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Post by Misty on Feb 10, 2023 11:23:21 GMT
misty - which books are you using? Have you any suggestions? I got mine out yesterday. What I've lacked in practice and application I've made up for in books! 
To remind myself of the basics, I'm using Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp by Sylvia Woods, which is helping me to relearn setting groups of fingers on the strings (being a violinist, this doesn't come naturally to me).
My favourite book is called The Geneva Collection (which contains my absolute favourite harp piece, Caren's Farewell by Isobel Mieras - the first time I played it, I got to the end and went straight back to the beginning again). Some of my harp music from years ago when I actually had lessons, I have unfortunately lost, although it may still be lurking somewhere. I also have Basic Harp for Beginners by Laurie Riley and - something I am desperate to learn to play properly on harp - Pachelbel's Canon, arranged for harp solo, harp duet, harp and flute or harp and violin (arranged by Sylvia Woods).
Which books do you have, Zi? Any favourites out of your collection?
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Post by Zi on Feb 10, 2023 11:51:44 GMT
I have a lot of beginner books mostly because I never got very far and each time I failed, I compensated by buying a new book. Here goes... try not to laugh too much! Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp by Sylvia Woods (Found that hard!) Harpsicle Harp Method - Darlene Walton (Went too fast for me) Folk Harp Method - Maeve Gilchrist (Looks nice, comes with a CD not sure I've ever opened it!) Basic Harp for Beginners - Laurie Riley (Actually very good especially if you can't read music) Play The Harp Beautifully - Pamela Bruner (That's what I'm using now. I'm treating the title ironically!) I've got a few books of harp music but the only one that contains anything I ever managed to play is First Harp Book by Betty Paret - Dorfmouse suggested it eons ago and I managed to play the first page! I don't think the forum should hope for too much! I've forgotten all of the bass clef even the mnemonic... Last time I learned the bass clef I used a keyboard I bought specially for the task. I really don't want to do beginners keyboard as well... as what with the harp and the clarinet that would amount to an hour a day!  However, this morning first of all I spent 20 minutes searching for the clamp that fits the harp to the harp stand and then I did about 15 minutes of harp. Basically once I realised I'd forgotten the bass clef, I just practised plucking strings. I feel really calm... I never ever feel like this after the clarinet... |
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Post by evergreen on Feb 10, 2023 22:09:44 GMT
I agree about the harp being calming, it has a beautiful sound :  : Hoping you'll put a soundtrack up in due course  |
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Post by Zi on Feb 11, 2023 9:38:32 GMT
I agree about the harp being calming, it has a beautiful sound : : Hoping you'll put a soundtrack up in due course I will! I'll get my husband to check it's in tune first though. But no matter. Whatever I do to the harp to me sounds beautiful. Not so the recorder and the clarinet. |
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Post by Misty on Feb 12, 2023 17:13:04 GMT
Harping is sounding marginally better. I dipped into Basic Harp for Beginners this afternoon, and went on quite a bit through the book (although much practice needed). Rolled chords bothered me a little, but it's interesting to have a different approach to Sylvia Woods. I was put off Basic Harp to start with because I felt there was too much text and not enough notation.
I've decided it might be better to allocate days of the week to specific instruments, rather than thinking: "Okay, what do I have the energy for tonight?" (Not much these days - I could sleep for Scotland just now!) Also, as Keff was saying in another thread, it's probably a much better idea to practice in the mornings. I think I just need quite a lot more discipline!
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Post by Zi on Feb 12, 2023 17:34:17 GMT
Hmmm that sounds really sensible! I'm not good at sensible! What's a rolled chord? It sounds extremely advanced! I've forgotten the very little I learned. I didn't play the harp at all last year so I'm not sure when the last time was I tried playing anything. I can no longer read the bass clef. Have you seen the Christmas challenge here... ? |
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Post by Misty on Feb 12, 2023 18:10:01 GMT
A rolled chord is just one where the notes are played in quick succession from the bottom upwards (like you do in piano where you get that squiggly line after a chord). It's not advanced at all, and you can learn all about them on page 44 of Basic Harp for Beginners. (Now, there's a challenge for you, and I will look forward to hearing how you are getting on with them!)
