Author Archives: Jen

Doubt

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This week I was feeling the need for a little inspiration – probably because it’s August and summer and sunny and delightful, so of course I want to be outside enjoying the niceness.  But I’ve got other things to do…like practice.  Do you ever notice how when you most need to practice you also most feel like you need to be more than that?  Or maybe that’s just me.  Either way, this week, just a little share.  If you feel that way sometimes too, this can serve as a reminder that when you’re standing on the horizon, nothing looks close (or do-able) but just like the dawn, just give it a sec and you’ll get there — don’t doubt!

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Color outside the lines?

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It’s all there in Black and White.

The treble lines, the bass lines.

Five lines of instructions (actually, 10 for us – plus ledger lines!). Play this note at this time…and all those other notes too, in order, as written.

So let it be written, so let it be done!

Except…wait a minute – last week we talked about the importance of asking questions…including my favorite – why? And a few weeks before that we talked about how sometimes meter and tempo get conflated and confused. So, this is sort of the same idea – We often make flawed assumptions about how we know what to play. And this week, we’ll talk about another flawed assumption that can make playing more difficult (and a way around it!)*.

Sometimes we mix up the register and the hand. This is especially easy to do because we are taught that way. And, to be honest, about 99.99999999999999999999999999999% of the time that is the right solution. But sometimes it’s just silly. Imagine if you were presented with this**:

Your experience, your practice and your efficiency all drive you to play all that mess in your left hand – even as the music tells your right hand to pack a bag and go on vacation! And you will likely tear yourself inside out trying to make it happen – possibly with the right hand sympathetically gripping the sound board tightly in terrorized support, hanging on like a terrified passenger on the back of a wobbly Harley.

Or what about this?

Same thing, only this time it’s the left-hand packing for a trip to the Bahamas!

Why do we do this? Well, because the ink said to, so we must.

It has always been thus.

But do we really? NO!!

Because while the ink tells you What and When –

it actually says n-o-t-h-i-n-g about How!

Read that again.

Of course, it’s easy to think like that –

Bass = Left hand and Treble = Right hand

And it’s easy to not think about what hand makes sense to be playing at that point.  After all,

Melody = right hand and harmony = left hand

Sic semper tyrannis

But does it even make sense to do it that way?***

After all, you have one harp and all the sounds come from it. Harmony and melody – all from one source – so really, which hand you use doesn’t really matter.

Now, I’m not advocating that you throw away all that practice and tradition. Instead, I’m suggesting that when you are struggling to make some fingering work, try to work smarter rather than harder.

I’ll remind you: the staff tells you What and When but

not How!

There’s another benefit of thinking about “breaking” the arrangements differently – and that is that the more ways you can look at the music (divergently), the more you will see new ways to play it. You’ll also “discover” patterns that were previously hidden from you that can then be leveraged, and the more you will think creatively (yea divergent thinking!).

Remember that the ink is a guide, but you must make the journey!

Do you ever color outside the lines?  What wonky passages have you struggled with and how did you overcome that?  Let me know in the comments!

* Special thanks to Rachelle Morgan who asked this question in Ask a Harp Pro on Facebook!

** Unceremoniously pinched from Rachelle’s question but slightly modified

***I need to credit Sue Richards for teaching me to think this way. Otherwise, I’d still be fighting to make stupid stuff work out and playing slowly, unable to catch up.

Be Curious

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Curious, this topic, is it not?  Exactly!

There are many ways to be creative, but it is easy to believe all these ways require loads of time and resources.  And honestly, many do – retreats, journals, art supplies, new instruments, group activities, etc. can all be time and money expensive.

But curiosity is a surefire way to enhance your creativity and you don’t need a lot of time or money to implement it!

People think curiosity is a talent, but instead, think of it as a skill.  As a skill, you can work on develop it – developing it as your own curiosity. 

