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I never bring my own harp to lessons, because I have to travel by train to get there, and my harp (a 34-string lever harp) is too big for me to carry around. I take lessons where my teacher works, at a music academy, and there I play a pedal harp. It’s a BIG difference between my lever harp and the pedal harp, and it throws me off a lot, but at the same time I think I’m getting better at adapting to different harps faster. I want to some day be able to play the pedal harp as well, so I think it’s good that I get to play one even though it will be years until I can have one of my own. But it’s annoying when what sounded so good at home comes out awkward and littered with small mistakes and buzzes in front of my teacher, just because the sound is so much bigger in the pedal harp or because the tension is different.
Hi
I must say I’m rather horrified after reading that no one in the health service will help you without insurance… IMO everyone is entitled to help, whether they can pay for it or not. In my country all health services are free. We don’t need health insurance, and we don’t need to pay. I’m sorry, I just am baffled at the system in the US.What I was really going to say, is that I second the advice about water exercises. This really is good because it takes a lot of pressure off the joints while still exercising the muscle. I can’t advise you as to what exercises you should do, though, since I don’t have any personal experiences with shoulder injury myself.
I started when I had just turned 20, and am now 21, halfway to 22. I had no musical background when I started, but I had always wanted to play the harp so badly. Unfortunately, I live in Norway and there are precious few harpists in this country. So there was no opportunity for me to learn when I was younger, and eventually I just let it go. But then right after my wedding (when I was 20) I suddenly started thinking about it again, after talking to a harpist about the possibility of her playing at the wedding, but in the end, we couldn’t afford it. But it got me thinking, and before I knew it, my husband had bought me a cheap Paki harp from ebay. It turned out to be of really bad quality (of course, I found out later that Paki harps are prone to such), and I saved up for a better and bigger lever harp.
It took me 1 1/2 year to find a harp teacher, but since January this year I’ve been taking some much needed lessons. I find that I am improving rapidly with my teacher’s help, even though I only have one lesson a month. I’m so glad I found her! My passion for harp-playing has only increased since I started playing, and though I realise I could probably never be a professional (it’s too late for that), I still want to do my best and maybe some day do a little freelancing, playing in weddings and parties etc.
Sorry, that post turned out a little longer than I intended.I’d buy myself a Prelude in natural wood because I’ve been drooling over that for a long time now. Also, I would get a McFall replica, namely this one from Celtic Harps (by Rick Stanley), because I think it’s absolutely gorgeous and very close to what I initially dreamed of playing when I first started to play the harp.
And even though I haven’t really ever thought about having a pedal harp, I would also buy a Style 23 gold. I played one of those yesterday when having service done on my harp, and absolutely fell in love!And a big house to keep them in 🙂 Cause otherwise there wouldn’t be room for them.
Thanks!
I guess you’re right I need to look for a used/old copy. Or I could try to arrange my own version but I always have trouble with the bass clef.Hi again
I’m just wondering whether I have to buy strings that are intended for my particular harp, or if I can choose. My harp was intended for nylon strings, so I realise that I probably couldn’t put gut strings on it. But do I need to use the brand of strings (Morley Elysian) that my harp maker says? They are quite expensive, nearly ÂŁ200, and I really am not sure if I think they sound so well. Can anyone tell me if this is a normal price for a full set (34 strings, of these 19 are polished nylon, 8 are tape wound and 7 are wire), and could anyone recommend another brand of strings if possible?
I am really an amateur when it comes to stringing and such, so I would appreciate all the help I can get.Thank you, Seoid!
Actually I’m already home from my trip to Ireland, which was sadly
harp-less… All I found were cheap pakis. Otherwise it was both fun and tiring, what with all the studying we did. But I survived, and am
back home with my harp once more. I find my fingertips went sore after
only about 45 minutes of playing, though, so I’ll need to build the
callouses up again. But with Easter here I’ll have lots of time for my harp.Hi
Thank you. I’ve checked them all and they seem fine to me. If nothing else I can ask the harp technician when he comes.Thanks
I’ve just come back from my two weeks long study trip to Ireland, and after tuning the harp the strings did seem a bit duller than I remembered. But the again I am suffering from some sort of ear infection from the flight home, and my hearing isn’t what it should be. I think I’ll have to wait until that sorts itself out before I can tell how the harp sounds like. I’m ordering a new set of strings anyway, then I’ll have them if it turns out I have to change them.
The harpist who recommended that I changed them hasn’t heard my harp, and therefore can’t tell if the strings sound dull. My husband thought they sounded a bit “thinner” than usual, but may that just be because I haven’t played the harp for two weeks?I might be teaching my younger brother soon, but I’m a bit nervous about it as I’m only a student myself.
Ah… That makes sense (…)
I have no conversational skills at all. We’ve been mostly focusing on grammar and reading until now, and suddenly our teacher expects us to be able to have conversations with the native speakers over there… It’s scary. Oh well, at least I can talk about the weather. You know the Irish, as long as it isn’t a raging storm they think the weather is fine.
“Ă“, tá sĂ© fliuch inniu, ach nĂl sĂ© fuar, buĂochas le Dia!”
(Oh, it’s wet today, but it isn’t cold, thank God!)Go raibh maith agat. Tá mĂ© ag foghlaim Gaeilge Ăł LĂşnasa anuraidh 🙂
I hope I said that right.
It’s hard to learn Irish when your first language is Norwegian and your textbooks are based on English speakers learning Irish. Not that there’s any point on creating an Irish grammar book in Norwegian. We’re only six people in my class.BeannachtaĂ na fĂ©ile Pádraig ort, a Audrey!
BhĂ máirseáil in Oslo DĂ© Sathairn, agus chuaigh mĂ© ansin le mo fhear chĂ©ile, mar a dhĂ©anaimid gach bliain. Rachaidh mĂ© go Inis OĂrr an tseachtain seo chugainn le mo chairde. Táimid ag foghlaim Gaeilge ag an ollscoil in Oslo, agus Ăocfaidh an ollscoil as an turas. Tá mĂ© go hĂontach anois!I hope I didn’t make too many mistakes there. If I did please let me know. I’m really looking forward to going, although I won’t be able to bring my harp with me and will be without it for two whole weeks! But I’ll manage, barely.
Happy St.Patrick’s Day everyone!
Hi
I play folk harp myself, and never wanted to play pedal harp really.
I’ve been teaching myself for almost a year and a half. Teachers are
hard to come by in these parts (I live in Norway), and finally a few
months ago I found one who was willing to give me a lesson each month.
She plays the pedal harp, and when I got to my first lesson, I played
one of her pedal harps. I found the transition went remarably well,
although I haven’t touched the pedals yet. The only thing is that the
string tension is very probably different from your folk harp – you
should expect to have to play harder on the strings in order to produce
enough sound.
