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There’s another set of factors, Sam, if you were to pursue studying this further. In countries like Russia, to even be in a music school is a result of competitive auditioning and placement, and such a country may be, despite its size, ready to field far fewer contestants than the U.S., where it is all free market. The pressure is then greater on the few competitors they provide, but they are also more schooled and prepared. This may also be true in France and some other European countries with more regimented education systems.
Thank you, Sam, for that excellent and most encouraging research! Brilliant. I’m sure Carl is more of the mind, as am I, of the days when Israel was the only contest worth mentioning, not that long ago. Indiana has changed the picture. Would that it had a broader range of repertoire, though. I hope they never ask for another opera fantasy again.
The thing about competitions is that it serves only certain types of performers, and does not work well for artistic people, broad-minded people of many interests, and they are usually the most interesting performers. I would not draw any conclusions about one’s self from observing these participants. You could observe that the ones who practiced the most did not necessarily advance. I have never been so single-minded, or practice-driven, and I have done all right, if I say so myself. It takes a lot of culture to be an interesting musician, not a lot of practicing. The Netherlands competition is a new model that should be more accomodating to more kinds of people.
What it takes to be a fine professional is to have high standards and meet them, however one does it. It may be over a longer period of study, or by bringing more to the table, but it does not take eight hours a day of practicing. Five hours is enough. My teacher never wanted anyone to practice more than that for fear of damage and overworking, except when under particular pressure. Five is a lot! And after enough time of five hours, you can get the same amount done in four, and even three. The one big obstacle here is that schools don’t allow a high school student to practice three or more hours a day, and that’s a problem. That means finding a special school or some other arrangement for a talented kid. We should get more credit than that.
There is certainly the kind of person who loves to practice, all day long, and wants nothing else. They are well suited to competition. I don’t think it makes them an interesting player, necessarily, but capable. You have said that before about etudes, and I don’t see any connection. If there is, it is unfortunate, for we are sorely lacking in fine etudes for harp. If the benefit is patience and exactitude, and finely detailed corrections, surely that can be accomplished with other work. The same for strength and control. There are attitude differences, too, between European and American culture. European training is much more vocational, where
Carl, that’s exactly why Salzedo called it an aeolian flux, not a glissando, because it is not just a slide up and down. You have to sound each individual note clearly and evenly, and blend each note and shape and contour the whole. It is definitely not easy. That’s why Scintillation is much harder than it may look. It is also quite hard to make the change in dynamics and pedals in the middle of the passage, so I don’t think it is an easy out option at all. I do like the intricacy of the original, though, and have only performed it that way, so far.
I don’t think so, if only because the feminine association is so pervasive. And with 90% or more of the players being female, male harpists do need that masculine association for personal as well as esthetic reasons. It’s not a political statement. My teacher (female) used to tell all her pupils, you have to be able to play like a man. Why? Because you had to be tough, you had to have a tone that would blend in with male players on other instruments. Because without working toward that, many female players would never develop those qualities. It is also a different kind of expression of beauty. Male students need to learn it too. But, in truth, the harp is what you make of it.
There was a period when an insurrectionist character posted a lot of controversial statements and then his “wife” started stalking him on the site.
I suspect the harp is rather easy to learn with the right teacher. Too many do not do the most basic things: hold the hand in position so the student can feel how it should be, and feel the fingers going in and out in the right fashion. And then, constantly correcting deviations. If you don’t start it right in the beginning, you will have a hard time fixing it later on. Or someone else will. And give the students tools they can use. If their knuckles are weak, show them how to strengthen them on the harp (pushing them out against the lower string), holding a baton or pencil under the joint. How things are actually done. Don’t leave to accident, chance or habit.
There was a harpist in the Sousa band. It could be rolled around on a platform in a marching band. There are “portable” harps. There are not so many obstacles.
I don’t have the music at hand, but usually it is the beat that stays the same. It should be four to a measure in each bar. But, they might not have recorded it that way. Is there no notation over the barline? There should be, showing what is equal to what.
I was lucky to have a wise teacher, who did not believe a piece was done just because you had learned the notes. Put it away and come back to it. As many times as needed. And so I do.
I really don’t get it, either. Family Feud’s survey said that the harp was the audience’s favorite instrument, over piano and over organ (which was number two). Maybe it was a churchy crowd. Anyway, there is this huge gap. The only time I think it was bridged effectively was when Lyon & Healy teamed up with stores and teachers to offer troubador group classes. That got a big generation started. They are making the harps now, but that partnership with teachers doesn’t seem to be there, or the marketing. But, then, based on people’s comments about teaching, it is really hit or miss, depending on one’s area, personality or resources. Perhaps a census analyst could figure out the necessary factors. Programs in the schools help, but also in music schools. It is amazing how few music schools offer harp lessons. In my experience with at least three schools, they were remarkably uncooperative in catching inquiries, and would even turn people away after I had joined the faculty. It was a struggle to even get it listed in the pamphlets. We are constantly fighting that kind of marginal perception, particularly among musicians.