How?  Well, I’m glad you were curious enough to ask!  I listed a few things to try.  Even if you are already fairly curious, you might learn some ways to grow that –

  1. Unleash your inner two-year-old and ask Why – two-year-olds do it relentlessly, so why don’t you? (see what I did! 😉).  Don’t just question authority – question everything.  Really push on your assumptions, boundaries, and knowledge.
  2. Unleash your inner ‘tween and ask Why Not – they too ask this relentlessly and with good reason – why not, after all?  What’s stopping you?
  3. Be brave – when you’re alone.  This should be the easiest time to be brave – but sometimes it’s the most difficult because it’s when you’re face to face with your biggest nay-sayer and critic.  There’s no escape.  But still, it is the best place to try being brave – who’s going to tell you no?  Only you.  But this can be your time to:
    1. Explore – ask the questions you might have been suppressing – why can’t you play a Qmin7dimsus chord there?  What happens if you put a jazz chord progression into your trad tune?  What happens if you shift the time signature?  How would this sound in another key or another mode? Or a different register?  There’s no road map, that’s why it’s called exploring!
    2. Record and play back – after all, you’re probably not going to like all the answers you come up with your your questions, but every answer deserves to be heard and decided on its merits (and if like me you make noises but can’t remember them – or if you liked them, or if they even were an answer to your question – recording will help!).
    3. Play like no one is listening – because they’re not!  You can make all the noises you want!  And the great thing about sound?  It dissipates and is gone in an instant!  Yea music!
  4. Be exceptional.  Be the 2% who ask.  It really won’t kill you to ask someone else a question.  And if you think you should never ask a star or harp hero your question – well, they likely will surprise you (if only because they too are curious people…and usually very nice).  They may have a ready answer (if they’ve run into curious people before) or they may not (if you’ve asked a very different question).  But just you asking may incline them to become curious about your question too.
  5. Hang out with other curious people – misery isn’t the only thing that loves company – curious people love to hang out with other curious people, if only to hear what you’ll ask next!  Bonus, you’ll spur one another onto to new topics of interest, new questions, and possibly new discoveries.

Remember, the purpose of being curious and asking questions is not to get answers.  The real purpose is to see what questions arise from the answers you get.  To remain curious, you have to keep questioning – and those pearls you garner will feed your creativity!

But maybe this is a bridge too far for you?  After all, it is easy for me. *  If you want to ask the questions but are timid (even (or especially) with yourself), just start by positing questions on paper.  Just write it down.  Throw it away if the questions make you uncomfortable.

What?

Because it’s not the questions that matter – it’s the questioning that’s so important.  Curiosity grows from questions, not from answers.  And as you become more comfortable with asking questions, you’ll be more comfortable with flexibility and being innovative…. which will lead you to more questions – and a really fun, unending cycle of curiosity and creativity!

Because curiosity didn’t kill the cat – it kept it a kitten!

Like developing any skill, you will have to work at this.  You will need to practice asking questions, especially if it’s new to you.  Try starting out by asking just three questions a day.  Why is a great question starter!  (e.g., Why are my scales sloppy?  Why do you play a D chord there?) but what or how will are also interesting (What would happen if I played this in 3/4 rather than 6/8? How does that melody develop?)  Of course, when you start you might falter.  If that happens – ask yourself why? 😉  It does get easier with practice.  And your questions will get better too.

What are you curious about?  Ask me anything (in the comments below)! 

 

 

* No, it’s not, nothing is easy for me, but I fake it…and frankly, I’m curious if I’ll ever find something that is easy!  

Admiring your handiwork

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Is there any more satisfying feeling than letting out a beautiful harmony?

Admiring your handiworkWhen you’re beginning it will be the satisfaction of actually playing the single note – the right note at the right time.  Even better if you used the finger you intended and the note that sounded wasn’t a complete surprise! *

As you become more experienced and more practiced, you add more notes to the harmony, but that joy of the sound doesn’t really dim.

And all of that would be great…if there was only one harmony note or chord required.  But inevitably, the arranger had other ideas and puts a long succession of harmony notes together.

And that’s when the hitch enters the git-along!

The more surprised and delighted you are by the notes hanging in the air, sparkling and glistening like a goldfish in Fairy Dust, the more likely you will be captivated.  And why shouldn’t you be?  After all – goldfish!  Fairy Dust!  Delight!  You did good – your handiwork is admirable.

But that pesky arranger…now you’re expected to do it again.  Probably in a different place on the harp.  With another finger.  And probably at the same time as some melody note!  And again. And again. And again.  Measure after measure.  And then…the repeat! 

Are they mad?!

Sadly, bringing the tune out means you have not really got time to admire your handiwork at the same time you are delivering one admirable handiwork after another.  So unfair!

One of the mysteries you get to unlock relatively early in your journey is this sublimation and accumulation of little joys for a big burst of delight at the end of the piece.

What?   Ok, here’s the translation, sans waxing lyrical –

When you are playing, once you have closed for that note (or chord) –

Move along! 

Get where you are going next!

There’s nothing to see here! **

Because there is a next chord and the one after that, etc. ad nauseum. 

