[Veronika]

Gretchen, that’s a great idea. I’ll definitely give it a go. My harp teacher uses a “tuning sock” for tuning, but I had not heard of the felt strips and I didn’t know you could actually play with them, not just tune.

Hearpe, those are great!

Miriam, many thanks. I’m going to take Deette up on her offer of a stand, but it’s very kind of you.

Thank you all!

[Veronika]

Thank you all for your replies.

Deette, that’s a very kind offer, thank you. I’ve sent you an e-mail.

harpist123, could you possibly post a picture of your box? (I’ll check out the storage bins, too. I like the idea of decorating the box with fabric.)

Tacye, actually, that has never occurred to me, weirdly enough! 😀 I saw that they provide legs for the FH26, but those seemed too long, so I never investigated further.

[Veronika]

Hi Miriam, thanks, I did try that, but then I’d be sitting too low – I’m quite tall, so I do need a higher bench.

[Veronika]

What about Delacour levers? Does anyone here have experience with them? My rental harp has Camacs, which are perfectly fine, but I prefer the look of the Delacours and I’m thinking of getting them when I get my own harp. (I tried Lovelands and found them much more difficult to flip than Camacs, but I’m a complete beginner, so that might not be a problem of the levers!)

[Veronika]

Those are cool, Andy! Thanks!

[Veronika]

Hi Biagio,

Thanks so much for such a wealth of information! My teacher has also recommended playing with my eyes closed, so as to better concentrate on technique. I’ll keep doing that and will look into the other things you’ve recommended. I especially like the idea of colouring the tuning pegs. (I’ll have to put something removable on them, perhaps tie pieces of string on them, because I’m renting the harp and I doubt the shop would be too impressed if they got the harp back with some added colours!)

I’ve just bought Bochsa Revisited, which is rather too difficult for me at the moment, so I’ll look at the exercise books you mention.

Exciting times!

[Veronika]

Thanks, Biagio. I agree that the best thing would be to get used to the wrong standard colours. I’m OK in the middle three octaves, but the moment I get above the stave is where the confusion really hits. I’m going to draw red and blue lines through the staves in the pieces where I struggle, hopefully it’ll help to create new associations in time.

[Veronika]

Alyson, I naturally associate F with red and C with grey-blue, so exactly the other way round than it’s on the harp.

I’m also curious whether the association of these two colours will swap completely if/when I get used to the way it’s on the harp.

So far I’ve been trying to associate the two colours with positions of the notes on the stave, rather than with letters, when playing, so that’s helping a bit. For example, I am trying to connect the red strings to the image of the middle C in treble clef. I feel more comfortable with F than with C, for some reason, so that’s my reference point now. (Though the F strings on my teacher’s harp are black, which always throws me again! At least now I know, thanks to you, that it’s because they are gut strings.)

I haven’t heard about the names-flavours association, that does sound potentially unpleasant… I associate numbers and positions in space, which is apparently (like the letters-colours) one of the most common forms of synesthesia.

Biagio, thanks for the detailed instructions! I had no idea you could do that. My harp has nylon strings, so it’s an option. Would it work also on the bass strings, those with the thin wire around them?

I will try to get used to the “wrong” colours, but it’s good to know that there’s a solution if I continue to struggle.

[Author]

Posts