Author Archives: Jen

Keeping the Ledger (Lines)

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Keeping the Ledger (Lines)

Does the mere thought of having to read Ledger Lines make you faintly queasy? Do those little strikes of ink make your heart sink and your palms clammy? Do you think you should be able to just look at a ladder of notes on top of the staff and race through the notes without a care? Ha!

Well, let’s take a crack at making ledger lines easier to read! We’ve talked about reading before (look here for those thoughts here, here, and here). Perhaps the most important thing to remember about reading is that it is just like reading words – it takes consistent practice. Once you have that, the rest is just details.

Like words, music has predictable patterns that will help you learn to read. Knowing those patterns will make it easier – you just need to know the code so you can crack it!

One code you want to crack is the lines of the staff. There are a couple of things to know:

What goes around comes around Part 1 – we only have seven note names to work with (outwith accidentals) A-B-C-D-E-F-G and then we start again. We are used to that repetition, and it is easy to remember that you just have to apply it to the “stripes” (staves).

What goes around comes around Part 2 – one trick to keep track of where you are is to remember that, as we cycle through the staff, the notes shift – if it’s a line here, in the next octave (up or

down) it will be a space. (no, really, look at the staff!) For example, let’s use A – at the bottom of the harp (if you go that low) it’s a line, as you come up through to the top of the harp, it goes through space, line, space, line, space, etc. If you’re waffling while reading in the ledgers, knowing where you were in the previous octave is a good clue to shortcut your line counting.

Never underestimate the importance and utility of doing a little bit every day. You can do a smidge of reading each day and you’ll make good progress…without even trying! Set aside five minutes each day to do a series of activities that will help move your comfort forward. You can “Notespeller” it (Notespeller has become a verb in my studio in which you treat any sheet music as if it were a page from a note spelling workbook and read, find on the harp, and write in the name of the note – over and over until you “instantly” recognize the notes).  It is really important to match the ink with the string on the harp (after all, an A is not an a is not an A’!).

Get Comfortable. Recognize that if you don’t spend a lot of time reading in the ledger lines (if you always play in the middle of the harp) you’re not going to be very comfortable wading around in the ledger lines. You will get more comfortable being there by being there. Give yourself time to get used to seeing those notes, relating them to your strings, and playing on the “outsides” of your harp.

Tool use. To get better and faster, make (or buy) flash cards of the various notes at different ledger lines. Go all the way up and all the way down. Shuffle them really well so it’s not easy! Be sure to use your harp so you are still relating ink to strings and sounds! When you’re feeling like you’ve learned the lines, you can give yourself timed tests on the flash cards. When you’re getting more comfortable, break out some music you haven’t read but you know goes all the way up and down and give yourself a “stress test” to see how well your reading is coming along. Be prepared to bot “be there” yet – you’re learning!

Be nice – there was a time that you couldn’t find Middle C with two hands and a map, so cut yourself some slack while you learn where low and high notes are!

So, the question of getting better and faster at reading ledger lines has led us right back to the usual answer – focused, attentive practice on that specific skill. Couple that with some patience – and an acknowledgement of the challenge this task poses. Don’t compare your music reading to your book reading and don’t compare yourself to anyone else! Compare yourself today with where you were yesterday, last week, last month. A little every day will get you there.

Do you have other ideas to get to where reading ledger lines feels easier and more natural? I’d love to hear it! Let me know in the comments.

The Secret to Playing Everything Better

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The Secret to Playing Everything Better

Do you wish you played better? Ok, the shorter answer would be, does anyone not wish they played better. Well, I have an easy answer – and with one simple trick, you will play better! There is no magic and this is no joke. I guarantee that if you use this simple secret, you will play better.

(this is where, if this was one of those social media videos that offers a “free” secret for [losing weight, getting a perfect body, making millions every month with an email list, etc.], I’d be telling you all about my life and why I am the only expert and that I have the answer)

(But really, you also have the answer already – I’m just going to remind you what it is)

There’s a secret? And I don’t know it? What could it be?

What is this magnificent secret? What is the easy path to playing everything better? Well, since you asked –

The answer is to do your technical exercises.

Ok, that’s a bit simplistic. You need to do those technical exercises in very specific ways:

  • Slowly
  • Carefully
  • Consistently
  • While paying attention
  • Expecting nothing less than your best while you do it.

Told you it was easy.

