Only 6 days to go until my next lesson. I have a filthy chest infection, so hoping I will be better by then. I keep flipping through my harp music and trying to remember what to do...

It can't be Christmas time: no-one has asked me to play the Ceremony of Carols!

Park Stickney has put a rather fun (if your ideas of fun include moving three pedals simultaneously) arrangement of O Christmas Tree on his website (jazzharp.com)

I have been getting on fine since my first lesson - I am working at 4 short pieces of about 16 bars each - and I seem to have two things to work at:

- my right hand works fine but when I add in my left for the odd chord or note i feel like my two hands are not connected to the same body!!!

- placing my fingers on the strings is a weird thing too - I am used to piano music - as in "see it, play it" - but now I have to look ahead and I am not used to this!!

I am sure this is normal so I am just going s... l...o...w...l.....y until I get the hang of it !



Elizabeth

I'm not sure if I should be looking at the strings or the music? Any thoughts? I'm a look at the music person when I play the piano, but my harp teacher favours memorisation, so presumably wants me to look at my fingers. I can see myself getting a bit cross-eyed trying to do both.

For the life of me I can't find the notes on the harp without my eyes glued to my fingers and strings It probably has to do with unfamiliarity with the instrument, I guess, since I've only been learning for about 6-7 months (I don't look at my hands when playing the piano except perhaps quick looks at any big jumps, but then I can't remember whether I had to look at my hands when I was starting out on the piano years ago...) I'm not great at memorising things so it's my goal for next year actually to be able to play while looking at the music. (Incidentally I just wrote this in the 2009 goals thread). At the moment I'm just playing grade 2-3 pieces at most so I can afford to quickly glance through a couple of bars and then play while looking at my fingers/strings, but once I proceed on to more complex pieces, I doubt I'll be able to sightread and retain a couple of bars in just a quick glance

Eventually you may want to look at the strings very little; it is pretty hard to watch a conductor, strings and music all at once when doing orchestral sightreading. It does however take time to learn where the strings are and this is the reason behind consistent fingering rules. As a beginner I would suggest you watch your hands for hand position- it is easier to check your thumbs are up and your fingers aren't clawed if you are looking at them- and incidentally check you are getting the right string with the right finger to build up the memory of where they are.

Thanks, that is helpful.

5 days to lesson, and counting.

Edit : Less than 2 days to go **excited** - and I get double time, so we can look at some harps **even more excited**

Well done, Elizabeth! You sound like you're getting on really well

Sue, good luck for your lesson - it's not long to go now!


Thanks so much for this link - it's a really cool arrangement Three pedals at once... ...is that actually possible?!

Not really Xmassy, but I'm tackling the first page of Stairway to Heaven. I'm in a fix 'cos I don't undertsand the second page or how to read it, and my tutor is on hiatus til Jan 6th!

It's funny you should mention Meinir - it was her that inadvertently got me into the harp. When I was 17 (a long time ago!!!) the landlord of my bedsit in Pontypridd approached me and said he knew the lady in the big house across the road, and she was looking for someone to tend to her garden over the summer. She had a big conservatory out back, in which she played an enormous harp. She was working on something for the Welsh National Orchestra, so I got to hear and get to know the harp really well as I gardened all through that summer.

Every now and again she'd invite me in to have a chat about the lawn and stuff, make me an iced lemon drink, and show me the scores she was working on. She explained how to her reading a score was like reading a book to me. She also played some stuff for me occasionally. Anyway, the end result was that I vowed that one day when I had the money and the time, I would learn to play.

Well, the years went by; University came and went, I got a respectable job in the City Centre and worked my way up the ranks. I'd forgotten my promise to myself until nearly two decades later, when a variety of factors all fell into place at the same time.

First of all, my company floated and as a reward or my loyalty I got a huge amount of shares. After getting practical things done (paying off mortgage, learning to drive and buying a car) I still had a large chunk of money sitting there doing nothing. At the same time, that Jamiesons advert was on telly - the rocker playing '20th Century Boy' on the harp. These stirred my memories of that summer tending the garden and listening to the harp. I went on a bit of a mad streak all of a sudden buying any harp CD I could find. However, there was one that swung it completely for me - Joanna Newsom's 'YS'. Within 3 months of getting that album I knew what I had to do - make good on that promise I'd made nearly two decades earlier.

