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“But I’ve talked to plenty of people who did, and they all said that he played the way he was taught. “
So, how do we know what he was taught?
I don’t think that is accurate. Miss Lawrence always said that he took what he learned from Hasselmans, but then added to it what he had learned from playing the piano, or rather, he did so naturally, and later took note of it. It was when he changed the position of the harp onstage that he found out from audiences that they wanted to see his left hand at work that he realized what he was doing differently, and then incorporated that into his teaching.
That is, at least, accurate to what he was teaching in the 1920s and 30s, when he produced most of his most famous pupils (ie. Wightman, Lawrence, Phillips, Chalifoux, Tyre, Palmer, etc.)
That said, I find that I always extend, or rather, open my pinky before playing my 4th finger so that I get the fullest possible movement of the pinky. The muscle along the outside of the palm is a very strong one, it becomes huge on pianists. Harpists by and large tend to under-utilize it. Extending the pinky helps to engage that muscle fully, which enhances the tone of the 4th finger and make it even with the other fingers. There is no tension in the pinky itself, per se, but the extension of the extensors in the back of the hand, and the pressure on the string is of course released the moment I begin to swing the pinky and fourth finger closed. The other reason for extending the pinky is to use the extensor muscles more, which counter balances the closing action. One of the best exercises we can do is to over-open the hand as we are constantly closing. Just as we need to use the long-action muscle fibers as much as the quick-action, we need to use the extensors as much as the …..I can’t think of the word for the muscles that do the opposite, the contractors?
“But I’ve talked to plenty of people who did, and they all said that he played the way he was taught. “
So, how do we know what he was taught?
I don’t think that is accurate. Miss Lawrence always said that he took what he learned from Hasselmans, but then added to it what he had learned from playing the piano, or rather, he did so naturally, and later took note of it. It was when he changed the position of the harp onstage that he found out from audiences that they wanted to see his left hand at work that he realized what he was doing differently, and then incorporated that into his teaching.
That is, at least, accurate to what he was teaching in the 1920s and 30s, when he produced most of his most famous pupils (ie. Wightman, Lawrence, Phillips, Chalifoux, Tyre, Palmer, etc.)
That said, I find that I always extend, or rather, open my pinky before playing my 4th finger so that I get the fullest possible movement of the pinky. The muscle along the outside of the palm is a very strong one, it becomes huge on pianists. Harpists by and large tend to under-utilize it. Extending the pinky helps to engage that muscle fully, which enhances the tone of the 4th finger and make it even with the other fingers. There is no tension in the pinky itself, per se, but the extension of the extensors in the back of the hand, and the pressure on the string is of course released the moment I begin to swing the pinky and fourth finger closed. The other reason for extending the pinky is to use the extensor muscles more, which counter balances the closing action. One of the best exercises we can do is to over-open the hand as we are constantly closing. Just as we need to use the long-action muscle fibers as much as the quick-action, we need to use the extensors as much as the …..I can’t think of the word for the muscles that do the opposite, the contractors?
“But I’ve talked to plenty of people who did, and they all said that he played the way he was taught. “
So, how do we know what he was taught?
I don’t think that is accurate. Miss Lawrence always said that he took what he learned from Hasselmans, but then added to it what he had learned from playing the piano, or rather, he did so naturally, and later took note of it. It was when he changed the position of the harp onstage that he found out from audiences that they wanted to see his left hand at work that he realized what he was doing differently, and then incorporated that into his teaching.
That is, at least, accurate to what he was teaching in the 1920s and 30s, when he produced most of his most famous pupils (ie. Wightman, Lawrence, Phillips, Chalifoux, Tyre, Palmer, etc.)
