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Often the harp is used just to add color to the overall arrangement. While there are many harp parts that are very complicated and difficult there are no shortage of harp parts in all genres of music that are fairly simple and are there just to add the color of the
Well, the 85P is the only one that actually breaks strings. Of the two that broke one broke up high, near the action plate. The one that just broke did so right at the eyelet.
However in both cases the breaks
My pedal harp is a L&H 85P.
My lever harps are a L&H Folk with Loveland levers and a Camac electro harp with Camac levers.
Indeed. Who ever she was, she was definitely really playing.
About the idea of there always being musicians around, they once kind of make a joke about it. Rachel and her birth mother were going to sing a song in the auditorium and Rachel called over the piano player, and then makes the offhand comment to her mother, “He’s always hanging around.”
In past discussions on this it seemed that a lot of harpists do name them, but it is nice to see I am not alone in not naming mine.
Although I consider my harps beautiful works of art in themselves, they are, first and foremost, tools to me that I use to make my music. I have no more desire to name them than I would to name my favorite hammer if I were a carpenter.
That said, I have only once named an inanimate object. I practice Japanese swordsmanship and I named my favorite sword Butterfly. It was a joke actually (I had just seen Madam Butterfly for the first time and she committed suicide with a Japanese sword and so I referred to it as my “Butterfly Sword”) but it stuck and I still sometimes refer to that sword as Butterfly without thinking.
What they said. Warming up in a literal sense, in that the instrument should be at a “comfortable” temperature. As I have been told, a general rule of thumb is that if the temperature is comfortable to you it is generally good for the harp.
When transporting a harp in the cold I always leave the cover on for a while after arriving to my destination to allow it to slowly come to room temperature. If my house is cold and I turn up the heat I always give the harp time to adjust to the temperature change before trying to play.
But I don’t think that the harp itself needs a “warm up” like people do. Once the physical temperature is OK and the harp is tuned it is ready to go.
I was the same way. I started only really interested in Celtic music. My teacher inspired me to branch out to classical and Jazz. Now I don’t even think about genres. If something catches my ear I will give it a go no matter what the genre or origin.
You will get used to dealing with the levers. To me when I think C Major, I automatically think “three levers up” or “all pedals down one”. It becomes habit.
Why should you have to make up your mind? That would be boring to be stuck with only one genre to play in.
Tuning to Eb is the perfect solution. So long as you have halfway decent levers there is no reason not to and then be able to have a greater range of useful keys you can play in. Then you don’t have to pick just one genre.
All of Karen’s recommendations are excellent, and exactly what I would have recommended.
In addition I like The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music Theory. It is actually a very good intro to music theory. Sylvia’s book is more harp specific (really lever harp specific), but the Idiot’s Guide covers a lot more ground and gives a better overall understanding of the basics of Music Theory.
Sylvia’s book is enough for you to learn to do what you want to do regarding arranging basic accompaniment patters for the left hand, but I think most musicians can benefit from a more in depth understanding of theory, and the Idiot’s guide gives that, but still stays simple enough that most people can comprehend the entire book without the need of a teacher.
Well, I try to see it from the customer’s perspective. They don’t know, or understand, the issues of pedal vs lever harp, and they understandably don’t care. It works for me and I have spoken to several others who do it that way too.
Keep in mind that doesn’t mean lowering prices because I sometimes play on lever. It is that I charge the same for lever as for Pedal. I don’t give a discount just because I am playing lever harp.
As for the flowers and such, I agree to a point. But that is why I think making such accommodations needs to be an individual thing. And sometimes you just have to trust your instincts about a customer, and so will evaluate what I see as their priorities. I think that if someone asks about a discount that opens the door to make it alright for me to inquire about their budget and how they are spending it to decide if I want to make such an accommodation.
I haven’t had to do this in a long time however, since I don’t generally do weddings and it has always been weddings where people are stretched too think usually. I have never been asked to reduce my price for playing background music at a cocktail hour or something similar and honestly I would find the thought laughable.
I don’t see how what Carl is describing is price fixing. What Carl describes is no different than unionization.
As it stands, in the US at least, no one CAN tell you what you can charge. You can charge anything you want. But in doing so you may ostracize yourself from the musician community in your area if you constantly undercut other people in the area.
If I knew someone was regularly undercutting other musicians and I was offered a job I couldn’t take do you think I am going to refer it to them? When they need me to fill in at the last minute do you think I am going to help them out?
You can do what you want, the law says so. But making yourself a pariah to the other musicians in your area has major drawbacks. Around here most musicians help each other out. If you are on the outs with the community you are missing out on a lot.
And honestly, I don’t see what the cost of my harp may have to do with it. I don’t charge different for using a less expensive harp. I am charging for my playing, not the instrument I use.
I have no problem with the idea of the musicians in an area getting together to decide on what they feel in appropriate for the local region. And certainly, taking a gig where you don’t even break even is not a sensible thing to do.
But if I am willing to take $200 instead of $250 due to specific circumstances? Well, I think that is not an unreasonable negotiation.
If a person isn’t up to a professional standard of playing then I agree, they shouldn’t be playing professionally.
I think where students can do fine is where they specialize in something. A student may not be ready to audition for the Principle Harp position at the local symphony, but may still be perfectly able to perform the standard wedding repertoire at a professional level.
So long as they can meet the requirements of the specific job at a professional level then I’m good with it. If they are sub par and charging less because of it then I do have an issue. If you aren’t good enough to get work at the going rate then you probably shouldn’t be doing it yet.
But as Carl points out, it is going to happen and it is up to the rest of the musicians in the area to make it clear the difference between someone who knows what they are doing and someone who doesn’t.
I do also think there are other things to consider. One harpist may adequate and another much better in performing, but the one who is just adequate knows and understands how to play for a wedding and the better technical player has no wedding experience, I think the adequate player who understands the specifics of what playing for a wedding entails is more the professional.
Things just aren’t so cut and dried clear cut all the time, so I am reluctant to point at any individual and say “they shouldn’t be playing professionally”.
Carl, generally I agree with that, but I do think that there is room for a little wiggling.
I don’t think that any musician should undercut any other in advertising. If I don’t really need the money to live on and so can charge less I should still advertise at the going general rate, and still generally charge that.
However if I get contacted by someone who simply can’t afford it and they tell me what they can afford I think it is ultimately up to me, assuming I believe them and that they aren’t just trying to be cheap, to renegotiate a lower fee.
I think so long as it is kept in private and that lower fees aren’t advertised in order to lure customers away from other musicians. Also I would make it clear that they weren’t to tell anyone else because if I get calls from someone saying, “so and so said you did their wedding for $X, I want to hire you for the same amount” I am going to refuse. Cutting a deal with a potential client based on my assessment of their situation is my own call.
But also I don’t do weddings anymore and I live in an area where there really is no shortage of work. If I lived someplace else where there was more competition for the work I was after