This needs to be practiced – this moving from one beautifully executed thing to another. Because if you think about playing a tune like it is a puzzle to put together, or a problem to solved, or a recipe to follow – your brain needs to sequence through the information – left hand here, right hand place and play – now left hand, back to right hand, and on again.

As soon as you play the left hand, your brain drops thinking about that harmony and that left hand like a hot potato and rushes on to the next thing (probably a melody note or whatever comes next in the sequence).  And it doesn’t think about the left hand again until it must!

All in all, no big deal – you do this all the time.  It’s called serial processing.  But what’s happened?  Well, you played the left hand note (or chord).  You’ve closed beautifully (right?).  And you left it there hanging over the soundboard.    So now, it’s later and time to get to the left hand on again.  AND IT’S NOWHERE NEAR WHERE YOU NEED IT!!!  Because you left it there, hovering over the sound board, handiwork to be admired. 

So, how to fix this?  Well – you practice!  Practice moving while you have the time, and train your brain to process in a controlled serial fashion.

To start with, SLOW DOWN.  Serial processing means you’re dealing with one thing at a time.  You might think you’re a multitasker, but nope, it only looks like it.  For highly practiced activities you can switch rapidly between them but that’s not multitasking. If you’re not well practiced at moving, you will need additional time to think about it and then make it happen. 

LOOK AT THE INTERFACES.  This is how I think of the timing – it is the interface between the left hand playing, the right hand playing, the melody, the harmony, and time.  Getting all of these to line up is tricky, especially at first.  Start by finding where they all touch each other – this is a good place to start. 

LOOK FOR THE HOLES. This is where no notes are being played in either hand – this helps form a scaffolding for your thinking and makes a good movement time!

SLOW DOWN.  Don’t ask me how I know you’ve already sped up!

MAKE THE SHIFT.  As you begin to play, think ahead.  Play slowly enough that you can think.  Once you’ve placed, you don’t need to think about where your fingers are.  And if, as soon as you play, you move to the next place and get your fingers on to the next shape, then you don’t have think about it again until the next time!  This is one of the things that more experienced players are better at…. because they have more practice and they have learned to think ahead.

See what we did there?  We shifted moving and placing further forward in our thinking sequence rather than letting the notes come at us like a fusillade.  But you do need to practice thinking like that.  The sequence becomes play –> move –> place –> play –> etc.  Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

All of this is predicated on your already having learned the melody enough to being to add the harmony.  This is also equally applicable to either hand and to reading or playing by rote.  It does take practice.  And it is totally worth the time to avoid feeling rushed and unconfident.  And once you master this, you can focus on other things that will improve your musicality. 

Have you really learned how to move along rather than admiring your handiwork so you can get where you need to be next?  Do you have other strategies?  Let me know in the comments!

* Sometimes you tell me that you feel like I am speaking directly to you.  That’s because…I am!  No matter where you are on your journey, the difference between us is likely just time and focus.  I was a beginner at one point – an adult who struggled with making time to practice, showing up for lessons embarrassed that I hadn’t had enough practice because I was busy doing other things, but willing to take the lash (which, of course, never came, because I had wonderful, cherishing teachers who gently corrected my technique and repertoire and encouraged me to become the harp player I wanted to be).  I thought it would be easier.  I love playing my harp.  I was afraid of a lot of things – playing in public, music I hadn’t learned yet, embarrassing myself, not getting better, failing – the usual stuff.  And I remember it like it was yesterday – because it was (figuratively).  I share my thoughts here so that you can learn from my mistakes…and go on to make your own spectacular mistakes that I hope you’ll share with me!  We’re all learning – I’m just willing to talk about it! 😉

** We’re talking about the left hand/harmony but this is also applicable and just as important in the right hand/melody.

Don’t be Vanilla

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Don't be vanillaPeople often tell me that all Celtic music sounds the same – the Irish tunes, the Scottish tunes, the Welsh, the Galician, the Breton ones too.  When I started playing the harp, I agreed – I couldn’t tell them apart.  The only way I could be sure was that the tunes on Great Highland Bagpipe were Scottish (probably). 

Over time, and with the help of great teachers, I learned to listen.  And over time, by listening, the sounds and styles of the music become less opaque (even to me and I don’t listen very well).  Those sounds and stylistic elements that arise from the music reflect the different, but related, cultures. 