I know, it’s really not easy, is it? Let’s take a very basic technical exercise as an example – scales.  You know how to do scales.  They are easy to learn, to remember, and to complete. But do you do them consistently, slowly, carefully, watching that you’re actually doing what you know you need to do? Or do you fly through them to just get them done? Or skip them all together because, who needs to do them, really?

Want to know who does scales consistently, slowly, carefully, while watching that the form, intonation, timing, rhythm, and tempo are all good? Pros do, that’s who.

Did you think scales were the purview of the newbie?  That at some point, we each advance to a point that we don’t need to do scales ever again? That would be exactly backward.  In fact, the farther you get from being a beginner, the more you know the importance of doing exercises and doing them with an exacting and consistent attention to detail.

You’re right that you know how to do scales – that’s part of the secret. Because they are simple and you know them, you have the available cognitive capacity to simultaneously play the scales, pay attention, notice things that are going well, determine what needs some focused attention, and make corrections before a problem can grow. In fact, with more practice, it is possible to both have a beginner’s mindset (as the gurus call it) AND have the experience to make your own corrections.

And implementing this secret will allow you to play everything with more ease.

Now you know the secret to playing everything better. How will you unlock its power to make your playing better? Let me know in the comments!

 

Quiet

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Quiet

We all have a lot going on. And inside our heads it can be even busier and more crowded! While all that hustle and bustle might make you feel like you’re accomplishing tons, it can also actively prevent you from accomplishing even more.

We are artists. Yes, we are. If you’re a new musician, you are an artist. If you have been playing a long time, you are an artist. Don’t ever leave your living room or quail at the thought of someone else hearing you? Still an artist!

As artists, we get to create! That is one of the things other people envy us for. Creating is an activity that takes time – and we need to pursue it. But…

If you are never quiet, you won’t have time to be creative.

You need:

Quiet time to have Creative time.

Quiet space to have Creative space.

And perhaps more importantly Quiet your thoughts, so you have time and space to have Creative thoughts.

This is more than practicing. You do need to have a solid base to create but loads of creative time can happen away from the harp. And although you need to have part of your practice time set aside to work on creative ideas, you can have those ideas anywhere. But you’ll be more able to focus if you have quiet.

I won’t lie, identifying – and then honoring – the time you need to create can be a challenge. It’s easy to give that time away to other “important” things.  But this is important – for you, your art, and your life as an artist. But it is a necessity not a nicety.

So, I challenge you to identify specific time that you will be quiet and allow yourself to be creative. It should probably be longer than a shower! (but if that’s the time you have, make use of it!). Make sure you have a way to capture your thoughts (dry erase marker or grease pencil for the shower, don’t ask me how I know this). That way, when you get to the harp you can remember what you had come up with. I have a plenty of short voice memos on my phone for time in the car when things pop into my head – I sing them (badly) into the phone so that I can remember when I hit the bench.

When will you schedule your quiet time? How will you ensure you honor that time? I’m looking forward to your ideas!  Let me know in the comments!

When Life Gives You Lemons

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When Life Gives You Lemons

One of my favorite things about playing the harp is the friends you meet along the way. And another good part of that is the friends you meet that are harp-adjacent. 

I have been in North Carolina all week with my beautiful harp/heart friends in Banrigh (like and follow!) bringing Celtic music to appreciative audiences. We also have been meeting loads of interesting, wonderful people.

And we have been trying all kinds of amazing feast-y types of food! My incredible hosts Cynthia and Harold have kept me in creature comforts all week! I’m in heaven. I’m threatening to never leave (which will probably make them look more pained than pleased (I am kidding, I will leave, but it will be difficult to depart!)). Cynthia is an amazing baker and graciously allowed me to share one of her recipes with you.

But first, I have to tell you about Cynthia. She is a seasoned musician in her own right and is harp-adjacent via her sister and my fellow performer, Martha.  But she excels as a writer and her new book Catfish Corner is a hysterical peek into Southern life. And hey, you can’t practice all the time! I chuckled, chortled, and (embarrassingly) guffawed in each chapter! After I wiped away tears of laughter (so I could see the page) I would get through about another line of text and start laughing again! If you are not from Catfish Corner, you will still laugh uproariously – the idioms may change, but people are people. I think you’d enjoy it.*

To ensure our rehearsals went smoothly Cynthia made a Lemon Bundt Cake that had us cuing up for another slice while we were still licking our fingers from the previous cut.  To say that it’s tempting is an understatement. It’s refreshing and tasty no matter the weather – but eating it is like having a summer day in the drab not-quite-Spring of March.

