Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I doubt that Salzedo did, unless the A at the Metropolitan Opera was lower than 440. 440 has been around a long, long time, despite fluctuations. If it was lower, it would have been to 435 or so, not much different.
It costs a lot to produce them. There is a ten-minute video from television of Miss Lawrence that I wish someone would put on YouTube already. I don’t have a video drive in my computer.
Well, with no harpists, there is no one to buy sheet music, I suppose. This is tragic. I would happily go there and teach if the government will support me or a school. But I think I would want to be in Thessaloniki or on an island, not too hot. Even Greek harps and lyres should be played. Magadis, Sambuca, there were many ancient harps.
Are you willing to do it for an hour a day? She might have, but I think you can with enough time, but it would be boring… I understand it is shaking the wrist back and forth, rocking between the fingers and not closing them.
I think Orff uses a lot of percussion toys and Kodaly is focused on singing, initially.
So, given this start of a Suzuki-trained child, how does this affect their psychological development, and artistic growth? To never have a critical attitude or accept it is to me a bad thing, and I believe I’ve seen the results of that on stage.
Do we know of any famous musicians who started out in Suzuki training?
The only other harpist I know of to use that scale fingering is Judy Loman. I think it may be used in Europe. I don’t care for it, myself. I like that she made it inspirational, and gave harpists something to aim for besides getting a job and playing the right notes.
Uh, no, Salzedo designed the pedal diagrams to go BELOW the staff, just as the pedal markings are, and as the pedals are at the bottom of the harp. They should never be above the staff, it isn’t referential to anything.
My student had a volume of exercises by Kastner, edited by Kathy Bundock Moore, which are perfect. Thank you, Kathy!
The other factor in my improvement (I didn’t even mention the tennis elbow), has been exercise. I started swimming, and doing a little weight lifting in the pool or out, and strengthening the arm and upper back muscles, and lower back, are key to making it easier on the wrists and hands. Movement keeps the blood circulating through the injury and helping recovery more than keeping it still. Braces are the worst thing, I think.
But why aren’t there harp students in Greece??? Aren’t there teachers? It should be natural to play the harp in Greece, no?
Here are some thoughts from sightreading it: it is lovely, has the potential to be a great harp piece, and you have a good ear for the harp. The wide intervals sound well, but can make fingering tricky if not impossible for one hand. The rhythmic notation is not entirely clear because you are joining notes cross staff without rests in the other staff.
The ornaments are hard to play with the left hand, but not impossible. The staccato dots don’t have a real meaning to harpists. Everything we play is slightly staccato and legato. Do you want them muffled, or just articulated, separated?
I think your melodic figures could be developed slightly more to be more melodic. They could have less repetition of a same note.
In measure 19, you need an F natural pedal marking. On beat 3-and
Well, one harpist in these forums got a harp donated by begging and pleading for a long time, not that I would recommend it. If you live near old plantations and such, watch estate sales for elderly harps.
It looks rather idiomatic. I will play it and see what I can suggest. One think to watch out for in general is that staying too long in the bass can get rumbly. I did notice that your metronome tempi do not correspond to normal settings. That is irritating to me. Also, when setting the music, if you use Sibelius, in document setup, set the notation size to 3 or larger. Your systems are too small unless you print it on part paper or larger. The margins are fine, but the alternative is to put just four systems per page.
I have noticed that lots of French pieces post-Debussy are very weak on form, they have an idea, develop it with lots of figuration and cadenza writing, restate the idea, and that’s the end of it. It doesn’t hold up that well.
I did not like the sound of the 323232 trill in one hand. You can do a two-handed trill with 32 32 or even 43 43 if you work to make them even. A sustained one-handed trill usually sounds lousy, without the freedom, phrasing and brilliance of a keyboard instrument, so abbreviating them and sustaining the last note 2312, or 3412, or 2121, or 3121, is in most cases, enough. Bouskava has a great shake, and so does David Watkins. But I don’t think it is the most musical approach. Harps have to do ornaments in their own way, which is not the same as on a harpsichord. I have been working on them a lot.
I have an excellent doctor named Levon Nazarian who has created, with his partner, a new procedure to treat soft-tissue injuries and joint disease. He uses ultrasound to view the tissue and joint, and then using the image as a guide, he injects cortisone into the bursa or the tendon sheath, as he has done for me; if needed, he uses an ultra-fine surgical needle to remove calcium deposits from a joint, or stipples scar tissue or thickened tendon sheaths to make them supple and allow the tendon to glide again, thus curing trigger-finger conditions and relieving carpal-tunnel syndrome, as he has done for me, or other problems. He has published his procedure in a journal, so it should be possible for your doctor to read up on it. He can be contacted for referrals, as he teaches many residents who are now working around the country or world. He teaches and practices at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Radiology Department. I recommend anyone explore this approach who is having carpal-tunnel, trigger finger, bursitis, arthritis and such problems. He cannot do spinal injuries, it has to be visible with ultrasound. As for bursitis, I recently started with a “straight chiropracter” who seems to have helped a lot, the severe pain has decreased considerably. It seems to me the bursa should be able to heal, so I wonder why you’ve been told it was permanently injured. This is the first chiropracter I’ve been to who has made a noticable difference. Somehow, I think there will be a doctor in Missoula who can help more.
I can say that my fingers will start to trigger when the weather is coldest, so keeping them warm seems to help.
