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haha i’m going CRAZY. just ignore my last post. sorry for sounding so incredibly insane. it happens. 😉
It’s fine to try out different teachers–but don’t hide it from them. Call them up and tell them your history and the problems you’ve had, and say that you’d like to try having a couple of lessons to see if you two are compatible. You may even want to have a preliminary “lesson” where you can talk about what you’ll be learning, his/her teaching techniques, etc. Beware though, unless you’re moving to a city there probably won’t be many teachers to choose from (if any!).
If you can practice using correct hand position, then do it. I would be careful of forming habits with a poor hand position, though. Try to get those lessons as soon as possible.
Good luck!
We need to be careful about repertoire selections, I think, at any age. I think students should learn music by great composers, rather than not-great music by harpists. At my last recital, an intermediate-level student had only this to say to me, “why didn’t you play any ‘harpy’ pieces?” This is the kind of taste that results from a diet of Hasselmans and the like. Besides, I played the Debussy Arabesque, isn’t that kind of “harpy”? The rest of the program was Dussek, Daquin, Handel, Salzedo. There is enough in our literature to avoid trite music. It’s very important to develop a sense of good taste in a student. Some harpy pieces are pretty good, like Hasselmans’ Priere and La Source, but his other pieces I’ve looked at are not very good music.
Music Teachers National Association is the professional organization for private music teachers. They have a certification process that requires knowledge of technique, repertoire sequencing, theory, and music history. It may be worthwhile to either colaborate with them or create a similar system for harp certification. The majority of their members are piano teachers, but the organization includes teachers of many different instruments.
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Patrick…if you love this piece of music and enjoy working on it, I say, “go for it”!
I have a few such as this in progress, myself.
My daughter plays a number of different instruments (violin, piano, saxophone, trumpet, french horn, harp, oboe, cello, guitar, bass). I have shopped for all her teachers. For comparison purposes I will admit that I am a choosy parent.
Well, who would decide who gets certified and how? Salzedo and his protegees tried this back in the 40s or 50s and it didn’t catch on. I think it would make more sense to try to reach people before they start, get them interested and give them some idea of what to look for in a teacher, but what is that? They shouldn’t be afraid of a top professional because they’re beginners. They should try to find compatibility, but most of all quality. Frankly, I don’t see any way to do it. If you start regimenting, not everyone will fit in, and it will alter what teachers do, just like Suzuki does. What each teacher does need to do is compile a comprehensive graded repertoire list so they know what to assign, and a student knows what they can choose from perhaps. Can we agree on what level of difficulty different pieces are?
I would say 5=Salzedo Ballade or Variations, Debussy Danses, Ginastera Concerto, CPE Bach Sonata
4=Grandjany Children at Play, Salzedo Prelude for a Drama, Mozart Concerto, Ravel Introduction et Allegro, Debussy Sonata, Spohr Fantasie, Bach Chaconne
3=Pierne Impromptu-Caprice, Rota Sarabande and Toccata, Pescetti Sonata, Handel Concerto, Prokofiev Prelude,
2=Handel Theme and Variations, Bach Bourree
1=Bach Prelude in C, Salzedo Preludes for Beginners, Grandjany Automne
0=Beginner music, most basic.
Perhaps it take two-three years for a youngster to progress levels, one-two for a teen, less for college or adult who practices.
The best range is 40%-60%.
It is very dangereous to drop below 40% as this can cause the wood to crack. To go higher than 60% may weaken the wood, cause deformation or affect the glue – but it is less dangereous.
A 22 string would have a range similar to a violin – the only restriction is the lack of bass. I think it would be well worth your while to investigate other harps than Stoney End. Out of all the harps I have ever tried I am least impressed with these.
When I first started hunting harps I rang around all the Hobgoblin shops. The advice I got was 1, buy the best you can, 2, if you buy something less than ?500 it’s not likely to keep it’s value.
Have a look at http://www.harpfestival.co.uk/exhibition.htm. This is the Edinburgh Harp Festival exhibitors list. It’s got the details for a harp shop in Cardiff with a wide range of instruments, and also a number of established harp makers around the country.
You mentioned cash flow might be a problem – a bigger makers like Camac let you pay a deposit and then pay in monthly installments. Shops may also let you do this.
If you could wait until next April then I’d say take a trip up the Edinburgh Harp Festival and see their exhibition – you’d get to try so many different instruments close up that you’d get a much better feel for them. That’s the most important thing – try as many harps as you can!
I can’t help feeling that you have a unique standard for learning pieces. I was raised on little pieces, many of which were a waste of time as they could not remain in my repertoire for any purpose. I was then given bigger pieces like sonatas and concertos which took a year or more. They inspired me, challenged my mind to expand and my technique to grow. Your approach would seem to prevent reaching higher levels unless someone has twenty years to study or more. It is impossible I would say, to learn a piece in five weeks with any kind of depth or understanding, or even to be reading all the notes correctly. It would seem logical for a student to bring a nearly finished piece to a master class. I certainly don’t memorize anything that quickly and never have.
