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Even though you feel frustrated with your search so far, I would not mention the negative experiences to the new teacher unless it is relevent. As a harp teacher I always approach with a little caution when a student is negative towards another teacher. Sometimes there is good reason for it, but it is almost impossible to know for certain. There are a few people out there who don’t take responsibility for their progress and bounce from teacher to teacher with a highly critical attitude.
That being said… You have many good ideas regarding questions to ask in your posts already. You may also ask how much emphasis they place on student goals, if they are flexible with repertoire, etc. When working with adults these are always important issues to respect. It is helpful if they have taught other adults. Also ask what their training is to find out if they have degrees in harp or years of lessons.
You may also wish to contact the American Harp Society since they have a large listing of teachers with contact information.
Saul makes some very good points. If we don’t buy the music, who will? Music scores are great as presents for birthdays, holidays, etc. I think it helps student motivation to own recordings and CDs including pieces that are above their level. It gives the student a concrete goal to work towards. I remember my student days when money was very tight, but if music is prioritized is can purchased in place of entertainment and other unnecessary accessories. If money is really tight, then buying the best books for the buck is a good idea for building repertoire. The Mildred Dilling “Old tunes for new harpists” is inexpensive and contains a lot of music. Quality material is always important. You could also encourage your students to make arrangements from hymns and classical pieces. This is a great way to teach theory. If they turn out well, the student can sell these to friends and save the money to buy more music. 🙂
Emily- It sounds like we’re excactly in the same boat! I’m relearning the proper way to use my hands, and concentrating on what the composer was try to say with his/her particular peice of music.
Julianne- Thanks for your encouraging words! It’s tough changing my technique completely, but I think it’s going to be well worth it. Obviously, am quite thankful to my previous teachers for the great musical foundation they provided for me. Now technique and musicianship are the main focuses for me, since college auditions aren’t too far away.
It is always wonderful to hear young harpists who are so enthusiastic and excited to progress in their playing. I thought I would include a couple of thoughts that may be valuable to others reading these posts. When transferring to another teacher it is valuable to determine if the changes in technique result from inaccurate technique on the part of the student or simply a different technique. It takes a well informed, gifted teacher to be able to adapt to a variety of techniques in their transfer students. If you plan to study with the new teacher for a long term, there are advantages to following whatever technique they understand best.
The second point is important, and not necessarily an issue in these posts. It is difficult to change teachers and sometimes there is a temptation to give complete loyalty to the new teacher (which is good) by discrediting the former teacher (not so good). I think it is more valuable to remember the strengths each teacher had and be proud of what you learned in each case. I have had four harp teachers and have loved each one dearly. There was only one instance where I switched for the purpose of learning proper technique, but I still love and appreciate that teacher for the contribution she made. So, I am saying to young harpist in their training, to be proud of what you have learned during each step of the way, and congratulations on your continued progress.
You can certainly ask the college to rent an instrument, but it is unlikely they will unless they will profit from it. Budgets are always tight. I have taught harp at various colleges and have had to personally supply instruments for a studio of students because of limited college budgets. The best solution is to insure your harp and bring it along. It is better to have an instrument with a couple of accidental scratches that produces beautiful music, than a pristine harp that is never played. If you are careful enough, you may even avoid the scratches. 🙂
If you leave your harp at home what will happen to it? The cat might knock it over. Who will tune it? Isn’t it insured for replacement value? It should be. If you pack it properly, driving the harp to school won’t hurt it. Will you keep it in a dorm room or practice room? If you don’t have a private practice room, you should keep it covered, and you should consider buying a shipping trunk to keep it in; people have an unfortunate tendency to mess with the pedals when they see a harp unattended. You can ask the college, it’s not rude, but not so likely they’ll do it unless it’s easy and inexpensive or they have this sort of thing in the budget. I think your parents should relax a little and just make sure the harp is well-insured and protected. You must be able to practice freely.
But she needs her own method books, and should start buying now. It’s part of the budget, like strings. I use my method books all the time. I hope she’ll start soon.
(I hesistate to call it Salzedo… I would like to just call it “bad”)
I should restate this comment… What I was learning before was by no means “bad”- just simply “different” from what I am learning now. I had great, talented harpists teach me over the years, each one of them very friendly people, and wonderful musicians. Looking back on the above statement, it looked like I referred to them negatively, which is NOT what I intended. I am very grateful for the instruction I have received on the harp up to this time- It’s just time for a change.
Tony’s suggestion is a great one- if you haven’t encountered the Handel Harp Concerto yet, then first: consider yourself lucky. Second: get your hands on that harp part!
Although the Handel is on the rather easy spectrum of harp concerti (depending on which edition you use) in the repertoire, it may be a little tricky to conjure up in a week and a half. Sure, S.M. (curious to find out your name, also…), you could learn the notes in a week and a half easily- but to really obtain a strong, even tone without buzzes and with proper technique, that could take quite a while longer.
Perhaps you should try one of the Naderman Sonatinas. While they have very basic chord structure throughout all seven of them, they can be quite showy if played correctly.
Hope this helps, good luck at your audition!
-Steve
I have taught piano for years now. Two years ago I ordered “The Practice Revolution” and devoured it.
Philip Johnson writes an extremely readable, funny book. Referring to practicing, he gave me one of my favorite quotes: “Time sneaks up on you like a windshield on a bug.”
He has a lot of enthusiasm as well as the largest piano studio in Melborne, Australia. I enjoyed his approach of “why *are* the students not practicing?” instead of addressing all the peripheral issues. He also has many good practice tips.I would say the book is a must have for any music teacher of any instrument. The only caveat I must give is that I found a fair amount of his aproach to be too idealistic for my extremely normal Midwestern kids. I absolutely love the idea of my students practicing until they’ve reached a goal and not until a certain time has elapsed or they’ve played a set amount of times, but no matter how I tried to implement that the result was chaos. Perhaps if I weren’t fighting against the tide of soccer, ballet, football, basketball, baseball, and sleepovers it would be easier.
Hm. Guess that issue touched a nerve. Sorry.
So–excellent book, but read with a few reservations.
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