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That depends on the scenery, but all will look good, just differently as one might blend and another pop out. You’ll be looking at it more than everybody else combined, so I’d recommend whatever color you like best.
If you buy a harp to match your church’s sanctuary, I promise that a year later they’ll get new rugs or something and it won’t look the same. If anybody complains about your harp not matching, suggest the church buy its own harp and you’ll gladly play it.
Salzedo’s arrangement of “I Wonder as I Wander” is written for pedal harp in C-flat, but it has no pedal changes so you can play it on a lever harp in C if you leave out a couple notes on the bottom and top or take them down/up (they’re played in octaves). It’s not
It’s for symphonic wind ensemble. It’s written more like a piano part to accompany the singers during rehearsal, which we don’t have anyway since it’s an instrumental arrangement. It’s all left/right, bass/chord, oom/pah. The left hand doubles the low brass and winds so and the right is almost all block chords in the first line of the clef on off beats.
We just got the Sound of Music medley by Robert Russell Bennett. Not the most interesting harp part I must say.
A friend mentioned that to me recently. I want to edit a part more than pencil will allow but I’m not yet ready to plunk down on something like Finale or Sibelius, so I might give this a try.
Eek. I’d be afraid to try it, unless it was a harp on its last leg anyway or was no longer in playing condition.
I wonder if there is a way to transfer hand drawings onto a static decal, so it would be removable and wouldn’t directly touch the board. Something like this perhaps, though I’m off-the-cuff Googling. http://www.texascraft.com/hps/home.php?cat=253 Maybe a good art or printing supply store would have ideas. It would need to be flexible, waterproof, and not prone to chipping or gathering dirt. Somebody who makes harps might have other thoughts.
There is something to be said for renting, particularly if somebody has very little down for a purchase. The interest on a loan of $15,000 would be very close to a rental payment, and the loan payments can go on for years if the borrower doesn’t have a lot of disposable income.
And smaller harps are a very reasonable route. A lot of makers and sellers offer trade-ins later and their range is sufficient for most casual playing. And they can be much easier to move with their size and weight.
The song is a variation of Braes of Balquhidder by Robert Tannahill in the late 18th century, so it’s not certain whether Francis McPeake wrote an original song or transcribed a version as it had been handed down. The lyrics are almost identical, the melody less so but similar. Nevertheless, he did get a copyright for it, so there we are. I think Braes of Balquhidder sounds prettier anyway.
Carl Swanson’s book also has a guide on what to look for.
My harp is nearly 40 years old with oridinal neck and soundboard, so they can last a long time. It hadn’t been moved and had barely been played most of that time, which probably helped considerably.
I handle state fright fairly well but find distractions during performances a challenge. Sometimes I feel like I go into a dream state, and while I hear myself playing I find my mind wandering to other topics. I often only pull myself back in when I hear a mistake I shouldn’t have made, such as repeating
That’s a nice video. I think the It Gets Better project is such a great idea. I grew up in a small town and wish something like that had been available. I have a couple friends who’ve been I videos. One with his flag football league and one recorded his own.
Are these students studying harp towards a career playing it, or is it as an elective for non-majors?
One of the threads discusses a Ford Escape, and I’ve used it as well. For a concert grand you’ll need to remove the back seat bottoms before folding the seat backs down. They pop right out and are lightweight so it’s not a big deal.
If you’re tall, move the front seat up as much as you possibly can and still work the gas and break easily (and safely!). Keeping the driver’s seat back all the way up will help too.
