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It sounds to me like it is not how you are pulling your finger back. I typically don’t bend much at all. I pull my fingers flat in to the palms as much as possible, and this works well for me.
I think it is most likely more an issue with the hand position, and the angle at which your fingers are contacting the strings.
Really there is no way to tell without seeing. You can try angling your fingers down a bit and see if that helps, but you really need someone who can watch what you are doing and see first hand.
If you can get a copy of Fun From The First vol. I there are a couple of really good photos of good hand position in there that I used to use as a reference when I was first learning to make sure I was keeping good hand position.
Harps can last a heck of a lot longer than 20 years. I know of harps that are around 100 years old and play just fine.
Harps do have a limited life span. The stress on them means that they will only last so long, unlike some other instruments that just improve with the centuries. Of course you have to take decent care of it in a proper environment.
I don’t know what the average life span of a harp is, but I know of many, many harps out there well over 20 years old. Heck, my current harp is almost that old now.
You can do it anyway you like. Chords are Chords. You can either do as you said and just play them as arpeggios. Or you can simply play them as block chords.
A common accompaniment technique is to play the chord as a block chord with the right hand, and play the root of the cord with the left.
Of course if the same chord repeats over and over you can play inversions of the chord and the accompanying root note in the left. This gives a nice variation in the sound, and produces a moving bass line.
Also, instead of just playing arpeggios you can use the notes from the chord to play patterns. Listen to the pattern the guitarist plays and see if you can imitate it, or better yet create a secondary pattern to compliment it.
I highly suggest finding a good book on music theory and accompaniment. There are many, many good books on the subject. Sylvia Woods’ Music Theory and Arranging Techniques for the Folk Harp is an excellent place to begin. She gives some very nice accompanying patterns that will work for many kinds of music, as well as enough foundational music theory to allow you to create your own.
Actually it is not in the Schmidt?s’ house. It is in the house of Kathy Bates’ character. Apparently the addition of the harp was Bates’ idea. She had recently begun learning to play and thought it would add a nice touch to her character in the movie.
I think Saul’s “law” actually applied to the majority of people.
If you are never going to be in a situation where you will have to wear shoes then of course you can break this “law” if you want.
But I think Saul’s point is that the vast majority are going to have to play with shoes on at some point, and if you haven’t practiced a significant percentage of the time with shoes you will not be able to suddenly put on shoes and be able to play well with them on.
Every rule has its exception, but for most of us they are worth paying some attention to, and this is one I have to agree with.
Sure, if you are in a position where you can be Bohemian and want to then go for it.
The majority of pedal harpists are not going to be in such a position every time they perform. Do you think a bride really wants to see the harpist she paid a fair amount of money to at her wedding playing in their gowns or tuxes, with no shoes on?
Most of us don’t have the kind of control over our working environments to be able to dictate that we will simply never wear shoes when we play, and the majority of us would be physical unable to play without slipping in shoes if we did not practice with them on.
It is that simple and why this is a very valid and reasonable rule that the vast majority of pedal harpists should really pay attention to.
OK, I must have missed the joke. What does Bush have to do with a thread about playing the pedal harp barefoot?
Another male here. Although not a teen I started in college at 19.
I never got negative comments about the harp being for girls in college or since. In fact back in college there were some people who only knew me from playing the harp and I am told I was often referred to as the “cool guy with the harp”.
I agree about the base. I typically use the stereo output and a two channel amp. Then I can eq the base and the treble separately, and set the volume different. The only problem I have with that approach is where the split for the two channels occurs. It’s too high.
Getting even sound but cutting the base down enough is tricky. I also use a Fishman Pro EQ and find it works fairly well.
What may help is if you read up on wire strung harp technique. I have Ann Heymann’s Secrets Of The Gaelic Harp. I use some of the dampening technique she teaches in that book in the base. It works rather well.
I also arrange the base parts to make them simple, and depending on the melody line I sometimes use “Power Chords”. I figured if they work with overdriven guitar to keep it from becoming an atonal mess it would work with the excessive sustain of the base. It helps.
Carl,
When I said I don’t raise higher than the strings I don’t mean I always go as high as the tops of the strings. Only never any higher. It depends on what strings. I was just commenting on the idea that a Salzedo player throws their hands up over their heads (I don’t recall if it was you who said it or not, but I recall reading that in one of the posts).As for playing fast on difficult repertoire, it seems that what you are saying is that a Salzedo player will force a raise when it is not appropriate. That is not, in my experience, the case. If there is just no way to do it you don’t do it.
The raise may be an aid to relaxing and stretching and preventing repetitive motion injury. But that does not mean that you would be tense and tight at other times. I would say that a Salzedo player is perfectly capable of playing relaxed through a whole piece even without a raise. As I mentioned, the reason I was given for the raise had to do with tone rather than relaxation. I just think, from what I have learned since, that the raise does have some physical benefits.
I don’t claim to be the most advanced or accomplished player. However I do know my teacher was very much a purist in regards to the Salzedo technique and from hearing and watching her play I have no belief that the Salzedo method is at all deficient regardless of the repertoire.
