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My teacher (whose teachers were Salzedo and Lawrence) always told me to keep the pinky relaxed. My very first teacher, whom I had for my first year of playing, (and who was a previous student of the teacher I first mentioned) instructed me to make sure that the pinky was “one with the 4th finger.” Of course this is not exactly what the end results becomes – it’s rather more that the pinky follows the general position of the hand so that its most relaxed: if the hand opens, the pinky goes with it, and if the hand closes, so does the pinky. I remember this part of learning to be particularly frustrating and I suspect that this is a pinky problem in general, because I also had problems with my pinky when learning the flute.
~Sam
My teacher (whose teachers were Salzedo and Lawrence) always told me to keep the pinky relaxed. My very first teacher, whom I had for my first year of playing, (and who was a previous student of the teacher I first mentioned) instructed me to make sure that the pinky was “one with the 4th finger.” Of course this is not exactly what the end results becomes – it’s rather more that the pinky follows the general position of the hand so that its most relaxed: if the hand opens, the pinky goes with it, and if the hand closes, so does the pinky. I remember this part of learning to be particularly frustrating and I suspect that this is a pinky problem in general, because I also had problems with my pinky when learning the flute.
~Sam
My teacher (whose teachers were Salzedo and Lawrence) always told me to keep the pinky relaxed. My very first teacher, whom I had for my first year of playing, (and who was a previous student of the teacher I first mentioned) instructed me to make sure that the pinky was “one with the 4th finger.” Of course this is not exactly what the end results becomes – it’s rather more that the pinky follows the general position of the hand so that its most relaxed: if the hand opens, the pinky goes with it, and if the hand closes, so does the pinky. I remember this part of learning to be particularly frustrating and I suspect that this is a pinky problem in general, because I also had problems with my pinky when learning the flute.
~Sam
Dawn, what a beautiful person you are. I like your way of thinking about the problem. You’re right. I constantly compare it with the sounds in my head of a pedal harp, and it doesn’t have those sounds.
The problem fixed itself after the string was changed and the harp was regulated. It was not an over-bending affect, which many insisted it was, despite evidence against it, rather a strange buzz that was close to the pitch of the string, making the pitch seem off. It would buzz louder the harder the string was plucked, and so the problem was worsened when the string was played loudly. Thank goodness for regulators! 🙂
~Sam
When Zabaleta played with the San Antonio Symphony, I got a chance to take an up close look at his harp – the old brown Obermeyer with the 8th pedal –
1) Location 2) Reputation (I like to find recommendations from other teachers or harpsists and usually prefer that they have impressive credentials. I generally look for a teacher that is known to at least a decent chunk of the harpist population, at least here in America) 3) personality 5) how good they are as a general teacher 5) cost 6) goals 7) scheduling 8) technique
I find location important, as I am still too young to drive (or rather, haven’t gotten my license, but I go to boarding school anyway and am not allowed to drive) I think this one is obvious, because if you can’t get to them, then why consider them?
I think its also important that they are good as a teacher, not in specifics for playing the harp. I would like a teacher that is good at arranging recitals, can communicate with the right people,
Thank you for your very kind offer Bill and Jennifer. We’ll see what the future brings. That’s a fairly long and expensive trip. But who knows!
Hi – so sorry for your injury – how unfortunate!
Two of us here in San Antonio have actually taken our harps to the doctors office to show them what is involved physically with playing the instrument – and that includes having them come outside to watch us load and unload from the van. They had no idea the amount of physical work involved.Thanks everyone for your answers to my question. I am going to look into buying one of the programs mentioned once I have tried it out first. Happy composing!
Julia,
Have you heard of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp? They have a wonderful harp program for harpists of all skill levels with opportunities to work on solo music and play in harp ensembles. I went to Blue Lake as a camper for 3 summer sessions, and this past summer I worked as the harp assistant/counselor. It was a great experience both as a camper and as a counselor.The camp is in Twin Lakes, Michigan and each session is 12 days long. Being a harp major at Blue Lake is a lot of hard work, but it is a great experience!
Good luck!
~Stefanie
Hi,
I’m a harp-player from Germany and these are the webpages of my current project, Coronal Rain:
We have just released our first eclectic album of songs and instrumental pieces featuring acoustic and electric harps, keys, drums and vocals.
Best wishes and a happy 2010,
Nerissa
Carl,
Am no harpist but hit upon your forum researching an Erard Harp being sold at a New Year’s auction in Dallas, Pa. (near Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton)
Some of your fellow harpists might be interested
After reading your very thorough responses to fellow forum members, I am taking a pass on the harp. Clearly do not know enough to make a sound judgement.
