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Sounds fun!!!
Have you tried tuning it to a whole tone scale? That would probably sound nice given the sustain. I just wouldn’t tune it to a standard Do Re Mi style scale though. You’ll always end on “ti” and have that unresolved 7th lingering in the air.
::shudder::
I am afraid that in my area at least, things have deteriorated that far. As mentioned in another post above mine, there was a huge separation between the standards that performance and education majors are held to. What is sad, is that even among performance majors, there are relatively low standards. Ed majors are only required to perform a single 1/2 hour non memorized recital. Performance majors are only required to do the same 1/2 hour recital, plus a 1 hour non memorized recital. Juries are only a formality to keep the department accredited. No one (even the professors) take it seriously. I however have pushed the limits of the school. I take my studies in performance very seriously, and make up for the lackluster environment by studying with a world renowned teacher through Skype outside of my regular lessons at my university. He’s fully expecting me to either end up in LA or NYC for my masters degrees at one of the various conservatories in those cities. (Flute is my main instrument, but I still pursue harp as much as I can in my free time).
My big problem is that public universities often push this idea that poor playing doesn’t mean poor teaching. That bothers me. You can be a masterful player and yet a horrible teacher. But you can’t be a horrible player and a masterful teacher. That’s why I strongly believe people should pursue their performance abilities as much as possible, and study heavily in pedagogy. Even though in my Performance program we do take a few courses in pedagogy, they aren’t intensive. So, I do a lot of extra study on my own to make up for that.
I am afraid that in my area at least, things have deteriorated that far. As mentioned in another post above mine, there was a huge separation between the standards that performance and education majors are held to. What is sad, is that even among performance majors, there are relatively low standards. Ed majors are only required to perform a single 1/2 hour non memorized recital. Performance majors are only required to do the same 1/2 hour recital, plus a 1 hour non memorized recital. Juries are only a formality to keep the department accredited. No one (even the professors) take it seriously. I however have pushed the limits of the school. I take my studies in performance very seriously, and make up for the lackluster environment by studying with a world renowned teacher through Skype outside of my regular lessons at my university. He’s fully expecting me to either end up in LA or NYC for my masters degrees at one of the various conservatories in those cities. (Flute is my main instrument, but I still pursue harp as much as I can in my free time).
My big problem is that public universities often push this idea that poor playing doesn’t mean poor teaching. That bothers me. You can be a masterful player and yet a horrible teacher. But you can’t be a horrible player and a masterful teacher. That’s why I strongly believe people should pursue their performance abilities as much as possible, and study heavily in pedagogy. Even though in my Performance program we do take a few courses in pedagogy, they aren’t intensive. So, I do a lot of extra study on my own to make up for that.
You know, I disagree and agree with a lot of things here. Yes, you should be familiar with the repertoire. Yes, you should have reached a very high level of training. But, I disagree with the idea of having degrees exclusively in music education if you are wanting to teach students that are wanting to, or are reaching high levels of skill and musicality.
I only say this because I am a music major right now who attends a school geared towards music education. In many institutions like this one, the emphasis is learning the process of teaching while letting your own skill stagnate at best. These programs are often geared toward teaching the students to become high school band/choir directors, not private teachers.
I think that if you are going to become a private teacher, you should aim to get degrees in Performance, but make sure that you emphasize in pedagogy/teaching techniques specific to your instrument (in addition to generic teaching methods), and take advanced study of the Performance Literature.
Some people say that you don’t have to be a good player to be a good teacher (which is what a lot of Music Ed programs push in their departments). But if you can’t play at an extremely high level, then how can you teach your students to do so?
You know, I disagree and agree with a lot of things here. Yes, you should be familiar with the repertoire. Yes, you should have reached a very high level of training. But, I disagree with the idea of having degrees exclusively in music education if you are wanting to teach students that are wanting to, or are reaching high levels of skill and musicality.
I only say this because I am a music major right now who attends a school geared towards music education. In many institutions like this one, the emphasis is learning the process of teaching while letting your own skill stagnate at best. These programs are often geared toward teaching the students to become high school band/choir directors, not private teachers.
I think that if you are going to become a private teacher, you should aim to get degrees in Performance, but make sure that you emphasize in pedagogy/teaching techniques specific to your instrument (in addition to generic teaching methods), and take advanced study of the Performance Literature.
Some people say that you don’t have to be a good player to be a good teacher (which is what a lot of Music Ed programs push in their departments). But if you can’t play at an extremely high level, then how can you teach your students to do so?
That is really young, but if she likes it and you have a teacher willing to work with her, why not? I would just be sure that you get a harp with low tension strings (the harpsicle as you mentioned would be nice for this) so that her tiny hands will have the strength to pluck the strings. When teaching really young children, it’s important to make sure that the process of learning is fun.
