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Hi Deborah and all:
Check out some of our Technology Tips blogs at Harp Column Music for tips on using the iPad, forScore and scanning music:
https://harpcolumn.com/music/category/technology-tips/
Hope this helps!
—Kim at Harp Column
Hi all:
We’d love to get some first-hand reports on the Festival! Anyone up for blogging for us?
Kim
Oh wow—this is one I can’t resist chiming in on! Honestly I can’t think of a lot of benefits to placing from bottom to top, unless the writing specifically requires it to avoid buzzing. Here are my bullet points for why NOT to place this way!
• Regardless of which technique you use, placing the bottom note first generally causes your hand to roll out of a stable position (especially if you’re just beginning and not completely sure what a stable position IS). This can lead to too much hand/wrist movement and general instability.
• If your hand is unstable when you begin to play the chord, you have a greater chance for an uneven sounding chord.
• placing the bottom note first can cause overall tension in your hand if you struggle to reach up to the rest of the notes.
• Placing bottom to top adds and extra step (taking more time) and will be really difficult to get rid of later if you’ve trained yourself to do it this way.
• Placing bottom to top doesn’t help you think of the chord as a “shape”, which is helpful for reading quickly, and also for getting rid of tension as you approach the strings.
If you absolutely cannot put all four fingers on together, a better way of maintaining a stable hand is to place from the middle of the chord out (2, 3 first, then 1, 4). This will keep you thinking of the shape of the chord, and hopefully prevent your hand from rolling out of position.
I’ve probably said way too much but as you can see I feel very strongly about this! I’d love to hear what other teachers have to say as well!
Kim
Hey everyone, did you know you can embed your youtube links right here on HC and they will show up in the thread! Just click “media” and enter your link in the “video link from youtube” space. It will look like this!
Hi Janice:
This is a question that is dear to my heart, as my thumb joint (the one you described) is a classic “double joint” that does not lend itself to an ideal harp technique position. I’m not sure from your description exactly what your thumb issue is (can you post a photo?) but I will say that from both a playing and teaching standpoint, I believe you have to somewhat accept your hand’s natural position and deal with it. Some hands (mine!) just don’t conform to an ideal standard. You and your teacher need to carefully examine if your issue is simply a matter of strengthening a weak muscle, or if as you described, there is a physiological limitation that will never be corrected, in which case you just have to cope.
I do firmly believe that the most important thing, especially if you have a weak position, is to maintain a high thumb. If you can also have a straight thumb with the ideal “C” shape in place, that is ideal. But if you can’t keep it straight, or keep the “C”, then at least be sure to keep it high, as that will allow you to execute good cross-unders and overs.
That’s my two cents!
Kim
Hi Tracey:
Sorry we missed your other post… our webmaster (aka my husband Hugh Brock!) is traveling in the Czech Republic and has been under the weather for the last few days. We’re a pretty small operation here, but we do our best to stay on top of things :-). You are always welcome to give us a nudge if we don’t respond immediately.
While we can’t vouch for the authenticity of ads, all our classifieds get approved by an administrator before being posted to prevent actual spam. The list is intended to be a comprehensive, free listing for the harp community. (The nominal fee to post an ad further helps ensure ads are being placed by a real person.) There was nothing about this particular ad that sent up a red flag to us, but as with any for sale listings we expect that users will use their own judgement if something seems suspicious. If someone has evidence that this or any ad is in fact bogus, you can definitely let us know so we can check it out further.
Thanks for your input!
Kim
Hi everyone! Thanks for weighing in on this thread, and thanks to Roger for coming here for input. Gretchen, that’s a great idea. I will definitely consider it! I don’t want to make promises since we currently have a long “to-do” list for the site (seriously, it is PAGES long–back me up @[[hugh-brock:User:Hugh Brock]]!), but I do like the idea and will think about ways we could implement it. Please keep the ideas coming.
Roger, please let us know how your project goes!
Hi Brian: I do have some thoughts, so I will share them! I guess everyone reacts to these types of appeals differently. “Crowd-funding” does seem to be the current trend, and I actually love the idea. In the last year I’ve funded several projects, including the two you mentioned (Elizabeth Hainen and the Chicago Harp Quartet). I’ve also helped @[[elizabeth-morgan-ellis:User:Elizabeth Morgan-Ellis]]’ upcoming commissioning project, plus a few other projects by people I don’t even know very well but their pleas spoke to me in some way. I did my own project last year raising funds to help my student group travel to France, and I’m considering another student-related project in the coming year. Usually I give a token amount, and the idea is if everyone does the same the project will be funded.
As an artist myself trying to make a living, I realize all too well that arts funding isn’t what it used to be. And the old models of recording don’t apply any more. This seems to be a great way of letting people choose what projects they want to support. In the case of the recording projects, “backers” are often given a copy of the recording after it’s finished, so I view it like you’re paying in advance. I’m actually really excited about the two projects you mentioned because they both contain works that I’m very much looking forward to hearing (a new Andres commission from Chicago Harp Quartet, and Caplet’s “Mask of the Red Death” by Elizabeth Hainen) and as I harpist I think they will be important contributions. I am happy to support my colleagues in this way.
Regarding the AHS mailing list, it’s my understanding that you have to choose to have your email made public. As a former AHS Board member I know that this policy was implemented a few years ago, so if you feel your email is being released without your consent you should absolutely contact them and have it taken care of.
But getting back to the topic, I guess personally it doesn’t bother me when I receive an appeal like this, because I can choose to support it or hit delete. Certainly there are many charitable organizations that deserve our consideration, like the ones you mentioned (some of which I’ve also supported), but that doesn’t mean the arts don’t deserve our support too, and I think crowd-funding is a very easy way to do that for the projects that speak to you.
So, that’s my two cents—I would love to hear other replies!
Kim
Hi Lynn, thanks for posting! I have to echo what Elizabeth said–I think most teachers are looking foremost for potential and a positive attitude. While some elite schools may be very competitive, there are many very good schools who would welcome someone who isn’t necessarily “competitive” but who has good basic skills and a strong desire to learn. You may want to check out the two articles in the recent issue of *Harp Column* [Ten Things I Wish I Knew Before I Went to College](http://www.harpcolumn.com/issues/6/articles/44) and our 2013 [College Harp Programs Listings](http://www.harpcolumn.com/issues/6/articles/45). Lots of great information from our author @[[meghan-caulkett:User:Meghan Caulkett]]!
On a completely unrelated note, this seems like a good place to mention that we have a glitch on the site that prevents tagging on any names or titles that contain an accent. So Elizabeth Volpé Bligh I cannot tag you in this post! I’ve discussed this extensively with @[[hugh-brock:User:Hugh Brock]], and unfortunately it is a difficult fix… Elizabeth, this may explain why you had problems with tagging in the past.