So, here it is, straight from NC – Cynthia’s “Cut me another slice” Lemon Bundt Cake:

Cynthia’s Lemon Bundt Cake

Perfect for Harp Circles or other Harp-adjacent activities!

  • 1 package Lemon Cake Mix ((any brand))
  • 1 package Lemon Pudding mix (Cooked – NOT Instant)
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup oil
  • 1/2 cup Lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup Orange juice
  • 1/2 cup Sugar

  1. Read all the instructions first!

  2. Preheat oven to 350F

  3. Beat eggs, water, oil until frothy.

  4. Add cake and pudding mixes and beat 2 minutes.

  5. Spray the bundt pan generously with Baker's Choice (or Pam).

  6. Pour mix into prepared bundt pan

  7. Bake in preheated oven at 350F for 45 – 50 minutes or until the top is set and springy to the touch.

  8. While the cake is baking, boil juices with sugar. Pour syrup over HOT cake while cake is still in the pan.

  9. Cool.

  10. When cool, invert onto cake plate.

  11. Optional – after inverted onto cake plate, dust with powdered sugar and lemon zest.

  12. Feed to friends and watch the amazement dawn on their happy faces!

Dessert
American
Lemon Cake

Pour yourself a cup of tea (or a cool glass of something) and enjoy! I hope you give this a try and let me know how you like it in the comments!

*this is where I usually tell you I don’t get anything for “endorsing” something, but I have already received accommodation, feasting, and this recipe – so enjoy!

 

Poetic License

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Poetic License 

Hopefully you’re still working on those dynamics exercises. I say hopefully because they are challenging and if they are new to you, you probably aren’t all the way through in just a few weeks. And even if they are not new to you, the exercises I shared aren’t easy. They definitely aren’t a set of “once and done” exercises either!

I think I made a compelling case for why you would want to work on your dynamics. But just in case I wasn’t blunt enough, here I go again. We talked about music being a means of communication – you are telling a story. Not every story needs to be a soporiphic bed-time story, so we need dynamics to help carry the tale through its ups and downs.

Just like storytellers, narrators, or actors vary their delivery – we want to vary our own, in aid of the story we’re telling. We use those variations to help move our listener along with us. But we don’t want to just gormlessly vary our loudness – we need to be a bit more subtle!

Another thing we can easily hear storytellers, narrators, and actors do is varying the pacing that they achieve through their breathing.  We call it phrasing (heck, they might too, what do I know?). And we can use dynamic changes to support the shape of the phrases on top of the breathing we are already infusing into the phrase shaping. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about let’s do a preparatory exercise before we go to the harp. Pull out your favorite poems! Let’s start with a limerick to warm up. These are goofy and sing-song-y and you know exactly how to read them aloud: da-da-da–da-da-da–da-DA, da-Da-da–da-da-da-da-DU, da-da-da-da-DA–, da-da-da–da-DU, da-da-da–da-da-da–DA! Really dig into the cadence. Read them repeatedly, emphasizing the sign-song nature of the rhyme. When you’ve reread a few times and really have the rhythm going, focus on how you need to breathe to support that cadence. Once that’s not a struggle, you’re ready to use that breathing to support varying the loudness with which you say each syllable. Notice how you make a curve shape with your breathing and loudness like this:

Once you feel like you understand this concept, move into other (more mature?) poetry – Browning? Hughes? Shakespear? Yeats? Choose your favorite (or pick the one you’ve never actually read (but would never admit to having skipped!)) and start reading aloud. Find the cadence, shape the phrases. Listen to the ebb and flow of your voice and its volume. Once you’re established in reading the poem, shift the loudnesses – if you need to, mark the page, and try emphasizing the typically unemphasized syllables and shout them out while only whispering the usually emphasized. How does that change how you hear the poem?

 Now, let’s turn the idea inside out and let’s mess with the poem! Read a poem out loud in a goofy way – read Byron as if it was a limerick or read the silliest limerick you can find as if it was a sonnet. Add an extra beat to iambic pentameter and make it jiggy! Do silly things to your reading to find different ways to present the cadence and rhythm of the poem and the breath and dynamics to get there.

After some excursing (both “serious” and “silly”), go back to your original interpretation and notice: has your breathing changed? How is your loudness varying? Have you had any changes now that you’ve thought of the words in different presentations?

