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If she spent an additional hour with you looking at a harp she may have spent time looking for, even though she took your time to look at the other harps, that was something you could learn from, you got more than you paid for, so it’s pretty even. I say, either take a few lessons, or pay the fifty. You didn’t say how old or experienced this person is. The context makes some difference. Maybe she will find this policy doesn’t work, or maybe it has. People tend to do things based on experience, and she may have had a lot of bad experiences. I can say that when a student comes for a lesson, you tend to assume they will stay on at least for a while. It’s not fun when they don’t.
If she spent an additional hour with you looking at a harp she may have spent time looking for, even though she took your time to look at the other harps, that was something you could learn from, you got more than you paid for, so it’s pretty even. I say, either take a few lessons, or pay the fifty. You didn’t say how old or experienced this person is. The context makes some difference. Maybe she will find this policy doesn’t work, or maybe it has. People tend to do things based on experience, and she may have had a lot of bad experiences. I can say that when a student comes for a lesson, you tend to assume they will stay on at least for a while. It’s not fun when they don’t.
She stated the policy up front, so you are responsible. It sounds like a very sensible approach to starting students, from her point of view, anyway. No one is entitled to a free lesson. Frankly, I think it’s a bad idea. If she is a good teacher, then go ahead and try lessons, it’s better than wasting fifty dollars. But a cancellation fee is a new wrinkle, she must have gotten the idea from cell-phone companies.
She stated the policy up front, so you are responsible. It sounds like a very sensible approach to starting students, from her point of view, anyway. No one is entitled to a free lesson. Frankly, I think it’s a bad idea. If she is a good teacher, then go ahead and try lessons, it’s better than wasting fifty dollars. But a cancellation fee is a new wrinkle, she must have gotten the idea from cell-phone companies.
She stated the policy up front, so you are responsible. It sounds like a very sensible approach to starting students, from her point of view, anyway. No one is entitled to a free lesson. Frankly, I think it’s a bad idea. If she is a good teacher, then go ahead and try lessons, it’s better than wasting fifty dollars. But a cancellation fee is a new wrinkle, she must have gotten the idea from cell-phone companies.
He did, as far as I know. The best person to ask would be Ray Pool. Yes, it can be pruned a bit, but it’s not as bad as it seems. Stamina is the main thing, give each hand a break here and there.
On the other hand, if your music falls off the stand, or they suddenly change sections, and you have no time to turn pages, or they jump ahead in an emergency, having it memorized would be a great savior.
I always felt that one’s memory is not reliable enough to rely on in difficult situations, yet that apparently was not a problem for the harpists who made it a custom. I also thought better to have one’s eyes on the music and conductor and not on your hands, from which it is usually harder to see the conductor. I guess it goes either way.
Honestly, I think the biggest problem for the harp world is the lack of a single, comprehensive catalog of all our repertoire. There is so much more than we can find, except for someone like Clint Nieweg.
I wonder about how well they could all play the music. His Recessional was one of the pieces composed for such a performance, and it is so difficult, I can’t imagine more than a handful of people mastering it.
I recommend reading the History of Orchestration by Adam Carse to find more about how the harp was introduced to orchestras. It was primarily used in opera orchestras, but as a continuo instrument, it may well have been used in Esterhazy and other such places where they had skilled harpists. Berlioz was very much inspired by Gluck, who used the harp in his opera Orfeo. And, of course, Monteverdi used it in his Orfeo. As did Stravinsky.
What is interesting to note is that three harps playing three separate parts are no louder than one harp, where three harps playing one part are at least a little louder, hopefully. It is a more full and rich sound, though. Gounod’s Faust uses six harps as I recall.
I’d like to know the other 15 pieces, just composers and titles, if you have time, Mr. Nieweg.
Hindemith has a wonderful piece for piano, 2 harps and brass, that would benefit from doubling the parts.
Coils are definitely better than the plastic, but a well made book will lie flat, too. I don’t remember what it is, but there is some problem with coils. A lot of printers don’t do them, and they cost more as well, I think.