These idiomatic elements are really interesting (especially if you’re nerdy!).  I’m always curious about how people define themselves and the things they create to define their groups.  If you grow up inside a group, you may not even be able to detect the “fence” that defines that group, but you know where that fence is.  And if you are interested, you can not only begin to see the fence, you can even learn what it is made of.

The idiomatic elements are the fence and are everywhere throughout the music.  These elements help define the music.  So studying these (or at a minimum, observing them) can help level up your musicianship.  And if you think this only applies to Celtic music, think again.  Every genre of music reflects a set of idioms.  Whether it’s classical, Top 40, hip hop, Scandinavian, medieval, reggae, whatever – the idioms make the music identifiable (and classifiable). 

Now, while it is possible to make “vanilla” music, most of us would probably rather not.  We want our Irish tunes to sound Irish.  We want the Baroque tunes to sound like it’s the 17th century not the 19th.   Frankly, it can be a little embarrassing to play a tune like it came from somewhere (or somewhen) else – even when you know that to the listener it’s all just “pretty music” – because then it is vanilla!

Just now I’m working on three very distinct projects that definitely need to be presented in their own idioms.  One is really comfortable to me, but the other two are “stretch” projects.  Stretching is exciting and fun…and intimidating.  I don’t know these two stretch idioms so I’m listening to music I’m not used to – seeking to find those elements that are part of the idiomatic fence.  Those are the things I’ll need to incorporate into my music – not just to make the projects work but also to make the output more authentic.

Listening to new music is sort of like developing a crush.  You have to pay really close attention to everything – what is that drum line?  How is that loop built?  Is that a saxophone?  Like a new crush, you find reasons to spend time together with the music.  In that time, nothing is as lustrous or compelling.    And like a crush, the infatuation wanes (usually to the delight of those around you!).   All those things that were so fascinating become a bit ho-hum or tarnished.  Reason returns.  And with that, a new clarity – the idioms may not still be sparkly, but they are revealed and now useful and ready to be incorporated into working projects!  You have found the fence!

So, what are you listening for when you’re trying to get your head around a new idiom?  Here are some ideas:

  • Rhythm – how do they mark time?  Where is the beat? Where is the pulse? What happens in the rhythm – especially the bass and the drum lines?  Are there counters and if so, where, and how?  What’s the time signature or meter?
  • Harmonies – does the tune use a chord progression you expect?  Or does it surprise you? How does the harmony move? Is there a harmony?
  • Melody – How does the melody move? What kinds of intervals are used?  Is it “catchy”? Is it complex or simple?  What drew you to it in the first place?  What kept you coming back?
  • Setting and arrangement – what instruments captured your attention?  What about the arrangement is compelling?  What can you copy or replicate on the harp and what needs to be replaced (and how)?  Will the harp arrangement “scratch the itch” created by the original arrangement?

Once you’ve noticed these things, then you can compare and contrast with your usual music.  You will likely frame this as “difference” between what you know and what you’re learning.  All this will help you find the “fence”.   Then you can incorporate elements – and keep from being vanilla!

Just think what that can mean for your new music!  More – think about what this can all mean for your existing repertoire!   What can you do with this?  How will you stray from vanilla?  Let me know in the comments!

Faster! Faster?

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OSAS is this week so I’ll be looking forward to your comments but might be a little slower to respond.  Hope you join us, if not this summer, next year when we should all be together again!

Before you start reading, you might want to have a cup of tea (or coffee) to hand.  We’re being serious this week.

Time – it seems so simple but the more you think about it, the more incongruous it seems to become.  But as musicians, time is our bread and butter.  So you’d think we would understand it.  As I listen to people talk about it, though, I’m fairly sure we don’t.

What is she talking about this time?  Time – or more appropriately, time signatures.

I think this topic can be challenging to talk about.  Like so many elements of formal theory, when you read the dry text, it is quite complicated.  And when it’s time to introduce the concepts to new students, well – there are a lot of concepts and frankly, I seem to make a mash of it every time.  The top number, the bottom number, the relationship of the two.  The big numbers, the small numbers.  The math of all the notes.

It really can make you dizzy.

Time SignaturesAnd it’s clear that the topic is complex because I hear people say funny things…not that they mean to be funny.  But sometimes, people come out with the musical equivalent of “I want to be a veterinarian because I love children!” *

Take, for instance the relationship between time signature and tempo.  I shake my head when time and tempo become conflated. Because, honestly, one has absolutely nothing to do with the other.

The time signature is also called the meter signature.  This is because it tells you how you’re measuring and what you’re looking for.

