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I would think it sensible to have a smaller harp, such as a 15, 19, or the Concertino. It is possible to play a full-size harp, though I’ve not known anyone quite as small, but the stretching you would have to do might in time cause problems. If a smaller model makes that easier, plus its being lighter, I think it would be better. With an extended sound-board, it will have nearly as much sound. The older Lyon & Healys in smaller models can have quite a big and rich sound, even with straight sounding boards. They have one on the CPO site that is quite gorgeous. You might also consider having a custom harp made that has closer string spacing.
It seems to me the question is how much weight is in the arm if it is “resting” against the sounding-board and I would add, how that affects its movement or inhibits or relieves it. It’s not so simple. In the Salzedo method one might accidentally touch it while doing something, but one never rests against it. The distinction in the Method is, whether your elbows are in an upward position, such as when playing chords, melody, and in the downward position when playing a series of octaves, harmonics and trilling. In that position, it may touch or brush against the soundingboard, but it does not press or rest, or restrict movement.
What I have observed in some other techniques is that there is little or no movement in the arm, and the hand/fingers do everything, most particularly in the right hand. Salzedo Method has more free and constant movement, as I would describe it, but all integrated for specific purpose, not free as in whatever one feels like doing.
It is interesting that if I play an 18th- or 19th-century piece without applying myself, I will often “revert” to playing with my right arm resting on the board and lower on the strings. It seems to come, either out of the music, or out of how previous harpists have played it. New music is absent of that, no precedent when no one else has played it before. All performers are to some degree conscious of those who have performed before them, I think. Actors have to deliberately make choices in roles to avoid doing what predecessors have done. Call it telepathy if you like, I think I would.
I used to receive handsome certificates every time I did the Music Education evaluations. I have wondered how important these are, or how often the student should receive such a thing. Once a year? Every semester?
I used to receive handsome certificates every time I did the Music Education evaluations. I have wondered how important these are, or how often the student should receive such a thing. Once a year? Every semester?
I used to receive handsome certificates every time I did the Music Education evaluations. I have wondered how important these are, or how often the student should receive such a thing. Once a year? Every semester?
“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.
