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Carl, who makes your heavy-gauge wire strings for you? I use Bow Brand heavy-gauge gut strings, and they are superb. I used to use heavy-gauge nylon strings from Pirastro, but now they only have medium-gauge, which are hard to keep in tune.
If you are performing with a piano accompaniment, you have to tune to the piano.
Stretched tuning is like sour cream. If you prefer sweet cream, then tune to the tuner. But if you want your harp to sound larger and more complex, stretch. It does increase the range by, say, ten cents more at the top and bottom.
The problem with strobe tuners is that they may focus on the first overtone rather than the fundamental, and the first overtone, or harmonic, is not the same interval as an octave. I prefer Korg tuners because they either offer the slow, medium and fast response of the meter, or a clear dial so you can easily tune five cents more, as they have a mark for every five cents up to twenty cents.
The other reason for stretching the treble notes is, if you use nylon strings, they will flatten as you play.The quality of wood that was available was of the best possible, and the quality of workmanship was high as well. But it also depends on what you expect from a harp. Lyon & Healy has made many improvements over the years, and their harps are much more consistent now. The oldest harps also seem so great because there were periods of much-lower quality as in the 1960s.
The other pieces on the list may provide a clue. If they are mostly easy, it might be the one in Medieval to Modern, or it might be Le Garcon Volage, which he published in two different versions. Not having a complete title or information is a clue to the quality of the list, in my thinking. Especially when Bochsa wrote hundreds of rondos.
The pinkies are part of playing and the more conscious you are of that, the more control over them you should have. They help the 4th finger close and open, and control the relaxation of that part of the hand. If you close your fourth finger without closing your fifth, it immediately creates stress and tension.
What is sad is that no one seems to perform his bigger work for harp, not more difficult, but longer, called La Del Alba Seria, which is extremely beautiful and satisfying. As much fun as Apunte Baetico is, by Gombeau-Guerra, it, too, seems to have dropped off the map, and it is very technically accessible. Viejo Zortzico, on the other hand, can get rather tiresome after hearing it played for the 150th time.
The style 4 uses design elements of the venerable style 16, one of which is currently for sale on vaharpcenter.com.
If you sand your callouses, you will simply remove them. Oiling is what I find builds them up. But if you take a month off, and then plunge into major playing, you are likely to get some blisters afterward no matter what. If you don’t, you’re lucky, and use Nivea creme or Moisture balm every night to reinforce your callouses, and avoid soap on them. I believe Salzedo used to tour with a Clark Irish harp so he could practice on the train.
I was at a solo recital she gave in New York City, organized by Don Henry of Lyra Music. She played many of her solos that were familiar from her recordings. She was very warm to talk to. Her performing, on the other hand, was very cool, concentrated and exact.
You can set it up as “pay what you wish” or “donations for expenses gladly accepted.” How much food you are serving could make a difference. It is customary to serve punch, beverages, cheese and crackers, cookies and bars, etc., certainly if you are selling tickets. You could sell tickets at a low price, $5-10 to cover costs. Or, you could also say that donations will be divided between expenses and a favorite charity. I don’t know what your intentions are. I’ve always presented recitals as professional events, no matter who is attending. If this is not meant to be professional performing, then you have to eat the cost, as they eat the eats. It does cost money. I really don’t have an answer. People get offended by anything one does. I had someone get irate once that AHS members didn’t get in free, even though it was not a chapter event. As people are handed programs, someone could say, here is a donation jar to help cover costs. Or, just say, admission by donation.
The issue is not having the pinkie sticking out, but if it is holding tension and not closing. It affects all the other fingers and can become a serious problem. How one practices, and how one approaches practice, how one approaches learning is key. Remove the effort, and remove the anxiety. You will get where you are going when you get there. So try practicing so you can enjoy it.