Let’s look at everyone’s favorite – 4/4.  We know, practically by rote – we’re measuring in quarter notes and there are four in each measure.  But does that tell us how fast?  Nope.  The tune could be a reel (fast) or a strathspey (a little slower).  It could be Sam Smith’s I’m Not the One (a ballad at 80 bpm) or Scorpions’ Rock You Like a Hurricane (124 bpm) or Aretha Franklin’s Think (at 220!).  All the same time signature but clearly really different tempos and tunes.

What about 6/8?  Same thing – we have slow tunes in 6/8 like Skye Boat Song (at about 70 bpm) but we also have jigs in 6/8 (at 116 or so).  And if you’re so inclined, Queen’s We Are the Champions (at 95 bpm) or Blondie’s Call Me (at 142 bpm).

So, the time signature tells you how you’re measuring (from the number on the bottom – 4 means we’re using quarter notes, 8 means eighth notes, 2 means half notes, etc.) and how many beats appear in each measure (the number on the top which can be just about anything, but there are some usual suspects like 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, but others are possible).

So, the time signature really only tells you how to portion out the time, not how big or small the slices should be.  Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that a 6/8 tune will be twice as fast as a tune in 3 / 4.  They are different but not necessarily faster.  Similarly, even though a tune in 2/4 might feel like a runaway train, it is not necessarily faster than a tune in 4/4. 

With that sorted out, another time we can talk about how beats differ from pulses.  And we can also save how to know how fast to play a particular piece.  Do you sometimes get sucked into conflating meter and tempo?  Let me know in the comments how time signature trips you up!

* Slight modification to the song lyric by Julie Brown www.juliebrown.com/

World Music Day

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It’s World Music Day (21 June)! 

Ok, like a lot of Hallmark Card holidays, it is also made up by some organization.  But who cares?!?  It’s a holiday to celebrate music!  What’s not to like?

According to the organizers, “World Music Day celebrates music in all its forms and the impact it’s had on the world and the human spirit.”  I cannot make this stuff up: https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/music-day/

World Music Day was started in France by the Ministry of Culture (if that’s not already taken, it would be an excellent band name). Apparently, again according to the organizers, on this day all music should be free to everyone (rather than paid tickets) (you can tell a bunch of bureaucrats thought this up and didn’t ask any musicians about it!).

Check out their website http://makemusicday.org/

And in the Hallmark holiday spirit – I’d like to give you your first World Music Day greeting card:

If you’re not sure why I chose those funny names – Aoide is the muse of song and her sister Melete is the muse of practice!  And if you are not sure how to celebrate – enroll in the Ohio Scottish Arts School – it’s next week!

How are you going to celebrate World Music Day?  I’m giving a concert assuming the weather holds.  Let me know what you’re going to do!

What could be scarier?

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What could be scarier than a meteoroid headed for your house?

Music theory.

Dun dun duhhhhhhh…

Few things can scare a musician more than mentioning theory.

Well, to be fair, theory is kinda terrifying.  It’s a bunch of inscrutable rules that no one really needs, right?

Um, no. 

First, let’s define music theory.  Because I am finding that many people believe that music theory is all about reading music. 

Um, no. (I promise I won’t write that again in this post!)

Theory is the rules of music.  It is the grammar if you will.  Music theory is about music.  Listening to it, making it, enjoying it, identifying it (especially identifying that it is music as it is different from other sounds).  You know music when you hear it.

Music theory geniusYou don’t have to be a genius to understand theory!

Theory is actually quite helpful.  And I think it gets a bad rap.  When I was studying piano, every week we did a major scale and its concomitant exercises (arpeggios, inversions, etc.).  Later we moved on to the minor scales.  We never did theory.  I was always assured that I’d study it later.  Sneaky – I was learning theory in practical form, learning the rules as I went.  Best of all, I never felt a thing – no pain at all!

I’ll try to be just as gentle with you.  Don’t freak out – just like you speak your native language, and you know (mostly) the rules for speaking the language, you already know (mostly) the rules for music.  If you didn’t know the rules, you’d never have to make the “wrong-note-lemon-face”.  Why?  Because if you didn’t know the rules, you wouldn’t know that you made a mistake and then you wouldn’t need to make the pucker puss.

Are you convinced yet?    

You should be, because nothing I have said so far has

a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g

to do with reading or writing. When you speak a language, you don’t have to be literate to be fluent.  So too, with music.  And frankly, while reading and writing are certainly helpful, we existed for millennia relying on spoken word and learning by rote – so, reading and writing, while helpful are not, in and of themselves, necessary.

