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Thanks! I wish I could do a summer program, but it seems impossible to even get my teacher to give me lessons over the summer, and she wouldn’t approve of me going to something like that without her knowledge and consent. Anyhow, I am definitely going to try to go to some concerts…in fact, my teacher’s teacher is performing at a festival pretty close by at the end of this month, and I’m hoping to go to that. I think she’s playing a Debussy trio. The festival orchestra is doing an all-Ravel concert that same day, I think, so it’s a great opportunity to hear harp! Thanks again for your suggestions!
Vince
Oops…I should have been a little more specific!
I will be taking lessons over the summer. I will begin Lariviere and Chanson dans la Nuit, and I am currently working on Syliva Woods’ arrangement of Canon in D, La Joyeuse by Rameau/Salzedo, and exercises from the Salzedo/Lawrence method book. I seem to be working on a lot of scale patterns and finger crossings (Canon and La Joyeuse), and I’m trying to clean those up. Also, I’m working on oscillation (which is definitely a weak point for me), avoiding buzzing when replacing on scale patterns in the low octaves, and trying to stay relaxed and comfortable when playing. I’ve noticed that it seems to make my finger crossings better when my thumbs are higher on the strings and third and fourth fingers are lower. I also want to work on my left hand; when I place all four fingers, as in a scale pattern, I feel like I have no control and I don’t get much sound. Also, I want to better observe and eliminate extraneous motion from my playing and make that more fluid. I think I might videotape myself. I will keep you updated on what my teacher says. I’m not sure how many lessons I will be able to get this summer, but they will be very useful nevertheless. I think that’s it, and if you’ve read all that, thanks! 🙂
VinceP.S. – Carl, you’d be glad to know we are having a harp maintenance workshop tomorrow. We’ll be replacing strings and each of us gets to refelt a pedal on our gold Salvi.
The light fixtures in most of the practice rooms at my school (which might as well all be one big room, since there’s no soundproofing) all seem to vibrate on B or A. Makes playing in a woodwind quintet no fun for the bassoon and horn. I think this summer I’ll make a habit of taking the harp downstairs out of the practice room into a place where it can really sound like a harp.
I’ve noticed one thing, though I’m sure it’s not a wolf sound, but on our Salvi Iris, when I play the lowest E string, it buzzes like crazy (even when I play softly) unless I pluck it extremely carefully. This doesn’t happen on our other harps (LH 17 and 23). Is the string too old, or am I just playing it wrong? And also, if I want to play a really loud octave in the bass, how do I keep from getting the false string effect? It seems to happen when I play a low octave with a flat hand, 3 & 4 on the lower octave string and thumb on the upper note and try to play ff. Maybe I should just be more delicate? I want the loudest, most resonant sound say, on lowest two G’s. Should I play it normally with 1 and 4 open, or as I did before, with flat hand and two fingers on the lower note? Thanks (and sorry for being a little off topic).
Vince
Well, I have yet to own my own harp and can’t wait until the day I do, but we have this old LH 17 at our school that one of the girls calls the ‘short bus’ harp 😛 I really love the delicate sound it has, and it’s a little lighter. The soundboard is a bit bowed, and the pedals are kind of stiff, and it’s hard to tune, but for some reason I like it. I also like it partly because it’s not as heavy, and it looks like a 23 but isn’t so flowery. I sort of think of it as my harp because no one else really plays it. Maybe I could buy it from the school…hm. But I am so curious to see and hear one of those ancient Erards. I love your description of the pedal flap! I can just imagine that…and how sad that it was destroyed like that! I know I would be in tears if that ever happened to me! What do you play on now, just out of curiosity? No rubber bands, I suppose…
Vince
I (unfortunately) live in Waco, Texas, known for David Koresh, a murdered men’s basketball team member (and women’s NCAA champions), and Dr. Pepper. Fortunately for me there is a school here called Baylor University with a great music program that will be giving me a degree in a couple years! I’m originally from El Paso, Texas, and if it weren’t for that, I would have started learning the harp as soon as I knew what it was! Thank goodness we have a harp teacher here!
Vince PierceOh – and I’ll be spending five weeks in Paris/Lyon this summer for study abroad, and I’m just going to say I ‘live’ there! I will be staying with a French family, so I guess I’m entitled to say that 🙂
You know, I really agree with you, Saul. Harp is actually a very versatile instrument, just like piano. The way a musician presents him- or herself should be relative to the venue, audience, and type of music you are playing. I think everyone should appreciate their own individuality, but also appreciate the centuries (or in the harp’s case, millenia!) of evolution and passion for music that has gone into making each instrument and genre of music what it is. Without people making changes, the harp wouldn’t even have pedals, and flutes would still be made of wood and play nine notes! Musical tradition is important, but some traditions are stupid. It’s a matter of knowing the difference. I wouldn’t perform in a wind ensemble or orchestra concert in the same red shirt and suspenders that I use for jazz band! Individuality is what makes our world what it is, but being Bohemian wouldn’t be possible if someone wasn’t conventional. I can definitely attest to that, having just marched in a gay pride parade in Houston…where there were legions of drag queens. And there is nothing wrong with drag queens, Saul. But really, don’t let them dress you! lol (I couldn’t resist adding my part to the world’s longest internet discussion about barefoot harp-playing) Ciao!
VinceHi, Lauren! I am about to enter my sophomore year in college, and I’m going to begin learning harp this fall. I go to Baylor University in Waco, Texas. I am a music education major with a concentration in clarinet and secondary in oboe. My clarinet teacher is very supportive of my learning the oboe (not so much of harp), and our pre-med and science programs are the biggest schools at Baylor. We have a very good harp teacher, Dr. Juliette Buchanan from Houston. Our music school is not small, but it is not as large as UT Austin, or UNT. We have about four harp majors at any given time, and a few non-majors taking lessons. Not that I’m trying to recruit you or anything…(even though I am), but you should look into Baylor. But I agree also that you should apply to as many schools as possible and discuss this with the clarinet professor, the harp professor, and even a biology professor. They can probably give you some good advice about which avenue to pursue. A student just graduated from here who was the first person in the 160 year history of Baylor to graduate with a Bachelor’s in Music Performance (flute) and a double minor in biology and chemistry. He’s now going to study medicine at St. Thomas’ or something in London. So it’s possible. Good luck!
Vince