Now, go to your harp and do this same (sort of) thing – shape the phrases (like the graphic above) as you want to present the music. Now, make it into a “limerick”! For instance, play a 4/4 lament as if it were Katie Bairdie (or a 3/4 march as if it’s a jig). Take it from hushed to explosive! Then, go the other way and play a typically lively tune as a lament. Just mess around with it and see how you can shape the phrase to tell your different stories – and watch how the breathing and shape of the phrase change and how your volume control helps support that.

Clearly this is another set of exercises that aren’t “once and done” – you can do these exercises repeatedly and over time to explore all the corners of phrasing. Remember too that:

1. These are exercises. There’s no wrong. There is only exploration.

2. It is your story to tell. There is no wrong, only your interpretation.

3. They’re called dynamics for a reason! You can play the same sort of dynamic repeatedly and every time you play a tune. Or you can play a different set of dynamics each time you play. There is no wrong. It’s your story to tell your way.

4. Things change. Sometimes a tune always makes you feel the same things, no matter how many times you play it. Sometimes the tune leaves you feeling different, depending on how you experience it that day. There is no wrong – tell the story you hear.

I know this set of ideas is really different from what you might normally think of as harp playing, but give it a try and let me know what happens. What do you learn? What happens next (for you)? How do you think differently about your playing now? Can’t wait to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Summer’s coming

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Summer’s coming July 29 to August 10, 2024

This is the time of year when I start to run down the summer happenings that I’m looking forward to, hopefully in enough time that you can also plan to come along too!  The great thing about summer events is that they offer an opportunity to learn and do in ways that don’t happen as much throughout the rest of the year.  They are built on the break summer seems to bring to our “every day” world.  And better still summer events have great opportunities to learn and grow…and have a little fun!

This summer we will have our first Harp the Highlands and Islands trip that starts in Ireland (don’t worry, we make it to Scotland too)! We’ll travel with the amazing Alexandra who is not only a teacher but also a historian (by dint of education and enthusiasm!). She has planned a compelling itinerary and we’ve layered harp events on an unending array of beautiful and interesting stuff. 

Things we changed – we starting in Ireland and will see parts that aren’t as well traveled (which leaves us open to exploring more than the usual stuff). Things we haven’t changed – we still have a small band of travelers (no more than 8!) that ensures you have an intimate and tailored visit. We’ll meet local people and learn tunes and have an incredible time doing it!  And just when we’re fit to burst from Ireland, we’ll head over to Scotland and do it some more!

You know that having music in each travel day will make it all the more fun – and since we’re not just listening to it, we’ll be even tighter with itinerary informing the tunes we learn.  We’ll start in Shannon and then travel north to enjoy some time on the Wild Atlantic Way, visit castles, holiday towns, and meet some of the locals. We’ll also check out the stunning Kylemore Abbey! Then we’ll continue north towards Belfast and discover what makes the Northern coast so enchanting. We’ll cross over to Scotland in style on the ferry then round out our adventure in Glasgow and Edinburgh.  Here’s what’s coming:

Day 1 – Welcome to the Emerald Isle! We start at Shannon International, shake off that jet lag and head north on the Wild Atlantic Way.  First stop – Galway and then we’ll make our way to Westport. From here we’ll set out to explore this amazing corner of the world.

Day 2 – We’ll launch out today to explore the Connemara National Park. Nestled into the lakeside, Kylemore Abbey waits for us to enjoy. We’ll take a tour of the main house as well as the chapel, and gardens where the famous Kylemore ponies wait to greet us! We’ll head back to Westport for the evening our daily harp workshop.

Day 3 – Deep in County Mayo, we’ll visit the famous Ashford Castle grounds as we participate in a Hawk Walk with the National School of Falconry. Here, you’ll meet the local residents and get to know why this sport became such an important part of Ireland’s history. After, we’ll sit down for a lovely lunch at the Ashford cottage complex before heading back to Westport and our daily harp workshop.

Day 4 – We’ll head north to meet a phenomenal athlete, Moe, the sheepdog! Moe will teach us all about how amazing she is and why the relationship between shepherd and dog is so vital to this industry. After a quick lunch, we’ll saddle up and take in the splendor of the Irish coast on the iconic beaches of Donegal. We’ll arrive back in Westport for our daily harp workshop and an evening in this charming vacation town.

