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Recordings are not reality, that’s why you don’t hear glitches, not that I remember McDonald ever having any in performance, the one time I heard her. I wish people would not expect live performances to match recordings. They should be human, and warm with presence.
I wish I could say the same. I’ve played in rooms with Paul Shaeffer, Jackie Mason, and Garrison Keillor, and not one tipped me, complimented me, or said, “boo.” (I think Jackie Mason got his meals gratis, perhaps Paul got his drinks on the house, too, to class up the joint.) But, yeah, encouraging words would have been great. But that doesn’t begin to match Winifred Starkes getting to play for Tony Randall all evening, boy was I jealous of that! I did play for a couple of literary luncheons where Louis Auchincloss held court, but it was not impressive, and neither was I.
Unfortunately, some adults behave more like children, and children will behave more like adults. One big difference is, the children have goals to meet, to perform, to memorize music. Adults can drift from piece to piece without necessarily completing anything, so it can be harder to set goals, but sometimes they just happen and the student realizes nice things like, ‘Hey, I can memorize a piece!’
Yes, Claudia Valsi, trained at Boston University, lives there. I don’t have her email, just telephone and address. Email me and I will send it to you.
Hi! I have 8 years playing the harp. Does anyone know about a good harp teacher in Friburg or near there? Pedal harp. How can I contact him/her? Thank you very much!
It would be interesting why you choose Trinity over Royal Academy or Royal College… the latter two seem to hold, well how should I put it, from what I get from my collegues and musicians in the UK, sort of more sought after for… moe esteem maybe..
You must cultivate suppleness. I suggest massage to loosen your muscle fibers. If you warm up with slow-motion playing, you will develop the long fibers of your muscles if you are over-emphasizing the short fibers. So, when you warm up in slow tempi, close your fingers and replace super slowly, and do not close quickly until you are in fast tempi. One thing about movement is that it responds to direction, so if you are telling your arms to move in a supple way, they will become supple, and your muscles will gradually change to being supple. You must seek a corresponding tone quality as well. This is actually a very serious issue, and I think you must work very closely with a teacher who can help you with this, or you risk serious injuries down the road.
Also, if you are playing a lot of music by Salzedo, then I think you should study with a teacher in his lineage, so you understand his music and what he is after, just as if you were a pianist studying Rachmaninoff you might want to seek out a Russian teacher. I don’t enjoy hearing Salzedo’s music being played “incorrectly”, or without full understanding. What might help is knowing that he was very specific in his notations, and wanted them followed closely. He was very rhythmic, so don’t add rubato.
Yes, I would like very much to pursue an oral history/video project to interview and film Salzedo students playing, but I lack the resources. There is some variation, but I think most of it is between some students of Alice Chalifoux and Lucile Lawrence. I have seen a few of Salzedo’s finest pupils play, and they each had what I would call a very rounded hand position, with very strong finger action. Elbow angle should not be considered the defining characteristic.
Some of Grandjany’s pupils play with their knuckles curved inward, that is one of the most distinctive elements in their playing. Salzedo players do not usually rest their right wrist against the harp except in the first octave. The hand position is bigger, with a higher thumb, but similar. The specific or stylized use of gestures is more-or-less unique to the Salzedo approach, though raising has in general become widely adopted in some fashion. The way of fingering pieces and sometimes their interpretation tends to be different. But let us keep in mind that these are not two polar opposites, but two important figures in a field of many figures.
If you don’t know how you are playing, I would suggest that you do more study, to be more knowledgable about the harp in general, and to gain more experience in studying.
There are a few harpists in that area, but I don’t know them. I am about 90 minutes away from you, I think, by car, bus or train.
Everyone makes mistakes or has glitches in performance. My favorite harpist has long been Heidi Lehwalder. You can hear her on the Orpheus Trio recording from Vanguard. I don’t think you should expect clips from people here. You have to spend years on this topic, going to concerts and studying recordings, it is not just a toss-off topic. There is a very nice clip of Alice Giles on YouTube. There are a lot of great harpists in orchestral positions, or freelancing, and not trying to be famous. The vicissitudes of life don’t equalize greatness with fame when it comes to the harp, certainly. I think the Salzedo Harp Duo is pretty terrific, and heard a memorable performance by Emily Mitchell. Jude Mollenhauer is a very fine harpist with a superb harp and viola recording out.
If you leave a broken string unreplaced for even a day, you risk having the adjacent string break from increased strain. This is not well-known, but proven by experience. It is usually best to use the string one note lower if necessary. I always save usable strings after taking them off for emergency replacements. I recommend doing so. If your C’s and F’s break consistently, and sooner than the other strings, there is something wrong with your harp, probably a mechanical adjustment of some kind that is needed.
If you are wanting to play a large amount of popular music, then I would suggest getting a double harp of some sort, so you have some chromatic notes available for those tricky chord progressions.
Or, if the knot is not resting against the harp, if there is some complication in the knotting, that could perhaps interfere; or it could be a defective string, or not a good one. Being crisp and clear are just the advantages of nylon over gut, if you want that. It may also be the way you are playing it, nylon requiring a different touch than gut. Try playing that string more easily, less pressure and see if that helps any.
her website is http://www.gospelharp.com
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