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+++Ah, but there’s the rub…..when does something FINALLY fall outside of the definition of “art”?+++
That is a question that people have been asking for longer than any of us have been alive. There is no consensus. However I have long ago gotten past the point where I would say that something isn’t art because I don’t happen to like it.
+++ If it is crap or if it is definitely tasteless, even when the performing musicians tell me “this piece is s***,” then why
Actually my post was meant to be a reply to Kathleen’s, not yours. I don’t know why it showed up as if it was to yours as I posted to reply to hers. She compared the WHC to a beauty pageant.
I agree that the use of the recording of the woman was exploitative. That is the only true objection I have to it. Having not heard it myself I can’t make any personal comments on its merits. Also several have made comments about the beauty of the instrument and art and I just wanted to make the point that beauty is not a necessary quality to make something art.
If this is art or not I can’t say personally having not heard it myself. But despite that the descriptions given here do make it sound like crap I really haven’t heard anything that would make it not art. Distateful perhaps but not outside of the realm of art.
I like Ray Pool’s books too. I also like Verlene Shermer’s Cool Chords and Groovy Rhythms.
But if I were you I wouldn’t worry too much about specific Harp Theory and take a look at some general music theory books. They will all apply just as well. Edly’s Music Theory for Practical People is one of the best introductions to music theory I have read.
Also the Complete Idiot’s Guide series of books has a lot of great music related books. Just ignore the titles. Their books on Music Theory, Arranging and Orchestration, Solos and Improvisations and a few others are really great introductions to the subject of not just theory but applying theory to practical ends.
Sylvia’s book is a great introduction and is good if you play the folk harp since she mostly ignores things that are not applicable to the folk harp, or gives ways to get around things that don’t normally work for folk harp. However getting a more general knowledge of music theory while keeping in mind the kinds of limitations and workarounds Sylvia teaches can only be beneficial. Particularly if you ever want to play with other musicians. In that case having a more general understanding of music theory can help you understand the issues facing other instruments and makes you better prepared to work with them.
I agree that electric instruments certainly can be use in “classical” music (i.e. Modern Art Music). I have heard it done several times to excellent effect. There is a difference between playing a baroque piece on electric instruments and playing a modern piece written with those instruments in mind.
Also I often enjoy unconventional instrumentation. One of my favorite “avant guard” pieces of music is HK Gruber’s Frankenstein Suite. Among the standard instrumentation are some slightly unusual items like Gamelan gongs and sand paper blocks, but also some really out there things like plastic children’s toys, rubber tubing and paper bags (that the percussionist blows up and pops several times during the performance).
When I saw the piece performed I was blown away. There were clearly some who didn’t appreciate it, and a few even got up and walked out. But I thought it was one of the most interesting, not to mention entertaining, pieces of modern music I have heard in a long time. My only regret at the time was that there were no recordings of it available. One finally came out last year and although I had to have it imported to get a copy it was worth every penny.
To each their own. I can appreciate that some people don’t like certain things, but I think that meaning and value of such things are put on it by the individual as much as by the general public. It makes no difference to me if there are only a handful of people who enjoyed Gruber’s performance of his piece (although I think it was actually more than a handful). What matters to me is that I liked it and hope to see it again some day. And I have a feeling my local symphony would look forward to doing it again as well. I don’t recall ever seeing them so clearly enjoy playing a piece. They were definitely have a ball playing the piece. When half of them pulled out toy instruments, the other half started swinging rubber tubing and the timpanist started popping paper bags they all had such big smiles on their faces.
Of course somewhere there is probably someone writing about this piece saying how ridiculous they all looked playing toy instruments and that the popping bags were just annoying. Vive la difference.
So if someone doesn’t want to see a performance that includes electric instruments then that is fine. It only means it will be that much easier for me to get a ticket.
” I know if I was American, I would not take this sitting down. I would be inundating the World Harp Congress with protest letters.”
Well, as an American I have a lot more important issues to worry about than some musical composition played at a relatively obscure music conference (how many non-harpists even know what the WHC is?), regardless if it is brilliant or garbage.
My country is facing some very serious issues right now and I just can’t find the energy to get that pissed off over some piece of crap music composition that probably no one will ever hear again.
“What does it take to make Americans wake-up? Another 9-11? Or just the trend of Western countries now joining the ranks of the “Let’s target America” with our hate-music?”
Please, the hyperbole is getting out of hand, and I actually find the comparison and linking of things like this and terrorism to be highly offensive.
It’s a piece of music. It may be garbage (to be honest when a critique is as emotion laden and over the top as the one that started this thread I have a hard time taking it seriously) but it is just music. People have taken pot shots at others through music through the history of music (even if you want to call this a pot shot. Having lived in several major US metropolitan areas including NYC the fact is that there IS a higher incidence of drug use in these places) and to suggest that it can be a direct lead in to terrorism is just going too far in my opinion.
I always start by doing scales and also runs of arpeggios.
Then I pick something (sometimes randomly) out of either Salzedo’s Conditioning Exercises book or Friou’s Harp Exercises for Agility and Speed.
