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One more thought – I try to keep my heels on the ground for pedal changes (but that doesn’t always work). You may want to try some shoes with different heel heights to figure out what works for you and helps you make effortless pedal changes. If you are taking lessons, certainly discuss all this with your instructor who is the best person to help you sort this out. If you are not taking lessons, consider finding someone who can watch you play and work with you on this.
It’s a good idea to have your bench on the high side with your hips slightly elevated above the knees. This distributes weight and saves your back/hips over time.
As far as the two pedals-I find it’s always a balancing act. You may just be overthinking this. I practice the pedals until they become automatic. It’s helpful to put on the metronome and practice just the pedal changes. Don’t be afraid to make your own determination where the pedal changes are in the music – you don’t have to follow what is written if something works better for you. If you can split the pedal changes so you play one foot on a beat, then the other pedal on a beat, do so. The pedal changes should be smooth and without harp noise. I have one piece with around 80 pedal changes (I never finished counting) in 35 measures. In some places I do two pedal changes in the same measure that require both feet. I just hang on to the side of the harp and hope I don’t fall. I thought I would never learn the pedals, but it finally came together.
I highly recommend yoga for harpists. I would not be able to play if I didn’t work on my flexibility. You hit a certain age and things don’t work like you want. If I were starting harp as a student now, I would definitely incorporate yoga or pilates into my practice habits.
Amy,
Thanks for giving an update. I’m glad you were able to clear the air with your daughter’s teacher and collectively work to make her harp lessons a good and productive experience. Keep up the communication so nothing backslides.
It will be interesting to read what other professional harp instructors have to say. Based on what I read, I doubt the teacher will change. My only suggestion is to agree with your daughter about the teacher’s manners but explain that because there are no other instructors, she is going to have to decide how badly she wants to play the harp. I would tell my kid that she needs to have the personal guidance, and this only involves only one hour a week. Tell her it is not your preferred choice but you don’t see a solution to the problem right now. Keep encouraging your daughter and give her positive feedback. View this as a life lesson. When she gets some technique in place, then you could move to Skype lessons or perhaps find another instructor. I trust you joined the American Harp Society which has a listing of member harpists. Also Sylvia Woods is compiling a list of harp instructors.
I am so sorry you are dealing with this. I hope this does not kill your daughter’s interest in playing the harp. We went through this with my son’t piano teacher some years ago. I concurred with him the teacher was a whack job. Ultimately, he just decided music was not for him because he (sadly for me) simply lacked any talent whatsoever. But, we were proud of his accomplishment of moving past his piano teacher’s personality or lack of.
No, Dance of the Little Fish won’t work on lever harp. The pedal markings are Cb Eb Fb D# and G#. You have to put the F in flat, natural and sharp. It is not a good enough piece IMHO to adapt for lever harp. You would be better off learning The Little Fountain. There are glisses at the end of LF but they are accomplished by pressing on two strings to muffle rather than making lever changes. (Unfortunately, none the lever harpists playing Little Fountain on youtube clips do the glisses as instructed in the music but the pedal harpists do so.)
OMG!!!I don’t think even David Ice has dealt with such a scenario. You couldn’t make up something like this!
Paul, my guitar partner recently received an inquiry on his online booking site (which I share with him for our harp/guitar duo). And, it specifically said it was a “SS wedding.” I have seen other inquiries addressed this way on other sites. I guess semantics are up to the individual. Personally, I see this recent thread as nothing more than harpists asking about current wedding business. How else are you going to phrase this to keep things simple for purposes of this discussion?
Andy, can’t you bring your harp to lessons? A lever harp is certainly more transportable than a pedal harp. It disturbs me greatly to read that harp instructors are not taking care of their harps. There is absolutely no excuse IMHO for missing strings and wires that bad. Yes, I know how expensive strings are. I just bought a set of gut strings and the price went up. I can understand a teacher not wanting a student to use his/her best harp for lessons, but part of teaching is also showing students how to maintain a harp – and part of that is by example. OK, my rant is over.
Alyson – you are correct about the sound quality of a smartphone or iPad by themselves. I generally use an iPad for quick recordings in daily practice but have external speakers which definitely makes a world of difference in sound quality. Using a fairly decent set of headphones that you would use for your computer or listening to music on a smartphone works well, too.
Aria, while you are taking your break, you may want to check out Josh Layne’s Harp Tuesday. He breaks down a number of the classic harp pieces and also works on specific techniques or topics. You can find the clips on youtube or his website, http://www.joshlayne.com.
Anne Sullivan’s Harp Mastery course would be very helpful for you, too. Go to http://www.harpmastery.com. A fresh approach may be what you need right now to keep you motivated.
Also, I would encourage you to record yourself when you practice a piece. Hearing yourself may help you with your phrasing and musical expression. In addition, I often put on a headset and play through my recorder. That way I hear what I sound like in front of the harp as though I am in the audience.
You may want to get a very large indoor/outdoor mat in a medium dark neutral color that has a rubber back so it does not slide. Or you could find an area rug you like and put use a non-skid pad under it to prevent slipping. Carpet stores often have small sizes of carpet remnants and for a nominal charge, will bind the edges.