Day 5 – We’ll say so long to Westport and head into Northern Ireland. Along the way we’ll pull over and enjoy some of the hidden secrets in the small towns that dot the area. We’ll head to the northern coast of Ireland where we’ll learn a little about the distilling process at the world famous Bushmills Whiskey Distillery! We’ll enjoy the seaside town of Portrush and check in with our daily harp workshop.

Day 6 – Today, we’ll take in the splendor of the iconic Giant’s Causeway. We’ll learn the scientific reason why the causeway exists and maybe check in on the reason the locals think it sits here on the northern coast. After, we’ll enjoy an evening consisting of our daily harp workshop and dinner along the scenic coast.

Day 7 – We’ll make our way into Belfast where we’ll learn about the Titanic and its connection to Ireland. Our daily harp workshops continue and dinner will be a short distance away in our city center.

Day 8 – We’ll spend the morning learning about the history of Belfast’s most infamous story, “The Troubles”. This part of Belfast history is best told in the murals that dot the neighborhoods in the west of town. After, we’ll say goodbye to Ireland and take the Stenna Line Ferry across the Irish Sea and arrive in Cairnryan Scotland. We’ll head north for Glasgow to start our Scottish adventure!

Day 9 – Our Glasgow adventure continues as we take in some of the local sites and enjoy noting the differences between each side of the Irish Sea. We’ll spend the day enjoying all things Scottish then settle in for our workshop time and dinner just a walk away from our hotel.

Day 10 – We are off to our final destination! Edinburgh awaits us with plenty to see and to do! We’ll arrive in style by train and pull into Waverly Station. from here, we are just a short distance to our hotel. Just off the Royal Mile, we’ll set out to enjoy the local area and enjoy our workshop as well as dinner.

Day 11 – Edinburgh continues to delight and today we will take in one of the marquee events! After enjoying Rosslyn chapel to the south of town, we’ll have an early afternoon workshop before heading to the world famous Military Tattoo at the Castle. This spectacular show never disappoints and promises to entertain and delight.

Day 12 – We’ll round out our time in Edinburgh with a few optional tours and destinations and complete our workshop series today. There will be plenty to choose from depending on your interests. From The Whiskey Experience to Holyrood Palace, we’ll get you started in the right direction to enjoy all Edinburgh has to offer. We’ll end the day with our signature farewell dinner then give everyone a little time to pack up before our airport transfers tomorrow.

Departure Day – We know that this experience will have you falling in love with both sides of the Irish Sea! As we say goodbye to you here, know that both Ireland and Scotland fondly await your return!

As always, we’ll get to know you so that we will be able to find those little corners of Ireland and Scotland that delight and enchant. From magical bookstores, fabled artworks, and secret passageways, we’ll share with you those little things that make this the experience of a lifetime.

Our estimated price for the 2024 season is $4700.00 plus airfare.  What’s Included?

  • Breakfast at our hotels and dinners at unique locations daily.
  • Balance between scheduled experiences and unscheduled time to explore further or relax as you choose.
  • Plenty of downtime to enjoy unscheduled moments any way you please.
  • All attraction tickets and passes for experiences and guided tours (always with local experts).
  • All transportation including airport transfers upon arrival and departure.
  • Daily music workshop time to develop those crucial skills (and a small harp – no traveling with your harp!).
  • A dedicated opportunity to refresh your bags during our travels.

So you’re interested, right? Let us know so we can keep you in the loop! Details and fine print here on the website.  Have questions?  I’m happy to answer any you have. 

Are you coming?  Let me know in the comments!

Sneaking up on you?

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Sneaking up on you?

When you are practicing (or performing) do you ever get the sensation that something’s not quite right? Like something is sneaking up on you?

I work with a lot of people as a teacher, a workshop presenter, a performer, and as an ergonomist. From my perch I can see it – and you’re probably right. Something is sneaking up on you.

Your shoulders.

Yup, those pesky pendents upon which we are so de-pendent. Literally – our arms hang from our shoulders. Our wrists are (still) at the ends of those arms. And dangling at the end of that chain – our fingers. Yes, our shoulders are pretty important.

But we get busy. There’s all that playing to do. Remembering the notes, forgetting our fingering, finding the right measure we need to be reading, possibly playing faster than we’re ready to. We are focused on a number of (granted, very important) things. And what we don’t have is brain space to focus on is often…our shoulders.

