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Big orchestra and singers taking up the entire stage and a lot of shuffling go on during the program. It may come to amplifying but the preference is not to, especially just for one 5 minute piece of music.
Ha, ha, to you, Balfour. I’ll go off-topic and wish you a Happy Birthday🎂🎉👏. Buy yourself another harp to celebrate🎶.
Thank you, Carl. You are thinking about the harp arrangements of Ave Maria in multiple keys by D. Rees-Rohrbacher. There is also a new one on HC Music by Jaymee Haefner. I am looking for an arrangement for harp and other instruments to accompany a soprano in Bb.
Oh, my. This is wandering way off from the original topic. I hope by now that lovely Troubador is waiting to pop out as a Christmas gift. I owned one and it was a great all-purpose lever harp. As Jackie mentioned, it is a good stepping stone to a pedal harp. It might not be a forever harp, but you certainly could not go wrong with a Troubadour. Don’t forget, the discussion is about a pre-teen student harpist and her possible first harp…
Alison, for some reason your post shows up under your name but not in the forums.
I suggest you go to Sylvia Woods’ blog on her website http://www.harpcenter.com. One her blogs talks about music apps. Your student could work on basic music skills in a fun way and not need an instrument to do so. Also check out the app called Handy Harp.
There are tutorials on YouTube, as well.
Sounds like a good buy on the Troubadour. Heck, if was my daughter, I would buy the harp and hide it at her teacher’s house. Then make this the biggest Christmas surprise ever. PS/ If you buy the harp, get an ergonomic tuning key as a stocking stuffer.
You are so fortunate to have a daughter motivated to learn the harp. I agree with all the comments above. It would be helpful to look at harps and become familiar with them keeping in mind you will buy the right one when it comes along. You do need to balance the cost of renting or owning. A lever harp is not hugely expensive so don’t feel like you have to wait forever to make a purchase. But as Biago suggested, keep re-sale in mind.
You may want to give thought to attending a harp festival as part of the process. The two that come to mind are the Somerset Folk Harp Festival and the Harp Gathering. Both have numerous harp vendors. You could do an internet search to find others that might be in your geographic area.
Your daughter will probably be growing a lot in the next two years so starting with a lever harp is a good idea. If she continues to play, you would be better informed about buying a pedal harp. But, she might also decide there is enough she can play on a lever harp, or she can play both. Certainly a lever harp is more portable and could give her more playing opportunities.
For fun and motivation check out harp clips on youtube. At her age, she might enjoy watching the Harp Twins. They play lever and pedal harps.
Susanne, I really enjoyed watching your videos on YouTube. The photography is excellent and so is your playing. Thanks for sharing.
Davy’s motor skills have really improved in a short time. He seems relaxed with his harp. The harp has a beautiful sound.
I saw her name on the Rees Harps webpage so I presume she is playing a Rees Harp on that album. You may want to contact Rees Harps.
Another selection for the holidays: A Christmas Medley, arr. Mitch Landry. Includes: In Dulci Jubilo, El Desembre Congelat and Un Flambeau, Jeannette Isabelle.
I just typed in Google “Sleigh Ride four harps” and it showed up at http://www.harp.com.
Allegra, you would be better served as a beginner to work on 123, 321, 1234, 4321, and the other basic finger patterns before you start thinking about the more complicated ones. It’s the old crawl before you walk. You may want to watch tutorials on YouTube about basic harp technique. Hannah White has some excellent videos and so does Josh Layne although I am not sure how many are for beginners. You could check out his wesite http://www.joshlayne.com.
Adagios by Kathryn Cater has an excellent canon. It is Canon in G by Klingenberg. Can be played as a solo or a round. The book is baroque and classical pieces arranged at the intermediate level. Kathryn is a wonderful composer and arranger. The book is available printed or as a PDF at http://www.folkharp.com.
