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I myself prefer pedal harps. I do because more advanced music is available- when I first played in an orchestra(it was a t NEC), there were only 2 weeks of practice before the only concert- and the first week I played my Troubador IV until a pedal harp was availble at NEC!
It wasn’t very pleasant. The other harpist (who just so happened to have a pedal given to her at NEC) was playing everything while I was yeilded to the 2 peices without many chromatic changes- so in a sum up- i prefer pedal because it has a much bigger sound- but lever is much easier to transport.Yes, I have played M to M! They’re great books, really. In version 1 i like especially Dondon’s Sleep from Cod’or and the Air. In book two I like the Minuet in a minor- not the other one. In book two, i also enjoy les pefferi.
In other music, I enjoy the 1st and 2nd movement of the Handel Concerto. Hope this helps!
ive done many weddings and parties. im 13 years old and i charge $125 for the first hour and $75 for each additional. My harp teacher always tells me “don’t every play without getting paid” itys a good theory. hope this helps!
Yes, it does. Just recently, I played it with NEC festival youth orchestras. it’s not for a full orchestra, however. With YFO there was- myself, 3 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, 2 flutes and a bass. I hope this helps! Best of luck in your compitition! 🙂
Hey Anna Paula!
I’m always suggesting the 1st and 2nd movement of Handel’s Concerto in Bb to any looking to a fun peice to play. The 1st movement is a considerably shorter than the 2nd if played at the suggested tempo. The 2nd movement is also much easier to me. I play the Salzedo version which is supposedly more difficult than other arrangements. Go figure, right? 🙂
Best of luck, Steven
Chris:
For goodness sakes, don’t quit!!!!! It’s hard to know what advice to give you without actually seeing your hands, but I would say that IF your teachers say you have good position despite your thumb, and IF you have made a diligent effort to straiten it with strengthening exercises and they haven’t worked, and IF you’ve been playing at least a few years and feel like your other fingers have developed strength and good position, then it’s time to stop worrying about your thumb and develop a strategy that works for you. For me, the number one thing is to listen to my sound. If I’m getting a strong and even tone over all fingers including my thumb, then I don’t care whether it’s caving in! (Practice scales and cross unders and overs a lot, because that is the place your thumb is going to hang you up.) If not, then whatever I’m doing is not working. Start listening and stop worrying!
By the way, I feel like I have to put in one big caveat here for others who may be reading this post…..I put the word IF in caps above to emphasize that my advice about ignoring your thumb is not meant to be a substitute for bad (or lack of) technique. As a teacher and performer I can tell you that developing a good technique is critical to your success as a harpist. Because my thumb doesn’t work properly is all the more reason I have to be extra careful about all the other elements of hand position my teacher drilled into me. If I didn’t have that foundation and support, nothing would work.
Keep us posted! I love hearing thumb stories.
Kim at Harp Column
Hi Kathie! Your post really interested me, as I am working right now with a hand therapist on an article for Harp Column magazine. I have one of those thumb joints that constantly collapses…..it has been that way for the 20 years I’ve played the harp and it is probably worse now than it was when I started due to overuse in playing. I met the author of our article (Carol Duffy) at the American Harp Society Conference last summer, where she confirmed what I had suspected all along: I am missing a tendon in my thumb, and it will NEVER be strait.
College was a real trial for me. I studied with the wonderful Alice Chalifoux, who is a very strict technician and very big on hand position. Every lesson was the same: Ms. Chalifoux would distress over my thumbs and give me all sorts of exercises to strenthen them. But neither of us realized the real problem, that my thumb was physically unable to straiten.
If this sounds depressing, I’ll tell you the good news, which is that my hand position is better than ever now, despite my collapsing thumb.
I’m also looking for the sheet music to “storybook love” did anyone get it and could fax it? I’m getting married in 20 days and need it fast!!! If anyone could help that would be GREAT!! Thanks so much.
I started playing harp at age 12 and have had the opportunity to play lever and pedal harps in many brands (Lyon and Healy, Venus, Salvi, and some miscellaneous others) for many years.
You may be doing this already, but if she is bringing a casette recorder to every lesson, then you could play the piece in sections that she could learn in sort of an echo response, and then you could progress her by increasing the length of the sections and she could echo that.