So, they creep up. They’re trying to help, but in their zeal to be supportive, they increase our tension, pull our arms out of their natural (relaxed) posture and requiring more energy to hold our arms, wrists, and fingers in the appropriate place to play the music the way we are wont to. And all of that makes it harder to play, which is distracting – and stressful. You can see how this can easily become a vicious (and possibly viscous) circle.

Stop it. How? you might ask. Well, I’m delighted to share that I have just the thing! Try this:

  1. Record your playing (you knew this would come up). Why? So you can see where and when your shoulders start to travel. This can be as simple as poor posture which you can improve by setting yourself in a good neutral posture from the minute you touch the bench. But what if you’re a stress shrugger? Do your shoulders keep company with your ears when the going gets tough? Well, a video will help you find your triggers.
  2. Once you know what it is that sets your shoulders off, then you can focus on correcting it. Your triggers might be playing faster than you’re ready, coming to a “tricky” part that you’re not really comfortable with yet, or that you’re not breathing, or just not relaxing into your playing. The video will help you find out what is happening – and when – so you can work on it.
  3. Once you know what triggers your shoulders’ to travel, then set a random timer (here’s a free one on the internet and here’s another one) to give you a signal at various times. When it dings, freeze, and check your shoulders. Are they where you’d expect and want them to be? Or did you run out of focus doing other things? Since this is random, it gives you time to stop thinking about your shoulders and the ding serves as a reminder to make sure they are down. If the ding happens and your shoulders are at your ears – don’t stop playing, just drop and relax them and keep going. You want to learn to detect that you’re shrugged and relax.
  4. Breathe! (Do I need to say more than that? I didn’t think so, but I will) Breathe like you mean it since it will not only relax you but also help keep your mind clear and present.
  5. Take breaks throughout your practice. Think about practicing in 20-minute segments (with a timer, because it helps). At the end of each segment, breathe, stretch, move around, get up off the bench, and let your whole system rest for a sec. Then you can come back to the next segment ready to go.
  6. Be kind to yourself. This might take a while. After all, you unknowingly developed the habit of tensing your shoulders and now you will consciously go about undeveloping that habit and learning to be more relaxed. Unlearning (to shrug) and relearning (to relax) takes longer than the initial learning, so be gentle on you – reward yourself for your continued growth. And don’t lose momentum, this is something that will come with time and practice.

It is important to get your shoulders dropped when you’re practicing – if you work in that tension, you will train yourself to play with that tension. You will actually ingrain that stress in your shoulders which, as mentioned above, impacts your playing.

If you’re still Team “I’m not comfortable on video” you can use a full-length mirror – but also, get over yourself, you’re not making a Hollywood extravaganza or even a social media video. You are using a valuable tool to help you grow. Just do it (it’s also faster than using the mirror because you can practice, and then review the video when you’re finished – none of that pesky trying to “catch yourself” while you’re also practicing!

Are your shoulders sneaking up on you? Let me know what you do (or what you’re going to try) – in the comments!

PSST – did you hear the latest?

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PSST – did you hear the latest?

Hot off the presses! There’s a new harp in town!

If you have been reading any length of time, you know that I hold my local luthier, Rick Kemper of Sligo Harps, in the greatest esteem. He builds amazing harps, takes impeccable care of all my harps, and teaches me something every time I talk to him (usually about harps, sometimes about curry).

The cool thing – he has designed and built a new harp design. The even cooler thing – you’re the first to read about it as he dished on the new design exclusively with us! He graciously let me play one with it’s rich tone and touchable finish. Yummy!  Even more graciously, he let me ask him some questions.  I’m happy to share our chat:

Rick, what made you decide to develop a new harp design?

It had been a decade since I had fully revisited my Nylon strung designs, and with all the things we have been learning, I decided I should apply those innovations to an updated North American style nylon strung harp.

Take a look at the new Elizabeth in walnut

How is it different from your other models?

We sell a lot of Luchairs which are engineered for the Irish and Scottish style of playing. Talking to customers, some want a taller harp with more tension, a more mellow sound. Many customers are wary of the high cost and frequent breakage of Fluorocarbon strings, they have been asking for an updated Sligo harp that uses reasonably priced nylon strings. I’m really happy with the result, happy enough to mothball two older nylon designs.

The Elizabeth in Walnut

What is the “secret sauce” of it? Why should people consider this new harp?