So, I think we have established that you probably already know your theory.  But here’s a little test – if you hear something (anything – Tallis, Bach, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Britten, Muhly, BTS), do you recognize it as music?  Of course you do, because you know the underlying rules*.

In other words, you know your theory!  I hope you’re convinced now.  Because it is that understanding of these rules that helps you be a good musician!  No need to be scared!

However, that’s not the end of the story.  Because to continue to be a good musician you want to be able to not just parrot back specific frequencies.  You want to be able to understand what you’ve got, think critically about it, and leave at least a frisson of yourself there.  

The basic bones of theory are going to be melody and rhythm stitched together with harmony. 

  • Melody is the thing.  It’s what matters.  It’s what you hum when you’re thinking of a catchy tune.  I say it’s “the thing” because it really is the center – the song, the thread, the butterfly you follow.
  • Rhythm (from the Greek “to flow”) is what happens over time.  This isn’t as complicated as it seems – you already know that music comes out over time.  If all the music came at once it would sound like a door slamming!  Rhythm is how we express the serial part of sound (which can be music, speech, or other noises).  And…
  • Harmony – the thing we stress over when we play!  Harmony is when we have more than one sound going at a time.  Harmony is how we express our hope that the sounds go together in a pleasing manner!

Any of this a surprise to you?  I told you that you already knew theory!

Like just about any subject, theory can get…quite complex.  After all, we use theory words to be able to articulate the rules when we want to communicate with someone else.  Or when we want to document our own thinking (either to share with others or to help us remember).   Having the words and symbols may also help us think differently about what we already know and help us to learn more than we currently know.  Finally, just like some people jot thoughts while reading, we can do the same while we’re playing, composing, and improvising.  And to do those things, you do need to have some understanding of the basics and the vocabulary.  

We can talk about more complicated things (including reading and writing) another time.  For now, does this make sense? Do you feel like you have a strong theory background?  Or do you run and hide when someone starts talking about theory?  Or were you hoping that, as a trad musician, it wouldn’t ever matter?  In the comments, let me know where you are – and we’ll take a stab at ensuring we are all solid on theory.

* if you’re making snide remarks in your head that I included some random modern pop group – stop it, you know it’s still music even if you’re too old for it (I am too!)

Since you asked…

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I had planned to blather on about theory this week, but let’s hold that for next week, shall we?  This week I wanted to follow up on a question from last week.  I’m delighted that you enjoyed the video as much as I did! 

One of you asked if there was sheet music for the great ensemble arrangement of America the Beautiful those amazing harpists are playing in the video. (I’m always so delighted that you actually read my blog that I’ll usually do just about anything to answer your questions!) 

So, I used my super-sleuthing skills to contact the military harpists to email them to ask if they would share the arrangement (ok, I looked them up in the American Harp Society Directory).

Two amazing things happened from this – first, I met a bunch of super delightful harpists that I didn’t know before!  They were, to a one, so warm and wonderful.  They responded quickly and were incredibly gracious.  And they are all located near me (Yea!!) except for Megan Sesma from the US Coast Guard who is in New London CT (which is a convenient train station if you’re going to compete at the Scotland CT Highland Games, btw). 

Second, from them I learned a little bit about this music.  For those of you who might not have seen my other posts (on Facedegram), the sheet music is available from Vanderbilt Music*.  It was arranged by Daniel Burton for six harps.  But perhaps more interesting and exciting – it was commissioned by the American Harp Society and these six military harpists!

Now a clarification.  While the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Army are part of the Department of Defense, the Coast Guard is is actually part of the Department of Homeland Security.  Even so, the Coast Guard is the oldest continuous sea service of the country.

And the last little bit of update.  After the video was completed, Chief Musician Emily Dickson retired from the Navy and Madeline Jarzembak has been selected to be the principal harpist with the United States Navy Band. Welcome aboard Madeline!  In the email discussion, the military harpists mentioned that they are not currently planning to do another video together (and hopefully we’ll all be off video and IRL sooner than later!), so revel in this unique experience.  And watch for them – military bands perform all over the country and they may be near you soon!

Thank you so much for your questions and comments.  And for the opportunity to answer them!  I am consistently struck by how diverse, interesting, warm, and welcoming our very small harp community can be.  Keep asking away!  I l-o-v-e finding answers, meeting people, learning more – and getting to share it with you!   

 

* As usual, I’m not clever enough to have affiliate links – this is just to make it easier for you to find it!