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Harpists can’t count, can’t sight read well and always play out of tune. I have heard this perception from quite a few other orchestra musician.
Harpists are rich and snobs. Probably have something to do with how financially demanding it is to own a harp.
I hope this belongs here, but how about orchestral jobs? I don’t mean the full time position pay, but those occassions when your local orchestra suddenly realised there is a harp part in the repertoire. How much is the normal ratw per performance and for rehearsals? And do you charge more if you have to bring your own harp?
While we’re in the topic, I just got a sort of weird experience.
Last night I got a call from someone needing a harpist for background music at a 2 hour dinner. I told them that while I am a harp student, I have never played in such events before and so am not confident to do it on such a short notice (plus I only have classical repertoire, which I figure will not do for a dinner)…and they said, they don’t care about my playing at all! They just want a harpist who can play a few simple tunes, as long as they look “pretty”.
I turned them down and just now I found out that they hired another harpist, who I know have only had like a dozen lessons, for $1000 (she is a professional catwalk model who plays harp occassionaly). So there you go, some clients really do not care about quality, but they are not afraid to pay a large amount of money for some glamorous action.
This is a stupid question, but how do you find out the standard rate in your area? Most harpists don’t readily tell their “competitors” that info.
I have never played at weddings myself so I have no experience. But I think if the client gets an average quote of say $300 and get one of $100, surely they won’t blindly immediately hire the cheaper one? They could ask for bios, samples etc…and if in the end they do decide to hire the $100 harpist, they are aware of what they are getting Sorry, I did not mean to offend anyone, just my opinion.
As for rates, a friend of mine lives overseas and he said harpists there charges $1000-3000 for an event.
Thanks Sid. I have ordered the book as well along with the felts. Wish me luck in changing it 🙂
I have to admit that I did not realize that the felts are so important for the pedals to function properly. Also I wonder how I manage to put a hole in it (futher checks revealed that I have also manage to worn the felt on the G pedal, it is torn but not all the way through like the F). I know I did not practice that much. Lol.
Thanks so much for the links, Emily. I must admit I find it daunting to do it myself, taking off the base and all…but I will order the felts and try to give it a go. I guess it will get less scary once you’ve done it once. I remembered being worried about transporting my harp in and out of the car to venues, when I first got the harp LOL.
Unfortunately there are no harp regulators near where I live. I looked at the pedal this morning and realized that the felt has actually worn off until it has a big hole in the middle of it. I wonder if that is what is causing the slipping.
I have done John Thomas’ Cambria with a pianist and it worked out quite well. Perhaps you could try that, or his harp duet on Subjects from Carmen
Thanks for all the advice everyone, and my friend would also like to extend her gratitude for all the encouragement. For anyone interested, she has decided to give it a go 🙂
But as she has anticipated, it is quite hard to find a willing teacher. She has contacted several harpists and as far as I know is still waiting for a positive reply. She has asked me if I was willing to teach her to start with, yet I’m not quite sure since I am still studying myself. But if she couldn’t find a teacher I guess I could give it a go.
I absolutely agree with janis-cortese. The fact that I can sight read beginner harp music quite easily made me neglect technique. Only when I got to more technically challenging music, that it became a problem. So that was a set back.
Thanks Sylvia… I was just unsure cause I have read somewhere that we should never leave a harp overnight inside a vehicle as the temperature may not be agreeable and could therefore damage the harp.
Two of my harpist friends own a Camac electric and they are wonderful. Looks cool, definitely easier to transport and great if you’re playing with a band…don’t have to worry about not being heard.
I don’t teach, but I know there are people who do without a college degree (and are not even in college).
Off topic, but a friend of mine was even learning an instrument (not the harp) from someone who has just studied it for 1-2 years.
So I don’t know… perhaps students are less selective nowadays.
They have sent me the parts! 🙂 I’m so relieved..sorry for sounding silly, but this is the first time I’ll play opera excerpts and I don’t want to screw it up. Thanks so much for your offer Elizabeth. This forum is wonderful.
That is indeed a very interesting article, but that probably only work for strings? I can’t imagine how woodwinds or brass could fake it like that.