That said, I find that I always extend, or rather, open my pinky before playing my 4th finger so that I get the fullest possible movement of the pinky. The muscle along the outside of the palm is a very strong one, it becomes huge on pianists. Harpists by and large tend to under-utilize it. Extending the pinky helps to engage that muscle fully, which enhances the tone of the 4th finger and make it even with the other fingers. There is no tension in the pinky itself, per se, but the extension of the extensors in the back of the hand, and the pressure on the string is of course released the moment I begin to swing the pinky and fourth finger closed. The other reason for extending the pinky is to use the extensor muscles more, which counter balances the closing action. One of the best exercises we can do is to over-open the hand as we are constantly closing. Just as we need to use the long-action muscle fibers as much as the quick-action, we need to use the extensors as much as the …..I can’t think of the word for the muscles that do the opposite, the contractors?
I would say that with younger students, solfege is more helpful than theory, unless they have already been studying theory. And after solfege, interpretive analysis, such as voice leading, and one thing that combines solfege and some of theory and voice leading is figured bass. Any piece where you can make figured bass notation, if you know how that works, can help you really memorize the bass and harmony. If you don’t know how it works, you simply write in under the left hand the intervals above the bass note in numbers. What is neat about this is that rather than thinking about the pitches, you are thinking about the intervals, which is how you reach and place notes, and is a whole other way to think about the notes. It emphasizes their relationships more, which is more musical than pitches alone. So if you take Salzedo’s Gavotte, for example from the Suite of Eight Dances, the first measure of the left hand in figured bass would be 10-5 (or 6-5 if you measure note-to-note), and you could call the d and c 5 and 4. It would be particularly useful in the Menuet. You could do this in the right hand as well, come to think of it, by measuring down from the top note, or up from the bottom.
Figured bass basically means you numerically list the notes above the bass line. In baroque music you will see this written as 6 5 7 and if the bass note is c, the upper notes are a, g, b. The third is assumed to be there and so you rarely see the number 3.
I would say that with younger students, solfege is more helpful than theory, unless they have already been studying theory. And after solfege, interpretive analysis, such as voice leading, and one thing that combines solfege and some of theory and voice leading is figured bass. Any piece where you can make figured bass notation, if you know how that works, can help you really memorize the bass and harmony. If you don’t know how it works, you simply write in under the left hand the intervals above the bass note in numbers. What is neat about this is that rather than thinking about the pitches, you are thinking about the intervals, which is how you reach and place notes, and is a whole other way to think about the notes. It emphasizes their relationships more, which is more musical than pitches alone. So if you take Salzedo’s Gavotte, for example from the Suite of Eight Dances, the first measure of the left hand in figured bass would be 10-5 (or 6-5 if you measure note-to-note), and you could call the d and c 5 and 4. It would be particularly useful in the Menuet. You could do this in the right hand as well, come to think of it, by measuring down from the top note, or up from the bottom.
Figured bass basically means you numerically list the notes above the bass line. In baroque music you will see this written as 6 5 7 and if the bass note is c, the upper notes are a, g, b. The third is assumed to be there and so you rarely see the number 3.
I would say that with younger students, solfege is more helpful than theory, unless they have already been studying theory. And after solfege, interpretive analysis, such as voice leading, and one thing that combines solfege and some of theory and voice leading is figured bass. Any piece where you can make figured bass notation, if you know how that works, can help you really memorize the bass and harmony. If you don’t know how it works, you simply write in under the left hand the intervals above the bass note in numbers. What is neat about this is that rather than thinking about the pitches, you are thinking about the intervals, which is how you reach and place notes, and is a whole other way to think about the notes. It emphasizes their relationships more, which is more musical than pitches alone. So if you take Salzedo’s Gavotte, for example from the Suite of Eight Dances, the first measure of the left hand in figured bass would be 10-5 (or 6-5 if you measure note-to-note), and you could call the d and c 5 and 4. It would be particularly useful in the Menuet. You could do this in the right hand as well, come to think of it, by measuring down from the top note, or up from the bottom.
Figured bass basically means you numerically list the notes above the bass line. In baroque music you will see this written as 6 5 7 and if the bass note is c, the upper notes are a, g, b. The third is assumed to be there and so you rarely see the number 3.
