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Another possible source for steady employment may be funeral homes, playing for services and viewings.
Here’s a semi-related question: Gretchen and Heidi Van Hoesen recently performed magnificently a Triple Concert by Eugene Goossens with oboe. There is a piece on imslp.org by Goossens for oboe, harp and orchestra. Is it the same piece? Is the triple concerto available? Can you find the publication details for that piece or versions of it?
I was using a footlight to light my harp, and a child sitting in the front row was kicking her leg about while I was playing, and then realized she could kick the cord and move the light, and she did it. The adult with her did nothing, because she didn’t like that I was playing a modern piece, Intrada, by Josef Tal, which I think is quite palatable. So, in small spaces, one must also not allow people to sit in the front row, I guess. I don’t know what they cost, but do we have to add to our gear our own stanchions and velvet cords? On the other hand, if we had more gear, and a roadie, then perhaps we could get away with charging more, just like a band does. Who doesn’t look better with proper lighting, maybe a fern on top of a Greek column, a complete stage set?
It sounds like a nervous, nerve, or neurological problem. If you are anxious about playing and reaching, then it can be helped psycho-emotionally. If you have pressure on the nerve, then it is physical. If you have a neurological problem causing involuntary movement, then it is that. It isn’t necessarily a huge problem. I knew an orchestral harpist who had Parkinson’s, and she trembled visibly, but was secure once on the strings.
I gave the C’s as a guide, the other strings would gradually rise to match the increase. The fourth and fifth octave are not stretched. It has to do with the way the ear naturally hears.
Too many teachers can produce a confused technique, more apt to run into problems. Not listening well enough can, also. To be a good student means to be able to empty of one’s ego, to truly absorb like a sponge the knowledge of the teacher. If one is arrogant, or too self-absorbed, you just won’t get it, and you can’t blame the teachers for that. Music requires everything of you, and if you can’t give it everything, you can’t expect to get everything.
There is a history of blind harpists. If you can reliably reach an octave, then measure from the octave above. Or the one below, the lowest string being a C. Lighthouse for the Blind has programs for musicians, and they may have methods for dealing with such problems.
The unnamed demon in the room is the computer, and now the cellphone. What you do away from the harp is as important as what you do at it. You can play perfectly, and wreck it by too much typing or texting or swiping or whatever you do on a technological device.
It can also have to do with what music you are playing. Some pieces are overly obsessive on certain patterns and likely to cause injuries from too much repetition. There is also a factor of how much pressure you are putting on yourself, how you push tempo forward. I recall seeing a young man play and exhibiting almost all of the issues I have been bringing up. Having too many teachers can be a problem sometimes. One wise thing Miss Lawrence told me, because she was not playing much at the time I was studying, and didn’t demonstrate whole pieces, was that I needed to formulate a vision of what a good technique is, to have a goal. I saw an awful lot of harpists without finding that. If I had seen Jim Pinkerton more than once, it would have helped. So my main inspiration became Heidi Lehwalder, whom I was fortunate enough to know, and see perform many times. From her I observed such freedom of movement, while maintaining excellent hand position and finger action. Not to mention dynamic and glamorous stage presence, and sheer excitement of playing.
I know how important it is for students to see great harpists, and that is why it is so frustrating to see so few recitals given by great harpists, and to see so few students bothering to attend them!It’s not just a matter of position, but how you move in it. How do your fingers move? Do they close with force or ease? In a full arc or partial? How much tension is in your mind? It is hard to be relaxed when anxious. I have always had trouble with my thumbs due to repeated injuries from volleyball playing. It has taken many steps to improve their condition, but the threnar tissues will apparently always be sensitive. I recommend seeing a radiologist for an investigational ultrasound to literally see the actual condition of all your soft tissues. It could be caused by something unseen. Tennis elbow can be felt in one place, but caused by a pocket of inflammation higher up. Problems in your lower arm can be caused by the shoulder. And you are limited in what you can do with tendons in a state of inflammation. It can also be the lining around the tendons. Ultrasound is amazing in what it reveals, and that will indicate the best treatment. I can’t say anymore without seeing you. If that were possible, I would love to try to help.
The best teachers are still not always sensitive enough or experienced enough. The players who do not experience injuries may not know enough of them to help.
I see quite a few harpists play with their hands flat on the strings, fingers up, but instead of being relaxed, and closing their fingers down, they only pluck at the strings with the tips, leaving the other fingers tensed and pinching the back of the hand. I can’t imagine playing in that position and not causing injuries. Playing has to follow the natural pathways of the body to be effective. Playing notes with 2 or 3, and having the other fingers tensed up or curled up also looks like a cause of problems. Glissing with one finger only, the others clenched up is again a source of tension. Tension in the back of the hand is the worst thing.I believe it is possible to let your body tell you how to move in the way that will be better for it, if you listen to it, rather than forging ahead in the usual way. My teacher, Lucile Lawrence, always said that to change a habit, you had to do it in the new way at least 100 times, and going back to old music learned the old way will undo the change. So to change effectively, you must learn new music until you are very secure, and then re-learn very consciously your old music in the new way.
I think one can develop “overuse” injuries in any method, just by the sheer number of hours we play. Stretching is helpful, but most of all, strength building, I suspect. Lifting weights gives us an over-capacity that should protect us.
And etudes, yes Carl, etudes, can provide the time in which to develop better habits, provided you can find one that will give the right focus. I don’t know if I can do it, but we really do need a modern book of etudes that will cover all patterns and technical difficulties with equality in both hands. That will be quite a feat, especially to make them concert-worthy. I have a few, but certainly not all needed. If I ever got an assistant, we could revise a lot of the Bochsa etudes to work both hands. If someone wants to volunteer to do the copying, I will be happy to work with them.Tendonitis is an inflammation. Rest and anti-inflammatory medications or treatments are the first step. Then, correction of playing begins. When an injury occurs because of the way you move or don’t move, then you must change how you move. If you move too little, you must move more. If you move in a way that is not helpful or is harmful, then you must find the way that is helpful.
It does not take much effort to play the harp when you move in a proper way and have enough strength. Younger players in particular like tension because they can feel it and know what they are doing. To play naturally and effortlessly can be confusing because it is less defined what you are doing. At least until you learn to distinguish that.
So, there is much that can be done to reduce effort tension, and that will improve your tone quality. And that is a foundation of my teaching.
That is a great idea, only wouldn’t you need many of them? How do you get the threaded rod? Does one come with the wheel chocks? I have several ideas for useful solutions, if someone wants to manufacture them. I have the same problems, living in a second-floor walk-up apartment. I would love for someone mechanical to contact me to manufacture some products for this common problem.
Lyra Music had it when I bought it, unless someone gave it to me, and they are usually the source for unusual pieces.
That link is no longer valid. When using sibelius, under plug-ins, other, insert harp pedaling, will automatically create a pedal diagram in the wrong place, but you can drag it where you want it.
That is a very thoughtful list, Patricia. I have tried to work on a workshop or course for composers, but it is a huge task, and they don’t come asking for it until the last minute.