I also tried crossovers (I had forgotten all about those!), attempted a two-octave scale of C to practise the crossovers, and began just the very beginning of Pachelbel's Canon in D. I can play the first line - not very well - but onwards and upwards!
At the moment, I am having great trouble trying to remember not to let my left forearm rest against the soundbox - but it likes to have something to hang on to so it feels "at home". This could become a very bad habit unless I'm careful.
The Christmas Challenge....well....that would mean recording me, and then posting it on the forum, which all sounds much too scarily technological for me! (And then there are those crippling performance anxiety issues.) But let's see what happens - I might be feeling brave one day, but I would have to improve a lot before that happens!
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Post by Zi on Feb 12, 2023 18:54:20 GMT
I'm on Page 1 or thereabouts! It'll be some time before I get to chords. I'm really back at that point where you pluck a string remembering to open and close your hand properly. I think it will be some little time! But I do enjoy 'playing' with it - it is extremely soothing in a way the recorder wasn't at that same stage. It just sounded awful all the time. I never learned piano so having to deal with both bass and treble clefs is novel... |
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Post by Zi on Feb 15, 2023 8:47:37 GMT
Misty, where do you put your music stand when you're playing the harp? I'm really not sure where to stick it! I tend to put it on the left hand side but I've read somewhere that it ought to be on the right...
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Post by Misty on Feb 15, 2023 9:52:58 GMT
Like you, Zi, I put the music stand on the left. If it was on the right, wouldn't the shoulder of the harp be in between one's head and the music? That is the case with me because my harp is floor-standing, but it might work for you if you have enough "head room" above your harp when you are playing it.
I haven't found the perfect solution, though, as even at its lowest position my wooden stand is too high (or perhaps my stool is too low!) and I don't want to have another one in the room because of the footprint and size of the room. I need to sort something out, though, because I'm craning my neck to look up at the music. I wonder if it's possible to get a music stand that attaches to the wall? That might be a solution. Or if there isn't one, I could give Mr M a little project....!
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Post by Zi on Feb 15, 2023 10:24:55 GMT
I feel like I'd like it in front of me but that doesn't work. I'm sure I've seen music stands attached to some of the bigger haps but that wouldn't work on mine. Mine is on a stand to play it which makes it much easier to handle. I have a harness too but I've never got on with that at all.
I agree something on the wall might be the best way forward. Our music room is tiny - your use of 'foot print' made me smile because you wouldn't get many foot prints in our music room! It has Mr Z's piano and a couple of huge cabinets with drawers in which we keep our music. There's also a built in desk which was done a very long time ago - long before we came here. And that's it. My harp is put away after each practice and we're always moving the music stand about as it's always in the way!
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Post by Misty on Feb 15, 2023 16:04:27 GMT
(Deleted)
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Post by Misty on Feb 15, 2023 16:06:04 GMT
Ha! I think I have cracked it. I've found a wooden table top music stand online that folds away after use, and won't make a mess of the wall. We have a shelved unit in our music room where it can sit and it should be just at the right height. (But it will still go on the left.)
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Post by Zi on Feb 15, 2023 17:58:37 GMT
Great! That's good news! I'm sticking with my music stand for the time being until I figure out what the problem is. I just wondering what I read. It was some time ago - it might have been DON'T put it on the right!  |
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Post by Misty on Feb 17, 2023 19:10:00 GMT
Thinking back to my early harp lessons, I have always put it on the left, and no-one has ever said that's wrong.... I'm a bit stuck on The Spider's Hornpipe in Basic Harp (p32). The last line is in contrary motion, and it seems to be much harder to do that on harp than on piano. But I don't want to move on until I've mastered it.
How are you getting on?
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: Hoping you'll put a soundtrack up in due course 