You sound much more experienced than I am overall, and I don’t mean to argue with your greater experience. But your take of the Salzedo method and what you perceive as its limitations does not match what experience I do have.
I learned the Salzedo method as well. My teacher studied with both Salzedo and Lawrence. She did NOT have me raising my hands above my head, and I have never seen a Salzedo player do that myself. I have seen many Salzedo style harpists who raise their hands, but never like that. Rarely do I find myself raising above the tops of the strings.
It’s not as if you raise on every note. It depends on the music, the phrasing and the fingerings. Raising happens mostly on long, sustained notes, although not necessarily limited to that.
I have never found raising to be a hindrance to playing at all, and have never felt as if I were “stopping” the music to raise. Once you get used to it you do it without really thinking.
I was taught that it effected the sound of the note. I make no claim this is true, but that is the reason I was given for why raising happens. And my teacher rarely referred to it as “raising”. She typically said “carry the note up the string” to refer to raising. I don’t know if actually has an effect or not, but I think it does, and that is enough for me.
I do believe that the motion helps prevent injury, but this was a concept I was introduced to not by my teacher but by listening to an interview with harpist Deborah Henson-Conanat. She was talking about harp related injury and mentioned that she has been discussing the issue with a physical therapist who specialized in sport injuries.
She said he told her that the best way to prevent the types of injuries she was most likely to experience playing the harp was to move. What may seem like excessive movement actually prevents repetitive motion injuries. I have asked some people who know a bit about that myself and found they all agree, which satisfies me personally as to one of its benefits.
So it seems to me that the “raising” motion utilized in the Salzedo method would, in fact, be seen as a preventative measure to help avoid repetitive motion injuries regardless if that was the reason it was first introduced or not.
Either way, it does not interfere with playing, it supposedly has some benefits, and it is a method utilized by many, many harpists successfully. It may not be for everyone, but I see no reason to criticize it.
+++Incidentally, I have it on very good authority that in the Marx Brother’s movies, while you are watching Harpo play the harp, you are hearing Gail Laughton. If you watch carefully, it’s perfectly obvious that what Harpo is playing is not at all what you are hearing.+++
Definitely incorrect. As a Marx Brothers fan who has all of their movies on VHS and starting on DVD now, and knowing a bit of Harpo’s history, I can tell you without any doubt that what you are hearing is Harpo play.
Now I am sure that they recorded the sound track later, but it is Harpo. If you listen to his records you can hear his unique style clearly in the playing in the movie.
As for not seeing what you are hearing… What movie is that? I have watched the Harpo playing scenes in most of the movies over and over, and it is clear he is playing what is being heard. In fact in some cases when we know he isn’t really playing a harp it is so close as to be amazing.
For instance in one scene he is playing an Indian Loom, and another he smashes a piano and takes out the frame and starts playing the strings.
Of course he is not playing a loom or a piano frame, but he fakes it perfectly so that what his hands are doing is perfectly matching the music.
When he is really on a harp it is beyond a doubt clear that it is him playing.
Besides, why would he not play it? There is no doubt he really did play, and rather well. He knew Mildred Dilling and many other musicians who knew him and respected him as a musician. He has at least two records still available that were produced by his son.
He once intentionally drove Rachmaninov slightly over the edge when he lived next door to him by playing one of his pices over and over for hours at a time (he was anoyed that Rachmaninov was playing the piano too loud for him to practice the harp, and he had been living there in The Garden Of Allah near Palm Springs longer).
No. That really is Harpo playing in the movies, and it is Harpo you hear on the sound tracks. What ever authority said it was not is blowing smoke. All you have to do is watch the movies to know that if it isn’t him it may as well be, because his playing is perfectly in sync with the music, and the music is in his unique style of playing. I doubt any producer would hire someone to try so hard to imitate Harpo’s playing style so closely rather than just have Harpo play it.
Mansfield Park – The sister of the scoundrel plays the harp and the actress actually does a very good job of making it look like she really was playing.
Dangerous Liaisons. There is a scene where someone is practicing the harp and another person comes by and corrects their hand position.
I would reply that I charge what I am worth, and if you have found another harpist to do the job that you are satisfied then you should hire them.
This is part of the reason I don’t do weddings (and haven’t in almost 10 years).
They are not worth the trouble. I would rather be a part time harpist who does not do weddings than a full time one who has to.
The Clio is a great harp, and I would have considered it myself except it is too small for me to play comfortably. But I am definitly going with a Camac harp next. They are great.
Camac does not sell direct in the States, which is why you will not find prices on their website. You must go through one of their licensed distributors. The two I am familiar with are the Virginal Harp Center in, of course, Virginia. And Harps Unlimited International with offices in Connecticut, New York and Los Angeles.
The price of the 30 String electro harp is $3550, and the price of the 36 string electroharp is $4170. That should include a heavy-duty soft case.
I have one being delivered next week from Harps Unlimited International. I played one about a year ago and started saving for it the next day. I have been dealing with Peter at the CT office. He has been extremely helpful and accommodating and I would highly recommend them. Their web site is –
