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Why does it say the last reply was by Paul and Brenda when it wasn’t? They replied, but it was way back there.
No sites…just a book in two volumes about playing weddings called The Lovely Wedding:
a collection of harpisodes.I don’t see your email on your profile. Write to me, and I’ll send Tara. harpsylvia@aol.com
ooooh. Please spell Sylvia correctly! Sorry, but Slyvia was one of my childhood names, along with Saliva. 🙂
I agree you are doing the right thing. I would certainly provide the opportunity, as you are doing. I would be able to get them going on reading music, and the student could decide as they went along if they wanted to keep playing…just as sighted students do. The violin student I worked with was not going to be allowed in the sight reading section of competition, but I whined until he was (getting the music early to learn it). I figured he needed the opportunity, and if he felt he couldn’t do it, he would eliminate himself…no one had to do that for him. (he did great) The other school didn’t want the girl to play cello, but I taught her braille music during the summer (on my own time) so she could participate when school started. I’m definitely a provide the opportunity person….so maybe I gave the wrong impression. Another factor is if the person is previously sighted, they know what things look like…but if they have always been blind, it’s quite different for them.
I am certified in braille music and have taught two blind students to read music, one cello and the other violin….not harp. Look to your student’s future. Braille music is the way to go….you wouldn’t teach a sighted student without print music. Of course, all music must be memorized because you can’t read the braille and play at the same time. I found that they both picked it up much faster than I had. If I had not been there, they would not have learned because the VI teachers were too busy to bother with something not important (to them or the school system). See if you can find someone in the area who teaches braille, and they should have some kind of access to braille music. There is an online course from Hadley. I’m assuming your student uses literary braille in school. For a music teacher not familiar with braille, your job is formidable, but at least folk harp is not as ambitious as pedal. Too often, blind students who want to study music never have anyone to teach them to read music. There are people on the braille music forum who have taught themselves because they really wanted to read music.
Menvi-discuss@menvi.org
Music Education Network for the Visually ImpairedPersonally, I think harp would be very hard for a blind person, simply because you have to reach up in the air. A keyboard is right down there where you can find it. We had to use a bow-right on the violin for a couple of years so the bow would stay in the right place…until the student had the feel of where it was. The cellist played before she lost her sight. We know there were blind harpers back in the middle ages, but we don’t know how big the harps were…probably not very. I would not want to teach harp to a blind student, and I’ve been around the blind and braille music for many years….I feel fortunate that no one has asked me!
I do Salzedo Conditioning Exercises (1st 6, both hands at once), plus some others made up of things I’ve found hard to do…total time around 10 minutes. If I’m playing opera or something later in the day, I’ve always done my conditioning exercises and run through the part…usually playing with the recording…so that is at tempo, but only after I’ve done my exercises. (I record off the sections I play in so I can go directly from one section to the next.) It may be quite a while before I play, as in load harp, drive there, unload, get into venue, tune, wait for start of rehearsal or performance, wait for entrance, etc….but I feel ready. I would never just go out and play without doing my exercises and some run-thru at home first. For a wedding, I do my exercises and whatever pieces I want to review before I go. A LRO (living room only) harpist may have different goals, so their warming up might be totally different. Everyone’s situation is unique, so whatever they’re comfortable with is right for them.
Paul and Brenda, Last time I checked with Sylvia Woods, she said they didn’t sell amps anymore. How long ago did you get the Roland, and how many watts is it? What do you plug into it? Pickups, corded mikes, or wireless mikes?
OK, Katie, I see what you mean. Maya, here most venues charge the people giving the event for sound, so since they don’t pay it, I have to bring my own. In the old days, hotels, etc., I would just ask for the mike, and someone would bring me one. Now, at least in this area, it is a completely different scene…lots of events centers without sound. The bands and DJs bring those big speakers and blast away. I like churches because they will always provide me with a mike, and I don’t have to worry about the sound. Also, outdoor weddings have to be amplified, unless you just want to play to the wind….it just won’t be heard without amplification. I’ll look at the dustystrings thing again. If the wires are on the back of the soundboard, then how do they get to the output thingy, I wonder.
I found the poem on a bookmark that my aunt gave me. I bought my first harp (Hyacynth) when I was working nights in a nursing home. I bought Nina with money I had saved from playing. I’m still of fortune bereft, but I’m not materialistic anyway. I figure if you’re healthy, and you have what you need, that’s what’s important. To me, the poem means you need to feed not just your body but also your soul……and for us, that means H A R P.
Yes, but don’t you use pickups? I tried several Rolands at the music store, and they just didn’t do much. I was plugging in my VHF wireless mike because I didn’t bring the UHF like I should have. I just went to Radio Shack to investigate PAs. Looks like a good option because if it doesn’t work out, you have 30 days to return it and get your $$ back. So that is my backup plan if my Marathon amp gets sick or dies. Also, I hadn’t thought of this before, but usually preachers at outdoor weddings (which I don’t have any scheduled right now) use PAs….and I’m going to ask to try it out next time I run into one.
Sorry, I put Katke instead of Katie. Then I went back to edit. I wish we could edit BEFORE we post, like we used to.
Stephen, I figured out very early in my career that people who paid for music wanted to hear it. Anyway, about the pickup, as I said earlier…what ELSE is it picking up? I don’t see how a pickup can NOT pick up the sound of pedal changes. I had a Dean Markley years ago, and no matter what I tried, I got those sounds plus the sound of the cable every time I moved…swish, swish. It was just unacceptable…that’s why I’m very skeptical about anything that’s actually in contact with the harp. As for the other one, 1K is a lot of money. You’re a big businessman, but I’m here in Podunkville where things happen on a smaller scale. Meanwhile, I did try my UHF wireless, which I had gotten for an amp that didn’t work and I had to sell, and it amps up my Marathon louder than the VHF, so I think I’m OK for right now.
