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You can look at this. That’s it, but I don’t think you can print it out. I have the band version, and it looks to be the same. I’ll send it when I get it scanned.
I’m wondering what kinds of situations you are playing in, and why you are so afraid. I’m not condescending. I was a terror-stricken deer in the headlights for years. Eventually it wore off…erosion, I guess. If you love what you are doing…playing your harp… that positive will overcome the negative.
I try to think of it as this: The people who hire me want the harp and harp music. I am not the center of attention. The harp is. The music is. It’s really not about me, me, me. I think of the musical environment I am creating for them.
But, maybe it’s a health problem like low thyroid. You could ask your doctor about it.
Mmm. Wonder what she says. Too bad they didn’t include any audio. The mic kind of wrecks the pic…would be prettier without it.
I wonder why anyone would put a mic by the strings. The sound doesn’t come out there. The lady looks really elegant… seems like she is looking at the person on the stairs. I guess that’s a high-backed chair she’s sitting on. The harp is nice, but I got caught up just looking at the harpist.
A harp like that would look good at a fancy hotel brunch. Hotels everywhere should buy them. Then harpists could just come in and play them!Erin, maybe you could give the students some examples of compositions that use glisses and tell how they are used….like Respighi Pines of Rome, Debussy Nocturnes…and how the pedal patterns would be written.
I know you asked about glissandos, but this thread made me think about what I would want to say. I once saw a harpist give a demonstration to an orchestration class. Rather than give helpful info about the harp, she just demonstrated special effects… harmonics, pres de la table, tapping on the soundboard, pedal glisses (like in Salzedo stuff)..not even info on how the pedals work or anything useful to a composer. I wondered why she did that because special effects are fine for solo pieces, but they probably won’t come thru in orchestra, and harmonics usually have to be doubled an octave higher to be heard.
How does a key change affect the harp? Suppose the orchestra goes from E major to E flat the next measure? It should be clear to a composer that transitions involving a lot of pedal changes won’t happen suddenly, and enharmonics must be used at times. Sight reading anyone?
I would hope the students would be given tips on what’s effective and playable so the harp in their compositions would be welcome…like nice arpeggios and chords, and no chromatic scales or series of chords with each having two or three pedal changes required. Repeated notes are great for the flutes or fiddles, but when you have to keep coming back to a string that’s vibrating, that’s a whole other thing, especially at a fast tempo. Also, I hate to see contrary motion in the hands…or right hand way high while the left is way low on the strings. The more playable a part is, the more likely a harpist will play it and want to play it…and it won’t be given to a keyboard.
Spacing in chords is important because lower chords sound muddy if the notes are too close together. What about reaches …chords or arpeggios that are spread out with an octave between 4 and 3, for example, and the fact that the pinkie does not exist for us.
And what about tempo and dynamics? A piano can stay loud at fast tempos because they can really bang on it, but the harp has to play it with only the finger touching the string to make it vibrate (not like the piano that has those hammers) and go to the next thing, so the volume won’t be there as it would at a slower tempo. High volume in the upper register will be harder to get (the little strings) than lower down.
Where are good places in the composition for the harp to play? When the brass is blasting away, or quieter sections of the composition? (it blends with brass) Seems like a no brainer, but composers do put it there, which is fine for the texture, but let’s hope they don’t actually expect it to be heard.
Speaking of texture, will the harp be providing texture or be part of the accompaniment for a melody, or what? What is the purpose that the composer is using the harp where it appears in the composition? Emphasis? Sometimes in Puccini, a single chord just punctuates a phrase, and it’s very effective.
Sorry, I’ve just gone on and on.
I can, indeed, imagine it. When I started my master’s thesis, I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough, and it grew and grew as I did the research.
I thought there were people on this forum who played the Debussy, but they haven’t surfaced as yet.
I improvise left hand. It just goes wherever on the chord…I don’t think about it. My memorized rep is on my website, and the only two pieces that have a real left hand are the Ave Maria and the Jesu, Joy. I admire people who can play left hand because I can’t. I play real left hand only when I play orchestra or opera parts, etc.
One thing I do when I start learning a piece is write out the melody and chord symbols in a comfortable key…not too low, not too high.I was blessed to spend a lot of time with a Catholic choir in the 90s…then the director moved away….so I was very fortunate to learn a lot during that time. Otherwise, I would still be wallowing in ignorance. I would never tell anyone how to play a mass. I wouldn’t want those guys to know I was there even. Maybe the girl drinking water was flirting at the same time? I don’t know, but the nun seemed upset. As for the Pacha…I guess that’s it, the Taco Bell Canon. I thought of pachanga (this is S. TX).
Gretchen, What the heck is a Pacha-thing?
Also, I must reveal I have played weddings for over 30 years, and this was a group of young guys. The weddings of MY earlier years have (I fervently hope) faded into history.
For example, when I started out, I didn’t know that in the Catholic church everyone gets up and walks around for Communion. I was so distracted, I totally lost my place…. Well, you get the picture. (that’s just one example…I had plenty of other umm experiences to learn from) I’m sure those brides back then probably thought they should have gotten someone else.
We all have to start somewhere, and as I said, these guys play really well. I think as they get more experience, they will have a smoother presentation….and remember, string quartets sound like a little orchestra, which is the sound some people want. Although we can match them piece for piece on the music, our sound is totally different. Apples and oranges.
Jasmin,
What happened? Did you play the wedding? What did you play? (I saw this thread online and wondered what happened to you.)Our experience of PN was totally different. He was solo, the audience was sparse, and at least half the audience walked out on him. We stayed till the end, just to get our money’s worth, but it didn’t get any better.
https://www.google.com/search?q=glissando+chart&rlz=1C1CHNQ_enUS496US496&oq=glissando+chart&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l3.2341j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
