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Oh my goodness I love it! I need one of those… Think it’s formal enough for a wedding?
I’m actually pretty friendly, if there are kids and they sit and listen very politely, their parents are right there and attentive, and they are good, on my break I let them each take a turn to play a glissando. I haven’t had a problem yet, I make sure they are one at a time and I am ready for action!
I’m more afraid of the adults as they can be as wild as a child but are far bigger.
I looked at that too! I don’t have a second harpist friend to play it with though, so for now I just ordered the solo Canon in D arranged by McDonald/Wood. I hope it comes in soon! Thank you all again.
I have a clause in my performance agreement that states that if any damage comes to my harp and/or equipment, whether through weather conditions or guest at the event, that it must be paid for by the client. If a drunken guest knocked over my harp, and the poor bride was very sweet I would seek a way to get the drunk to pay it. But this will never happen because I’m a harpist, and if you think I would let someone get close enough to knock it over, you’ve got another thing coming. ;-P
Dear Kristen,
Background music is my absolute favorite thing to do! No pressure from a stage. 😉 You can play whatever your audience wants, which sometimes means your picks. I have had people amazed that the Star Wars theme can be played on the harp. I play a dinky little arrangement I created after figuring out the melody by ear. I played a concert for local youth, I was up on stage alone for 15 minutes. I swear I threw up in my mind! And out of all the pieces I played, STAR WARS was what everyone remembered months to even a year afterwards!
I also love video game music. I learned Serenade of Water from Legend of Zelda and Dire, Dire Docks from Super Mario 64 by ear too (this is all of my aural training sadly. Three songs. *sigh* ). People enjoy these because both are very soothing and ‘harpy’ sounding. Only my boyfriend recognizes them but they work extremely well as repeatable instrumentals.
Sylvia Wood’s Groovy Songs of the 60’s and Lennon and McCartney for the harp are both great too, haven’t met anybody who doesn’t love hearing Let it Be or House of the Rising Sun yet.
Background gig music is just fun! I’m hoping to get a regular job playing at a restaurant soon, and if I do I’m actually looking forward to requests.
God bless you!
— Natalie
Hey everyone,
I’ve had a weebly account for several months, and so far it has worked out perfectly for me. Here’s what I did.
I bought a domain name so I wouldn’t have the .weebly or .yola at the end of my site. I went to Godaddy.com to do this. It was between $11-12 a year, so it was worth it for me! Now I may switch domain sites when my plan expires because somebody from the company called me and tried to scare me into buying this security plan that basically blocked people from getting my email address… Which is already online so future clients can contact me… Otherwise, the company has done it’s job, doesn’t send me spam mail, and works like a charm.
Next I opened a weebly account and linked my domain to it, which takes 48 hours or so to process through.
Then I set to designing! It came out pretty good. There are a few things I intend to change soon though.
My song list I’m going to convert to a pdf document or something, and have available for viewing or download on a link, because continually updating that list as I learn new songs is too difficult on the website itself like I have it now (it’s just a weebly text box).
Also for audio/video samples I’m going to start uploading to a youtube channel soon and include it on my website through more links. My dad does video work with his own business, Shine Media Productions! It’s a blessing to have a videographer/photographer/best-father in the family. ^_^
My website is @http://www.harpsoup.com if you want to see! The website was free, and of course they encourage me to upgrade but I don’t. I only paid for the web domain because I wanted to!
Let me know if you have any questions about weebly, I hope I can answer them. My website isn’t spectacular but it does function well and meet all my needs so far! I really struggled with editing it but practice makes pulling-out-your-hair-computer-succes as they always say. 😛
God bless you!
— Natalie
Thank you both!
I think I might get the McDonald/Wood arrangement, although I do love Sylvia Woods’ work. Practically all my sheet music is arranged by her! I use Sylvia’s Bridal March from Lohengrin for any wedding that doesn’t request Canon in D. *Laughing* I decided looooooong ago that when I walk down the aisle, I will pick a completely un-wedding song. Maybe Blackbird by the Beatles on classical guitar, something different!
I didn’t realize there were A-U sections to this piece; Pachelbel must have hit an improvising sweet spot! Maybe it could have been his Hey Jude (I’m listening to the 3 minutes of na na na nanananas right now). My teacher taught me how to shorten pieces, or extend them by repeating parts, so I’m sure I could manage picking a few of the favorite “letters”. I really do need to learn the entire piece for experiences sake.