I don’t know, but next you can start on Sea Chanty by Paul White and see what tunes you can name there.
There are also many divisions of Ricordi, in different countries, each owned separately, as I understood.
Are the Bovio etudes not old enough to be in the public domain?
If you are holding your elbows too high, that can be causing the problem. I would suggest a couple more massages, one is often not enough. Then, if I didn’t mention it, have an ultrasound done to look at your tissues to see exactly what is going on as you move. You may need a cortisone injection.
Thank you for the link. It looks interesting. So do the 5-7th movements. I never thought of his piano music, because he is often too chromatic.
I would not personally begin with those composers unless I was still a student. They are not musically of sufficient interest for any serious listeners. They are okay for casual listeners or salons. I would open with Beethoven’s Variations on a Swiss Air, Spohr’s Fantaisies (when will the second one be published?), anything by Handel, Spanish baroque music, many pieces called Prelude. Grandjany’s Children at Play would be an excellent opener.
Ask your teacher if she has a copy of Salzedo’s article on successful practicing. It will guide you well. It has been republished at least once in the American Harp Journal, I think, so if you check their online index, you should be able to find it in your library.
The main key is drilling, ten correct repetitions of each tiny unit of music, two beats or more. The key to making that successful is paying attention, being thoughtful, mindful of what you are doing. There are many approaches. You can take any aspect of the music and focus on that. You can focus on one finger at a time. You can focus only on movement.
Debussy is the hardest composer to practice well. There are not a lot of notes, but so much is happening. The Variations are a little more obvious.
You can practice for rhythm, dynamics, voicing, counterpoint, tone quality, finger action, position, evenness, removing effort, strength, quietness, legato, sostenuto, etc.
Or are you just talking about your callouses when you say practice tips?
You should be okay with the 30, though you have to be careful about playing low in the bass and big chords. You won’t be able to place larger intervals unless your hands are big, but you can play as if you are placing, in other words, reach toward the string with the intent of playing it and pivot or leap as soon as you’ve played the lower notes and you’ll have it in time. It may be that your chords will be broken a little more slowly, but that is not a flaw. Also, your hand are capable of stretching quite a bit between the thumb and fingers, so if you do exercises for that, you will enlarge your hand and your reach. Mine has increased from a tenth to a twelfth or more.
A simple exercise for that is to play cdef 4x, cdeg 4x, cdea 4x, cdeb 4x, cdec 4x, then reverse it: gfed, gedc, gdcb, gcba, cbag.
So many people strain their bodies by sudden changes in how much they play. If you suddenly added three extra hours to your playing time, it is no wonder your body would react badly to it. Adding playing time must be done in small increments, no more than 15 minutes per week. And when you are performing every day, you must take at least one day a week and not play at all. I would recommend that you concentrate on doing exercises at your home practice, and whatever will facilitate playing the pieces you do at work. I would learn one new piece at a time, working slowly on it. I would have a massage every week, and do stretching
That is a tough question, Emily. Certainly it will seem unfair to contestants and perhaps observers. I think one would have to look at how the contestants are chosen, and that perhaps the flaw is in that part of the process. If the same jury chose the contestants as well as the winners, would they be more likely to always award the first prize? I might think so. People don’t realize that contestants are chosen by the people who run the competition, in this case, mostly harpists, I believe, and in some competitions, they are not even musicians.
I think another part of the problem is with the repertoire, and who is drawn by it and who is repelled. It seems to me that the broader the choices, the better. I don’t think the top prize should be given if no one is truly ready to fulfill its demands, but that should be a very rare circumstance, hopefully. However, the promised engagements should go to somebody and not be wasted, so the previous winner should perhaps receive them. It seems to me that the contestants should be more carefully chosen to seek maturity rather than youth. I think the age limit should either be raised or done away with altogether. So many harpists start later, in their teens, and they are ready for competition at
