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Angela, your piece is perfect for a Good Friday service and you have a good voice, too. I admire anyone who can play and sing simultaneously. Love your name Mrs. Angelala. Thx for sharing.
Janis, you are so nice to arrange music and offer it to HC members. I clicked on your link and searched around your blog but I could not find your Chopin piece – only the original score. I could not imagine playing that on a harp!
Filipa, I’m sure if you look on the internet or call the orchestras in Portugal you could find a teacher. The American Harp Society has international members. There are no teachers listed in Portugal or Spain, though. However, there are two teachers in Brazil. Perhaps you could have Skype lessons even with the time difference. If you are interested, please send me your email and I will give you their contact information. Your English appears to be very good so you may find an instructor from another country.
Biagio’s advice (above) is excellent. Having an instructor to learn technique will make all the difference in your ability to play well. You will enjoy your harp more, too.
Filipa,
You may want to consider renting a harp for a while. Salvi Harps and Lyon-Healy rent harps. I am sure there are other harp makers that do as well as individual harpists. You may want to join the American Harp Society to get the directory of members and member teachers. In addition, harpist Sylvia Woods is compiling a directory of harp instructors who teach in person and via Skype. As a beginner, having a teacher sitting with you is preferable. Go to http://www.harpcenter.com. There are also some excellent tutorials on youtube by Josh Layne and Hannah Deladurantey. My very best wishes to you on your new musical journey.
Thanks, Janis. I did order a clamp rather than drill a hole in the harp base for the connecting jack. I still have to install the mic inside the harp.
Saul and Sylvia, I said “yep, that is the version I have” to the link that Sylvia posted. If anyone clicked on the imslp link above, it is very obvious the Pelleas referred to in this thread is the one by Faure. Tacye posted the next comment which referred to the Faure Pelleas by noting it is in 4 movements, 3 of which can be played in unison by more than one harp. She got it.
I asked that question when the harp tech came last fall. The harp tech said he likes the Peterson app for iPhone the best. He said it doesn’t pick up a lot of outside noise. I presume there is a Peterson app for android phone, too. I just got an iPhone (late bloomer to smartphones) and I am going to download the Peterson app on his recommendation. I look forward to reading other suggestions.
Sonya, you do not have to change your bass wires prior to a harp regulation. The gut/nylon strings must be changed at least two weeks prior to a regulation, that is, if they really do need to be changed. Harps don’t need new strings to be regulated. I had the harp tech change the wires when I had my harps regulated. I bought the wire strings prior to the regulation but some techs provide them. If you can change the wire strings yourself, bravo. I took the easy way out:)
I play all my music, except the occasional orchestra part because I am too lazy to scan it, on an iPad using forScore as the app. It eliminates the head turning for me. I use an AirTurn bluetooth foot pedal for page turns (although you can simply tap the iPad for page turns to save money). The stand I use is by Standzout. It has a flexible gooseneck and the base slides under the harp so you can get the iPad over the soundboard. This could cost more than perhaps your students want to or could pay for.
I’ve read that Apple is developing a new larger iPad that was supposed to be released in the fall but has now been delayed because they want to put in a USB port.
A recent issue of Harp Column included an article written by The Chicago Harp Quartet about their use of iPads for music.
Alyson,
I live in Florida, too. My harps have good and bad days when it comes to being in tune. Because the strings are only 3 weeks old, the harp is in a new environment, and we’ve had some big swings in weather/humidity, I would not worry at this point. If you still have the same problem in a couple months, I would suggest calling Lyon Healy. In the meantime, you may want to talk to the tech who regulated the harp.
I don’t know why there would be a D#. The notes you show above for an e minor glissando is also what is shown in my gliss book “A Harpist Survival Guide to Glisses” by Kathy Bundock Moore – an invaluable book for glissandos.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to take the time and effort to contact a real harpist to help you with your gliss. It means so much to have the harp part written correctly and sound right.
There is a great website you might want to visit: http://www.composingforharp.com.
I would call the Salvi rep in California for cleaning advice in this situation. http://www.salviharpsinc.com. Get the harp cleaned, and then maintain it using a microfiber cloth. Also vacuum it like you would good furniture. My Salvi harp looked like new when I sold it after 35 years of ownership.
