Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Tacye has a good point I forgot to mention. If you’re going to use a second key in your piece, the keys that are easiest to use both from a theory and performance standpoint (and will sound great!) are the keys that are one above or below (particularly below) your starting key in the chart I provided.
A reliable way to modulate keys (that’s the term that means changing keys) is to use what’s called a dominant seventh chord. Keeping things simple, there is one dominant seventh chord per key. You can find it by counting five notes up from the key note. For instance, if you’re in D, you count five notes up (D, E, F(#), G, A) and you find an A. This is called the root of the chord. Make a seventh chord with that note on the bottom – that makes (A, C(#), E, G) – and you have your dominant seventh chord for the key of D.
Note that this chord leads you INTO the new key. That is, the dominant seventh chord in the key of D will lead you INTO the key of D. Therefore, decide on a key you’d like to go to. The dominant seventh chord of that new key will be a great way to smoothly lead your music into the new key.
Hopefully that wasn’t too much information. There are a lot of great resources a quick internet search away that can help you understand this subject matter if you’re having problems understanding.
Hi Tracey,
Here are the following keys your harp can play, and how to set the levers. I’m going to assume your harp has levers on all strings.Eb major/c minor – all levers down
Bb major/g minor – A levers up
F major/d minor – A and E levers up
C major/a minor – A, E, and B levers up
G major/e minor – A, E, B, and F levers up
D major/b minor – A, E, B, F, and C levers up
A major/f minor – A, E, B, F, C, G levers up
E major/c# minor – all levers up.There are some other minor scales that I could talk to you about if you don’t think these minor scales (which are “standard” and called the natural minor scales) are the sound you’re looking for.
If you have any more questions I’m happy to help – I’ll be graduating soon with a academic degree in music.
I hope that helps!
As you say, she is still beginning. I think you should have more lessons with her, and perhaps accrue some more evidence before you ask her to change – not because I don’t think your observations are reliable, but because it might be more educational for her if you can present a situation that obviously makes good use of raising.
As Carl indicated, the two methods seem to converge as the level of music and player increases. There are some differences, but they seem to be two different methods of achieving nearly the same result, which is the physiologically optimal way to play.
French method players inevitably end up raising some because they couldn’t get to the next notes fast enough without doing so. Salzedo method players find the opposite: that they must raise less in order to get to the next notes quickly enough. The result is the nearly the same, just coming from opposite directions. The psychology of the techniques is probably what differs the most.
Perhaps raising is a means to end, but it is not at all necessary to create the intended effect. If your student is advancing at a satisfactory rate and there are no indications of tension or injury, it would be misguided to ask her to change.
The only exception is if you believe that she will have trouble playing more difficult repertoire down the line, but in that case it might make more sense to change when she actually does run into problems. If she changes then, she will immediately see how alterations in technique can help, whereas trying to change now might not make any sense to her, assuming there is no need to do so.
I, too, was taught to aim with 2 and 3. Aiming with 1 and 4 doesn’t make sense, simply because putting 2 and 3 on afterward is awkward, and for a little kid, who will probably actually place 1 and 4 and then 2 and 3 three after, that’s not good.
Firstly, I think this website is bizarre for telling you how long you should practice “for fun.” Secondly, time is not nearly as important as quality of practice. One hour of focused practice that really gets the job done will always be better than four or five hours of fiddling around. Of course, doing four or five hours of really focused practice would be great, but the majority of people aren’t practicing very efficiently, and I imagine this website has this in mind when recommending those times.
The drive to practice has to come from within. As Lyn says, practice during “all the time you can spare” or maybe even “all the time you care to spare.” If you really want to play professionally, you’ll probably want to practice long hours maybe similar to those suggested by this website. But if you have to force yourself to practice with much frequency, then maybe you should give some thought to whether or not you’d actually enjoy playing when it’s your job and you depend on it.
Your title is asking this question in terms of notation, but your actual question sounds like you might be asking how one is actually supposed to play this. Is this about notation or technique? If it’s notation, anytime you come across an interval with only one circle above it, the upper note is played as a harmonic, and the lower is played as normal.
Technique wise, to accomplish this you play the harmonic as normal, but reach with any other finger (usually 2 or 3) to grab the lower note at the same time. The right hand must use left hand harmonic technique to accomplish this.
Absolutely continue working on the unharmed hand, especially if he broke his dominant wrist.
I broke my right (dominant) wrist a few months after starting lessons at 8. I simply took a month or two off from playing, but the beginning is crucial, so I’d recommend continuing. I broke my left wrist two years later, and my new teacher took that as an opportunity to work on etudes.
Try to contact the string with the fleshiest part of your finger (i.e. right in the middle of the pad). If you need to move your position slightly after, that’s fine and it probably won’t be that far off.
Hi Seika,
As far as I know, if you’re concerned with classical music, as long as your performances and recordings are free and made public, then there is no copyright infringement. The issues arise when you try and make money, which only becomes a consideration on YouTube if you attempt to become a partner in order to make money off your channel. If you’re looking at pop music or anything else (and it sounds like you might be) the laws may be slightly different, and someone else will have to chime in.I use a Zoom H2 – this is an older model compared to the H-4N that Bernard suggested, but it works very well. I use it connected into my computer and record directly into the free program audacity that Barbara suggested. The set up is pretty simple, the process is easy, and the results are fantastic. I’ve used this setup to record important audition CDs, and it has definitely been adequate for that purpose, so for home use it should be more than enough.
I place the mic probably six inches away from the strings on one side of the harp at approximately the height of the middle of the strings. Definitely DO NOT hang a microphone inside your harp – the sound is really just awful.
What a nice reply! Someday I intend to teach, but I am really just focusing on my studies for now. Was just curious to see how people got into it!
If I remember correctly, Angela, you’re based in NH, right? That’s where I’m from (!), although if I recall, you’re in the western part of the state, whereas I’m from the southeast.
Canned air is made up mostly of fluorocarbons, which wouldn’t have much reactivity with metals to the best of my knowledge. There are plenty of metal parts in your computers and such – metal parts that would be much much more sensitive than the comparatively sturdy harp action. I wouldn’t worry about the metal bits.
I can’t say that I know what the varnish is made of, or how it would react, but I can say that the product is designed to be used in spurts. That is to say, not much of the gas would actually be touching the harp, and it dissipates rather quickly (otherwise it would be a health hazard).
The primary concern is temperature, and if the instructions are followed, there is no reason why the gas would be coming out much colder than room temperature.
The air coming from the can is approximately room temperature if held upright. Only when turned upside down is the gas cold.