I myself have seen young harpists (age 6 or so) who had been playing for at least a year or two, so while she is very young, she is not too young I think.
Just my $0.02
Well, you said she was an “old lady.” Not meaning bad luck on her, but maybe she won’t be around that much longer… 😉 Just kidding. She really does sound like a horrid neighbor. If she treated me that way, I would move my harp to the first floor, amp it with the speakers laying face down on the floor (or which ever direction she is), and practice something with a lot of bass while wearing earplugs. Maybe even practice tuning the bass strings by ear with the amp on. If she’s going to throw a fit at you for playing, you should at least deserve it. >:)
lol. 😉
Absolutely Tony.
Generally in the USA, the rule of thumb is this: if money is involved, you have to get permission. If money is not a factor in the equation, you can generally play whatever you want and any arrangement that you want. If you want to write an arrangement and publish it, you do have to go through the publishing company that owns the material and get the licensing and rights to do so. As for royalties and public performances, generally (and correct me if I am mistaken), arrangements aren’t an issue but rather the licensing of the venue. The venue (unless predetermined in your contract), is usually responsible for covering the royalties owed to the composers and to the P.R.O.s (ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC). And that usually means whether or not they have a “blanket” license (which covers anything and everything), specific licensing for an event, or whether they subscribe to a service that provides recorded music. Many fast food chains, and other stores (Fazoli’s, Pier 1 Imports, Walmart, Kroger, etc). And that service provider pays the dues that are owed. People usually don’t get bent out of shape about arrangements, but rather not being paid for performances of intellectual property that they own.
BUT, keep in mind. This is all US copyright law. It may be different where you are.
Just as a tidbit of information,
As mentioned above, the 31 string harp they recommend looks like the MusicMaker’s Gothic 31. It is the same harp. If you got to http://www.harpkit.com (the Musicmaker’s website) under the link for their 31 string harp, they carry the Chalice of Repose link/banner advertising that this specific model is the one preferred by that program.
Their reasoning behind that specific harp (from what I have gathered) comes from the fact that the range is decent for a lever harp, it is small, portable and light weight, and it is an extremely stable instrument. I have a Musicmaker’s harp myself, and will attest by the stability of their harps. I have to tune my L&H every day, but I only have to tune my MusicMaker’s once or twice a month (and that’s saying something seeing as how I have “absolute/perfect pitch”).
But anyway. To be clear, the OP commented about needing a 31 string pedal harp. You don’t necessarily need a pedal harp seeing as how their preferred instrument is a lever harp.
Wow. I’ve never had that problem really. I am a college age flute performance major (and light freelance harp on the side), and I don’t really have that problem. I have my harp in my dorm room and practice harp there, and flute in the practice rooms (open 7am-midnight). I usually practice harp in the afternoon/early evening, and no one seems to mind that much. Most people think I just have a keyboard and am practicing piano (go figure!) Someone down the hall practices his electric guitar, and people play music. It’s not ever that loud though. Most people are respectful about volume.
My friend however has some trouble though. She’s a clarinet major and she has an apartment that she shares with her little brother. She gets noise complaints, and has to go to the music building to practice (unless it’s a holiday week, and she just practices at the apartment anyway). But all of this is understandable. Woodwind instruments are a completely different ballgame when it comes to bothering your neighbors.
The worst instance of a noise problem was when a girl I know decided to practice her tuba in her dorm room…. O.O
You start moving furniture out of the living room so that you have room for your newest harp.
There are more harps in the house than there are people (or dogs and cats for that matter).
You dread waking up in the night to the loud Ping!Snap!Pow! of breaking strings, and have nightmares about that sound.
A=440 is generally the most common. I also think it might depend on the harp slightly as well. I have one harp that sounds best when tuned to 440, but another that sounds “thunky” and hollow at 440. It really sings and resonates when tuned to 442 though. I know, I know, it’s a minimal difference in pitch, but I can hear it, and it really makes a tonal difference on my Prelude. So you might want to try 440, then play around with it a little bit.
I agree. I don’t think that it was a post that was necessarily saying anything about Venus harps, but rather challenging what had been said about Lyon and Healy. I mean, if one company can produce a quality, all American-made instrument at decent prices, why should another company have to outsource in order to do the same?
I don’t know about solo literature, but I do remember playing a few Grainger pieces written for Wind Ensemble/Symphony that the harp was a critical element in. I remember for one piece specifically, it said on the harp part: “Use all of your harpists. Use as many as possible.” But of course, I was the only one around who was available for that concert, so there was only one.