I then will often just play some simple early recital pieces that focus on different techniques or skills. Typically I like to use Imaginations by Doris Davidson.
And last I will sometimes flip open a fake book and play something randomly just to practice my sight reading and ability to form chords on the fly.
You need to use some kind of online hosting site. If you ISP doesn’t provide you with space on their web servers to upload files then you need to find one of the free online photo hosting sites to post your photos on and then link to them from here.
For beginners I like the Fun From the First books by Sam Milligan, and Imaginations by Doris Davidson. Also The Junior Bach Collection by Pearl Chertok is an excellent beginners book. I also used Dewey Ownes Christmas Music Simplified. An excellent beginners book of Christmas music.
Of course I also used many of the A versions from several of Sylvia Woods books and they are all great.
I really like Friou’s Baroque Music book, and I also have her Early Music for the harp, and Renaissance Music for the Harp books (as well as Harp Exercises for Agility and Speed, a must have for every beginner if you ask me). They are all wonderful and I am currently learning Lament of Tristan from the Early Music book. But I think they are a bit too hard for a true beginner. More early to mid intermediate if you ask me.
Some of Sylvia’s arrangements can be a little tricky, even the ‘A’ versions on some. I would suggest for Christmas music you get Dewey Owens’ Christmas Music Simplified. Very simple yet very nicely done arrangements.
It was one of the first books I used and I still use it. If I need a Christmas song but don’t have time to work on a difficult arrangement I can pretty much sight read these.
As for the chords it is all about getting a feeling for the timing. I would suggest doing a lot of exercises practicing arpeggio’s. As you speed up the arpeggios they become rolled chords. Just form the chords and play them one note at a time as smooth as possible. Play the chords going up the diatonic scale of the key you are in. Go as slow as you need to in order to play them smoothly. Eventually you will find you can go faster and faster until finally you will be able to play them simply as rolled chords.
And about the pedal harp… lots of people have the idea of needing to be worthy of a fine instrument. But a fine instrument can be the inspiration we need to progress. Don’t worry about having progressed to the point to warrant a pedal harp. You don’t need to warrant one, you just need to want one.
If you have the money for one and you want one then get one. Don’t worry about any artificially set bench mark you need to reach before you can justify getting one. These bench marks exist only in you head. The only bench mark the harp company’s care about are the ones in your bank account.
Me too. I sometimes get a message that the server is busy, and others that just indicates an error of one kind or another.
There are certainly many different approaches. I personally look at page turns the exact same way I look at lever changes or pedal changes.
They need to be planned out. You need to know where in the music is the best opportunity to turn the page just like you need to know where in the piece is the best place to flip a lever. Just as it is sometimes best to flip a lever immediately before playing a note and others it can be measures before the note is played, so too with turning a page.
You need to practice page turns in the music just like practicing lever flips or pedal changes so that doing them is as much a part of playing the music as plucking the strings.
What this means is that sometimes it is necessary to memorize the last measure on a page, or the first measure on the next page so that you can turn the page without missing a beat.
As for the physical problem I find that I don’t need aids like paper clips or tabs. So long as the music is “well worn” I can just grab the page and turn. I don’t have particularly dry hands and I could imagine that would make it hard to grip the paper right off, but I only have problems with new music where I haven’t had time to wear in the book or sheet music yet. So my advice is literally to sit down and just turn pages for a bit until the book gets used to being turned.
Of course you can always just find someone to sit there and turn your pages for you. Wouldn’t that be nice (and while we are at it we can teach the page turner to tune for us as well so we can just sit and play)
I would definitely advise against a lap harp. A floor harp of 32 to 36 strings is the minimum I would recommend, and definitely get full levers if you can. Although you might not need them right away if you are looking for a harp that will be able to use for a long time as you progress then the two things that will most impede your progress will be too few strings and missing levers.
I am not familiar with Hearland harps so I can’t comment on them. However I have tried several Blevins and have been uniformly impressed with their harps. They seem to be very high quality instruments for a reasonable price.
I would also recommend looking at the Lyon and Healy Ogden. 34 string floor harp with full levers, concert tension and spacing, and a nice sound. One of the best buys for the dollar in the harp world in my opinion.
Honestly I don’t because I just never listen to the radio.
I am a subscription member of the local symphony and make extra donations to them and the local youth orchestra each year.
Since I attend the symphony more than I listen to the radio I prefer to make my donations there, plus I prefer to support live music as well as the young upcoming musicians who will be the future of classical music.
I see them going. Perhaps it is just a regional thing but when I go to the Symphony there are no shortage of kids, and I easily recognize many members of the youth symphony at the regular symphony performances.
Every one of my nieces and nephews were regular concert attendees when they were in school, as well as most of my neighbors kids. I have taken my neighbors son, who plays flute, to concerts on several occasions.
It may just be a matter of where you live. Around here MTT is considered as big a star as Gerry Garcia was. The average person on the street would recognize him and consider him one of our greatest local celebrities.
That said, I think there is definitely a
