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Deb, do you have any prominent planets in Gemini? That’s the sign that has trouble making up its mind. Whatever you end up with, here’s hoping it’s a good choice for you.
Saw/heard her here in Orlando just a few months ago. Yes, that is a surprise that she didn’t go further.
If I had had to learn the piano first, I would have been permanently discouraged. I just plain don’t like the piano.
Leslie, that is a beautiful harp, and so is his “pseudo-Erard,” as someone here called it. The price is reasonable too, and I’ve heard good things about the sound. What would discourage me, as it has others on this forum, is that it is 69″ high. Especially with Truitt levers, how do you reach the levers in the bass without jumping up out of your chair? At 5’0″, I couldn’t do it.
Keep in mind that increased portability may mean that you either have to stick the harp up on something to play it or lower your seating. Do you expect to actually have to transport your harp a lot?
Faeryharper plays different harps on YouTube. The Salvi Ana does sound richer and fuller than her Celtic harp(s).
Someone pointed out that with other instruments you have the music right in front of you instead of to the side and you don’t have to look at your hands. Absolutely true, and I can play guitar or banjo, even fretless banjo, with my eyes closed if I don’t have to refer to the music. Can’t do that with the harp.
For ordinary moisturising, Bigelow’s Quince hand lotion. Kind that sinks in quickly and easily. For heavy-duty, Corn Husker’s Lotion, glycerine-based and takes a while to sink in.
Just different, I’d say. I play guitar, harp and banjo and learned them in that order. Folk guitar was easy, and I was self-taught. When I started playing classical guitar (with a teacher), that was a whole different kettle of fish. The harp presented a new set of challenges: reading off the grand staff, using the hands more or less independently (but is that the right word?), and bending your thumbs forward instead of backward. Still, I learned more theory from the harp than I ever had from the guitar and my reading improved no end. The banjo presented its own set of problems: striking the strings with the back of your nails is so counter-intuitive that it slowed me down no end. (Should add that I play Old Time, not bluegrass.) Also retuning for different keys and/or different moods seemed wacky. I had expected the banjo to be like the guitar than it in fact is.
Three instruments, all plucked strings and all different. Love all of them (and the lute too).
When I first started playing harp, I found it difficult to put both hands together because I was used to guitar, where your hands are working together to produce one sound. Also reading off a double staff instead of a single one, and keeping my thumb forward instead of back. OTOH it’s a lot easier to learn theory from the harp than from the guitar.
