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Miso… are you thinking about picking up this second instrument with the intent of becoming proficient?
I still havn’t understood what you mean by general musicianship reason? What are these sort of things?
On the other hand… I feel your problem is you’re dreaming too big, and you’ll better get off the clouds soon.
“Certainly, it would be easier to train in voice than an instrument…”… You don’t know what you’re talking about!
Well if you want to sing like some crappy Britney Spears or something like that
Hi miso,
When I was younger my parents offered me a lot of different extracurricular activities, including piano and guitar lessons. I turned them down out of a painful case of shyness… to my everlasting regret! I have a good friend who has been playing piano for over 10 years and I continue to be impressed with his displays of ability. I feel your pain!
Anyway, the harp is my first instrument and when I started taking lessons I began with the book, “Fun from the First.” (As I suspect many people have over the years!) The lessons start out with simple one-handed melodies, and gradually work up to two-handed
Hi Monika, I sung in choirs for years when I was younger so I think I’ve got that covered! In fact, my friend is trying to entice me back to sing alto
There are so many options, and you definitely don’t want to lose focus (i.e. take away from your harp studies), but your question made me think about my own experiences regarding voice (and I don’t think
For interest and general musicianship reasons. Here in Asia, young students normally take exams offered by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music or Trinity-Guildhall (their parents demand it). I wonder if it would help me with understanding music theory and teaching it to future harp pupils if I play the piano (which I don’t)…
Or is it enough for harp teachers to be good at their own instruments? Do I need a second study if I wish to do a music degree (probably unlikely due to age reasons but I will probably do a diploma if I teach)…Pieces of paper are very important here in Asia…
I like playing the violin but I sorta feel I should spend every spare minute practising harp and it takes a lot of hours to be a bearable violinist….
Julieanne, I wish you were here in Asia and can teach me!
Adults have complicated lives, we’re stressed out by work, family, money, health etc and we have a lot of stuff on our minds.
I don’t remember if I ever broke down during a music lesson but if I did it certainly wasn’t over music but over some personal issue like losing my job!
I did have a guitar teacher who would make sarcastic remarks whenever we messed up. I left.
In answer to Lydia, about young pupils that get frustrated and near tears. I’d say you did exactly the right thing, and often just a gesture of kindness and encouragement
I don’t have a website, just a free online photo album, so I put the pictures on there. I tried and tried, but couldn’t make those pictures show up on this forum. So if you want to see my 38-string lever harp (with hand-painted, extended soundboard) plus my Kawai grand piano and Roland digital piano, they are at the end of my Creatures and Clouds photo album. You are welcome to take a peek!
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2094392828
My teachers certainly had no patience for it, and if you started caving
in, they would zero in on any weakness and really make you wail!It was this sentence here that really got to me. I’ve had rigorous teachers, and had occassions where i felt a little choked up out of my failings, but there was a bond of trust there, the assumption that there was no intent to intentionally hurt me. It was understood they were showing me the way to be a deeper artist. I loved them for it. What i cannot imagine is someone glimpsing a student’s vulnerability, and then deliberately beating them down for it.
I keep thinking about this thread and have asked myself what i would do if a teacher deliberately hurt me or a friend. I would address it, but probably in the least emotional terms possible. Giving that teacher information on brain research to show evidence why their tactics are not ideal would be a first step. Then i would probably just leave the studio, perhaps offering an explanation if they desired to seek it out.
I’ve been in music professionally for about twenty years now, and while i love its ideals, there are problems there that could break any heart. In some ways the performing arts are similar to politics – ideals realized in a self-seeking, corrupted manner. The beauty and meaning in music can teach us a kind of deep understanding of the human experience that few other activities can match. It can be an exercise in empathy. It is a mystery that a person can recreate patterns made by someone hundreds of years ago and find personal relevance. Music has this capacity to heal and connect, and yet it is often realized as a weapon causing people to focus on their own power and success at the expense of others. This deep irony is something i have reflected on with my best strength for years.
It’s also worth noting that in the quest to make someone strong, if you leave them feeling powerless, you have in fact made them weak. It can create a need for more control than what is healthy. From the opening post, Saul is a remarkable exception to be able to maintain compassion and strength. But my concern w/ teachers and conductors is that those who have been trained to feel powerless, overcompensate by being too controlling with those under their charge, making students/performers feel powerless as a way to feel strong/competent as teachers or conductors.
