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Does that mean every student in Great Britain has to take the same compulsory exams? That would never happen here.
So having a checkbook for tuition doesn’t matter that much?
Now, I know that many schools/conservatories limit the number of harpists they will accept, so there has to be criteria in place.
I find it hard to advise a student, not knowing what teachers/schools are looking for. I guess I’ll have to write to each one and ask.
For instance, are Solfeggietto by CPE Bach and Au Matin by Tournier good contrasting solos? Does the Bach need to be replaced by a longer solo?
Etcetera.Hindemith is what we used, and I liked it. It’s a two-volume series, I forget the exact name. Music Theory or something.
Anyway, the secret is:
move each voice the SMALLEST possible interval to the next chord tone. That way, you will perhaps never have parallel fifths or anything else forbidden. My professor taught us that in college and it worked like a charm, made voice leading easy as pie. Do you understand what I mean?
No, but I’m annoyed because I was planning to write a universal harp method. By the way, Bochsa was the first to use that title.
I don’t see why it would have to be taken apart, offhand. My friend is an expert refinisher of antiques, and yes, the problem is removing the previous finish and making sure the new finish doesn’t react with the remnants of the old. They have to be of the same or compatible formulation. I think anyone who does museum-quality restorations could do it, if there is one in your area, or a violin-maker, but you may not need to do anything at all. Let it continue to dry, it can take weeks. Wood and finish dry at different rates. If you polish a harp, it takes weeks to fully dry.
Joan Mainzer long played on a podium in the Minneapolis Symphony/Minnesota Orchestra. I don’t know how much it helped, but you could see what she was doing. To me, the secondary resonator for the harp is the room you are in. Adding a podium/riser would mainly amplify the bass, I would think, so you would only need it in a heavily carpeted area, or if you are buried behind violin sections in an orchestra, it might help get the sound out a little, or at least people would see how hard you are working.
I think it is more important to concentrate on having better harps built. It’s taken almost 30 years, but my harp now has a tremendously open sound, and in a high-ceilinged church, the treble soars. Of course, there are a few notes I can’t regulate without switching discs, but only a few, actually. I hope the board will not pull up more. It would be nice to get another 20 years out of it, if I can play that much longer. Especially since I can’t foresee being able to buy another one.
Now, here’s a poser: has anyone tried building a harp out of quick-growing, inexpensive woods, like bamboo or rubberwood? Bamboo might not have the right resonance for the board and body, but I would think it would be superb for the column and neck.
And, Carl, I just wonder, how many harps have you made thus far, and are you building them by yourself nowadays?
And you say they can seek paid positions, but do they exist or have to be created, do they have to find the funding to support it themselves, etc.? The Robert Wood Johnson hospital is the only one I have heard of that may have paid positions. The training implies that it is a paid profession, but
What are CEUs, and what is the training intended to equalize with? And why is there a need for standardization?
I couldn’t submit the quotes I wanted from the website. Just follow the link given above and see if you don’t find some of it as odd or ridiculous as I did.