I like the idea of “Sligo Secret Sauce” – we really ought to trademark that! I think we excel at hand built wooden harps that are about 20-30% lighter than most others in the class, with build quality and innovations that allow us to warranty them for 10 years.

At Sligo, there is not an upcharge for round backs over square backs or staves – they are all the same price. Round backs are lighter by 2-3 lbs, they never crack and look elegant, so the majority of our customers opt for them. We also use double tapered soundboards, finesse the inner string rib, use a screwed batten trim for the sound board edge – and a dozen other build details that deliver great sound, dynamics, and longevity in Sligo harps. I do a brisk business repairing all kinds of harps, and I don’t want my customers dealing with the same structural issues 7, 10, or even 15 years later with a Sligo instrument.

What sort of people would be attracted to it? Who is this harp for?

Harp Players that are looking for a taller American style harp with a large sound. Ones that find the treble ping of Fluorocarbon strung harps too strident for their taste or want to avoid the more frequent breakage and additional cost of Fluorocarbon. Some players have trouble with the even spacing (4 inches per octave) used on the Luchair. This harp has graduated spacing, what many in the industry call “Concert Spacing”, wider at the bass end narrower at the top.

What are you calling the new model harp?

It is called the Elizabeth. Since October, I have had two brothers apprenticing at the shop once a week for a few hours – home school youth who wanted some lessons in woodworking. I had been ruminating on the parameters of a new design, and proposed they help me build a pair of harps to that end. They seized on that opportunity. When I asked who in this family of 10 was most likely to take up the harp, and they thought that was their sister Elizabeth. The provisional moniker stuck.

How much does it weigh? What are the dimensions?

In Walnut or cherry, it is 20.6 lbs, 53 inches tall, 27 inches deep. When people ask about height, they may be trying to figure if the harp will fit in their car. They may be asking because they want to know how it plays against their body. Will this harp rest on my sternum, or will the knee block be up by my ear? A better gauge for the latter is the height of the knee block off the floor. I call this the playing height, and this harp is 51 inches tall at the knee block.

What type of strings?

21 Nylon strings, 5 Nylon wound over nylon transition strings, and 8 steel core bass wires. Some players find the abrupt sound transition on Scotts/Irish style harps, from heavy monofilament to bass wires unsettling. Those 5 Nylon/Nylon wound strings make it a seamless, gradual transition.

What woods will this harp be available in?

I do a lot of harps in Walnut or Cherry. I am happy to maple, custom wood or woods with fancy figure, harpists just need to ask so we can discuss details and purchasing terms for custom work.

How much will it sell for?

$5,600 with a full set of Camac or Loveland levers, and a Cronkhite soft case.

How long will it take to get one?

I try to stay ahead of demand and have 2-3 harps available at any time. That has been harder to do lately as I have committed to complete a score of major repair jobs for clients from the mid Atlantic to Northeast. I deliver a harp in 2-3 months once a customer orders one. I’ve never thought Sligo customers should wait years and years to get their harps. I’ll bring in additional workers and put in an extra 20-30 hours a week to ensure harps are delivered in a reasonable time.

Can we participate in building one if we want to buy one (like you have with other models)?

I make four slots in my production schedule each year for apprentices to come participate in building a harp. Most applicants fall into two categories:

Some are woodworkers that want to start making their own harps. I’ve had 20 or so over the years. I’m proud to have had Kevin Harrington (Cork, Ireland) and recently Robert O’Connor (County Wexford) through this program. There are a half dozen other active builders (e.g., Tim O’Carroll) that started by building from my plans. I’m a strong believer in open-source practices and my hope is the availability of excellent harps will make for a stronger, more active harp playing community. The goal here is knowledge transfer – share what I have learned from 25 years in the business so they can hit the ground running.

If there are slots left, the second group is musicians that want to participate in the creation of their instrument. We usually write back and forth a bit to make sure our schedules work out and both parties are simpatico with the commitment before beginning their build.

When can we see it?

You can come to the shop in Maryland to try it out today. I will also be at Somerset and expect to have one to show there.

So, there you have it – the latest, newest harp from Sligo Harps! If you’re not nearby, come by to see Rick at Somerset Folk Harp Festival Exhibit Hall!*

 

*More on Somerset soon – hope you’re coming and participating in my workshops!

