[Marco Hilgeman]

Hi all,

It’s fun to read all the stories…I’m still in the process of getting my Camac mini blue electro-acoustic pedal harp, I ordered it last month and it’ll (hopefully) be delivered in February..can’t wait!

I saved up money the past years which is more than half of the total amount, I also borrowed some money from my dad (thanks pops) and I’ll lend the rest of the amount from the harp shop. It’ll be a rent-buy construction (that’s how we call it in The Netherlands), dunno if that exists in the US but it means that you lend a certain amount of money from the shop, in my case the remaining amount that I still need. This means you actually rent the harp for that amount and it will be divided into a monthly payment for a certain period of time. The shop still ‘owns’ the harp until the day that you made your last payment, and then it’s finally really yours. I can also make extra payments to lower my debt, without extra charge. It also means I’m obliged to insure it, which is a good thing anyway I think.
In total it will be a 3 years loan, but less if I make extra payments during that time, which will of course decrease the amount and loan period.

But first I have to wait for it to arrive…I’ll post a picture whenever I have it!

[Marco Hilgeman]

Hi Natalie,

Yeah it’s nice to see such diversity of people who all share the passion for this wonderful instrument.

Thanks for your compliments about the album, glad you like it! I’m busy getting some videos of my album release gig online, so you can see how I play, but that will take some time still. I’ll keep you posted ok?

Best of luck,
Marco

[Marco Hilgeman]

Hi Gretchen, Sherri and Natalie (I take the liberty to answer you all in one post, to be efficient…)

Well this thread is indeed interesting, it’s fun to read every post. And Gretchen, I think you’re right that since I don’t have injuries, my technique must be correct and also feels that way.

I’m glad to know that there are more nail players around here, Sherri 🙂 Although I only play with nails at the right hand and my left hand thumb has a short nail to pluck the highest note with a nail while I’m still able to play bass notes with the tip of that thumb, I do consider myself a typical nail player. Mostly because my right hand plays the melody which is the most ‘harp sounding part’ and the left hand plays the bass lines. The bass lines are less typical harp, soundwise, because of the chorus I apply to the sound of my electro-acoustic harp.
I share your nail issue of course. Even while I use nail hardener to prevent breaking, incidents happen… I recently had a crack in my right thumbnail so I had to cut off a piece :/ I was able to recover the right side of the nail but it still is uncomfortable to play with half a nail and it also sounds different. That’s one thing fingertip players won’t have, although even a small cut in a fingertip can also be quite painful if on the wrong part of the finger….

About practise…I usually play an hour a day during the week and more if possible, in the weekend it’ll be 2 hours a day or more, but never on end. I play an hour or maybe a bit more and then I do something else, maybe go out and do shoppings and when I come back I do another session…works fine for me.
Natalie, maybe you’re right about the classical method when it comes to practice, I can’t tell from my perspective of course…then again, it’s up to every player how to deal with these practice hours. Sometimes just a little less can be much more efficient I think.

I would love to see some more input… so far, thanks all!

[Marco Hilgeman]

Yeah Loon, that’s how problems most likely occur.

But still I’m curious if the different wrist/hand and thumb/finger positions while playing with nails would affect one’s playing abilities in the long run… for instance, I never heard that Pan American harp players deal with more technique related injury problems than classical harp players. Could this ever be researched and documented?

Don’t ask me why, but somehow it just fascinates me.
Also because sometimes it seems like fingertips and nail players are two worlds apart, also in relation to repertoire…there’s some cultural antropology involved here as well I guess; different music styles and their specific technique developed from different countries and cultures. Still we share the same instrument, known worldwide in different types with a wide range of sounds, which is very nice.

[Marco Hilgeman]

You made me smile when I read this Natalie, and maybe you’re right…although I don’t suppose people would think ‘hey I’m beautiful, I should start playing harp’ 🙂

The other way around would make more sense; it could make people look more happy and shiny when then play harp, since it’s a joyful vibe. But that’s somewhat different than physical beauty, which is quite subjective I guess.

Funny coffee break topic anyway 😉

[Marco Hilgeman]

Hi Loon,

I understand what you’re saying, but my initial question in this thread is not about how a specific technique sounds with both nails and fingertips, but which technique would be ‘best’ for the hands (if there’s a difference at all)…
It just puzzles me because I can’t find articles or teaching methods which point out pros and cons of hand positions of these different techniques, and whether one of them would be less sensitive to injuries.

Could it be that this is never really investigated, because the two techniques just existed apart from each other and their methods didn’t interfere, so the players didn’t care for the differences?

[Marco Hilgeman]

Hi Elizabeth,

Thanks for your reply. You’re right about the way the classical technique brings out the tone for acoustic pedal harps, I experienced that myself when playing pedal harps (I can still try that technique with my left hand which has no nails).
The classical technique brings out its round and ‘wooly’ tone. My sound doesn’t require that tone and my technique obviously results in a different sound altogether, there’s more treble/sparkle because of the nails (there’s lots of ways to describe tone of course, probably enough to start a new thread, but this is just an attempt to mark the difference). And because I play electro-acoustic harp with added sound effects, the overall sound is different anyway and it is shaped to my technique.
I do play with strong muscle grip though, it’s not that I touch the strings very lightly. So when I would play acoustically, there’s still quite some volume.

What you say about the upwards/downwards fashion is interesting as well: when I check my thumb position on the right hand, it’s not upwards but more horizontally and maybe even a bit downwards still. You suggest I bring my fingers more into the palm, but that would often interfere with my damping technique, as I play lots of staccato chord patterns which I dampen immediately after playing, so the fingers will be on the strings right after plucking. I could try that when I play long notes though.

Of course it’s important not to play with tension, that’s one thing for sure. Thanks for your suggestions!

[Marco Hilgeman]

Hi Eliza, nice to hear from you, that’s a quick reply there 🙂

Yes I have my debut CD ‘Windseeds’ out on Bandcamp, the address is

http://www.windseeds.bandcamp.com

You can have a listen there. Indeed it’s kinda funky, you got that right…I usually call it jazzy world music. The Vollenweider style is quite staccato and the bass lines are written in a way that you don’t need a bass player…because the bass part is also played by the harp, so that’s why an amplified harp is a must. You can check out Andreas Vollenweider as well, just google that and you’ll get there.

It’s nice to read a bit about what you do. Reading through all the posts the past few days I got an idea of what some people do, but a thread like this can just add a little more to that.

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