Thank you again, God bless you!
— Natalie
*Quick and very happy update!*
My meeting on Friday went better than I ever could have expected! The director of instrumental studies, Professor Bell, was absolutely perfect. I love when people are organized, tell you directly what is or is not possible, and show you as well as tell you. She explained what needs to be done in order to acquire a harp instructor and what I could do to prepare for the other music classes. The music building was so perfect! The hallway is a big circle with all the rooms sprouting off of it, so even I could not get lost! She showed me several different secure rooms (with stable air conditioning) that could be possibilities to store my harp. The piano lab has internet access, Sibelius (I think that’s how you spell it) software, and a printer. So you can compose your own music and notate it as well. The rooms all have cushy desk chairs for the students because it is a small campus. Everything about this place made me feel comfortable, I’m pretty timid, so seeing a place where I could grow was too perfect!
There a few difficulties to overcome, and I simply pray that they are.
First, finding a harp teacher. The teacher must have a master’s degree or higher in order to teach at the college. They pay $36 a lesson, which seems impossible for a harpist. And they are also supposed to come to the campus to teach. Now, Professor Bell is looking into me possibly paying the difference (If the lessons are more expensive). Also there are special circumstances that would allow me to have lessons at the teachers house. So my biggest concern is finding a teacher with a master’s degree in this corner of Florida!
Next, this campus is 45 minutes (more with traffic) away from my house. I currently share with my parent’s and my Granny’s cars. Two cars split between FOUR adults. FOUR. Oh my, we have managed thus far, but now I need one of my own. My parent’s car fits my pedal harp. My plan is to buy a compact car. I can switch cars with my parents every Monday and Friday (or any other ‘moving day’), and otherwise drive my small one. It would save on gas! I’m also considering leaving my harp on campus unless I have a job requiring it be brought home on the weekend.
My parents blessed me with the Florida Pre-Paid plan, which entirely pays for tuition! That is- I don’t know how to thank them. I work as a nanny one day a week now, but won’t be able to once I start school. The way the schedule is with Music Theory (Tues/Thurs) and Aural Theory (Mon/Wed/Fri) will keep me there five days a week. That is a lot of driving! My car expenses will be far higher than they are now, and I will have pay insurance and all those other lovely grown-up bills I never looked forward to. I don’t know how I could find a job that could pay all of that, although I hope to. I need to start searching scholarships and grants that could be applied to travel!
That’s about all I can think of, thank you for bearing through my babble. I am so excited!
Tayce,
My sight reading has been something my teacher often enough applauds me for. But without other students to compare myself to, I’m not sure exactly what level I would be at. I can sight read Sylvia Woods arrangements from her Christmas, Hymns, and 60’s music books. If it simple, especially in the left hand, I can usually ‘stumble’ through it. I have the most difficulty sight reading rhythms, so thank you for reminding me to practice!And thank you for taking the time to do my researching for me, another two repertoire lists is wonderful, thank you!
Erin,
This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you! I couldn’t find any graded lists like this, so I kept jumping from very basic beginning lever harp music to professional level pedal harp solos. I’ll look through this list with my teacher and start ordering!I do have a pedal harp, Lyon and Healy style 85 Petite, so only 40 strings! My lever harp is a heartland Delight that I bought this summer. I decided to get one before I knew I was going to college. But it’s worth it, because living in Florida brings a lot of outdoor jobs. I tried bringing my pedal harp a couple times but it was the stuff of harpist-nightmares. A virtually indestructible lever harp has already given me a couple jobs!
Kay,
Thank you so very much! That encouragment means so much to me. I’m not embarassed by my faith because my God is awesome. 🙂 I hope that as I go through life, people see something different in me and want to know why.I did take a deep breath, and Friday went amazingly! The director of instrumental studies was very sweet, organized, and direct. She explained to me the requirements to the music theory placement test, and other non-harp related things I had been worried about. My current teacher had gone to Northwestern and she kept telling me how hard music theory classes would be! I feel much more at ease knowing that I should be able to pass and keep up with my others classes while focusing on the harp!
