’t give my opinion before she tried them. I just played them for her and let her choose.)
When they’ve got to go, they’ve got to go! I’m not sure it’s possible to prolong the life. Someone (Carl?) may have some tips about humidity, heat etc that could help stop them breaking prematurely but I too just keep a spare set and change them when they ping. On the plus side, in over 25 years, I’ve never been hit by a breaking string!
(On a slightly different track, I seem to have two harps with an “anything you can do, I can do better” mentality. When one breaks a string, the other will also break one within a day or two. Spooky! Anyone else find this?)
You might like Hasslemans’ Chanson De Mai.
You can take a look at the score here. http://imslp.org/wiki/Chanson_de_Mai,_Op.40_(Hasselmans,_Alphonse)
There are loads of other solo harp pieces available on this site. It’s very useful to look at what you would be in for before buying the music!My duet partner plays a Pilgrim Aldeburgh which has leather wrapped pedals. The Pilgrims are lovely but much lighter and smaller than most 47 string harps. The action is very smooth and responsive but we have noticed that the leather has got quite shiny in places and consequently it can squeak quite noticeably. Particularly challenging when recording. Given the option, I would go for the felt.