So nearly two years ago now I got a nice lever harp, the Pilgrim Clarsach, and started to learn. I thought 'I may as well entertain the kids at the same time' so ordered a book of Nursery Rhymes for lever. The day it arrived I opened up the envelope, pulled it out and turned to the back, and there to my surprise was the face of the lady whose garden I had tended! I felt strangely that I had come full circle. Of course, that lady was Meinir Heulyn.

I've met her since, as my tutor knows her well, but she doesn't remember me. However, she seemed pleased she had influenced me to take up her favourite instrument. I've played a few of her pieces now, Caru Doli being my favourite.

So that's how I ended up with a harp bigger than me in my wee terraced house in Cardiff!

Have you guys got any stories about how you got into the harp, or any tales on your journey learning how to play it?

Well lesson number 2 went well and I now have sore fingers!! I'm sure I shall develop all sorts of horrible bad habits before lesson 3 (in 3 weeks time ) but at least I have a harp to practice on now. Took some snaps of my teacher's hands so that I can remind myself of the right positions! My right wrist/forearm feels quite bruised - guess I'm pressing too hard..

Loving it!!

That's a good idea sue - I too am struggling a bit with hand position as I keep lapsing into a more casual style but my teacher says not to worry as I will get the hang of it - she didn't have to correct me much today, but its more when I am at home practising that I am concentrating so hard on the music and strings that I forget about my hands! It is my focus for the christmas holidays to work hard at this.

Elizabeth

You know the old chestnut about 10,000 hours to get competent at an instrument. I thought it might be interesting to see how it stacks up - I'm keeping a log...

Also totting up how much I spend on this venture - well into 4 figures already, gulp!

Cost, wow i know - me too, and I just bought some harp books ....... Christmas present to myself for working hard all year

Found a broken string when I went to practise this evening I suppose it is bound to happen. Made me wonder whether the room is too cold - I'm keeping my harp in with the piano - no central heating in that room and tends to be a bit cold. It was 2nd string down from the top, so not one I am using at present. Darn, don't suppose I can get a replacement this side of Xmas. Roll on lesson 3 (17 days...not that I'm counting or anything.)

If I may advise- practice tying knots in the broken string so you are confident before venturing on to the new one...

Harps don't mind the cold within reason (freezing temperatures can cause some finises to crackle) and should be happy anywhere suitable for a good piano. Strings just break occasionally even with the best treatment, especially gut ones.

Thanks erard, will do.

As a piano, flute and clarsach player sight-reading is something I should get lots of practice at. However my clarsach teacher uses an unusual method of not giving me the music until I have learnt the whole piece with both hands. Obviously as a clarsach player I play mostly traditional music with lots of repeats and recurring themes thus making the music easier to memorise . I do think though that this teaching method leaves me more free to concentrate on my technique. I also think it helps develop a more musical ear. Having to memorise the music also gives me a better understanding of the form and structure of the piece. This method would be completely impossible with most classical pedal harp pieces. However, the idea of being more free to concentrate on the sound being produced is a good one I beleive.

I seem to learn best by knowing exactly how the piece sounds too, and just using the sheet music as a guide. Quite often when my tutor takes me through a new piece I'll film her. Then, at home before I tackle it I'll watch it back on my PSP, learning the sound and watching her technique. Usually then the sheet music just becomes a reminder to follow rather than something I'm reading. I learned Cachonne that way, and I'm doing Prelude by Bach in the same manner. Of course, the sheet is essential for reminding me of pedal changes, but knowing the sound from start to finish is a real boon.

Well I am definitely making progress - I can now play with looking at the strings, and also by looking at the music - not at the same time obviously, but for different pieces that i know more or less well.

It would seem that my fingers are getting used to the size of gaps between strings.

I hope my teacher sees the benefit of my holiday practising - I see her this week. I have been working at my hand shape, not convinced I have it yet (but then I've only 3 lesssons ).

Eliz

I've just had lesson number 3. Good session with some new technique, using my 3rd fingers now.. Teacher is a bit chaotic - runs late, lots of interruptions etc, driving me a bit barmy, but I'm getting what I want out of the lessons, so plugging on. Another few weeks to wait (again ) before the next one, so I've got plenty of new stuff to work on. I'm trying to get my technique absolutely right from the outset, but it is HARD!! Trying to memorise pieces too - new for me as I never memorised with any other instrument. Teacher is starting an ensemble for a concert next Xmas - goodee!!