 

Turn it up to 11 – Redux

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Turn it up to 11 redux 

Last week we talked about not playing ALAPATT (As Loud As Possible All The Time) and how you can enhance your playing by adding dynamics. How using dynamics help tell the story you mean to tell through your playing. We noted that if you want to be a better harper, you needed to work on dynamics.

Dynamics come from control of your hands and fingers. This control determines how your fingers interact with the strings. Expression (an outcome of dynamics) does not mean to play limply or weakly or barely or badly. Rather, we want the same rich, warm tones you get at full volume, but at different levels of loudness. You can do this!

Remember, this is not about playing louder or softer. Rather, it’s about controlling your fingers on the strings, learning how to get what you seek from the strings based on how you move. It’s a delicate dance between you and the harp strings. In this case – you have to lead! To gain this control, I want to give you some exercises that will allow you to focus on learning to control your dynamics. 

Let’s start by reviewing the dynamic markings. If you’re not familiar with them, they indicate the loudness for a particular section of music. These run from incredibly loud to incredibly soft (but still audible). The word for loud is forte (noted as f) while the word for quiet is piano (noted as p). There is also the range between them, and more letters indicate more (of that). So f is loud (forte), ff (fortissimo) is louder than that, and fff (fortississimo) is even louder still.  Likewise, p (piano) is quiet, pp (pianissimo) is quieter and ppp (pianississimo) is even more quiet, but still heard. Smack in the middle are mf (mezzo forte) and mp (mezzo piano) which are moderately loud or moderately soft.

There are a few exercises you can incorporate into your practice to get better at playing throughout your dynamic range so you can master your fingers and tell the story you want to tell. These exercises are not difficult and a few minutes a day will train your fingers and your brain to work together to get what you want. The focus of the exercises is to build differentiation between ppp and fff with clear progress through pp, p, mp, mf, f, and ff and to be in control of your fingers for each.

In control means that you play what you meant to when you meant to.This requires good technique with placing and closing, so if those are still something that you have to think about, then get that ingrained and then work on this.

Also, this is a relative continuum (meaning there is no absolute “loud” or “soft” only really really loud, really loud, very loud, loud, quiet, quieter, really quiet, and “what?”).

The exercises can be piggybacked onto exercises you’re already doing and I’ll use a scale as the example. I chose the scale because 1. I’m sure you’re already doing scales every day already (right?); 2. Scales are important, safe, and accessible to all levels; 3. You already know them, so you don’t need to spend a lot of cognitive energy on remembering the notes to be played which allows you to focus instead on achieving the dynamics; 4. you’ll quickly know when you don’t get the result you wanted/expected. 

Here goes:

Play one octave scale (up and down) in both hands at fff (as loudly as you can – while maintaining good form while staying in rhythm and tempo).

Now, play one octave scale (up and down) in both hands at ppp (as quietly as you can – while maintaining good form while staying in rhythm and tempo).

Third, play one octave scale (up and down) in both hands starting at fff, then repeat the scale each time starting at a progressively quieter dynamic (so fff, then ff, then f, mf, mp, p, pp, ppp. Each time through is a different dynamic). Yes, that is 8 times through the scales with graduated volume.

Next, play one octave scale (up and down) in both hands starting at fff, and subtly shift through fff to ff to f to mf. This takes a little planning – decide before you start to play where you make the shift – and how you will do that! Move it around a little and have some fun. For instance, you might do most of the scale fff and “downshift” to mp in the last 3 notes. Or play every two notes at a particular level. It’s up to you – the important thing is, did you get what that you expected? Don’t forget to do the other side and play your one octave scale (up and down) in both hands starting at ppp, and subtly shift through pp to p to mp.

Once those are easy(er), you can really shake it up.  Rather than moving gradually from one dynamic to the next, adjacent dynamic, make big leaps!  Maybe go ppp to ff to mp to fff, etc.  You get the idea – big changes…just like you’re playing music!

Go slowly and carefully at first. Each time you learn something new you need to give yourself time to process it, think about what you’re doing, what’s working (and not working), make changes, experiment, and learn. Give yourself time for all that! Make your own variations – rather than playing both hands together play from one to the other (for example – fff from left hand up an octave to right hand for another octave and down at ppp or something else that challenges you a little bit but doesn’t stop you from learning).

When you are able to successfully do each of these, then do the same exercises but make the movement between loudnesses larger across multiple octaves. At first make really big adjustments from fff to ppp at the crossover or vice versa. Change up which direction you go (loud to quiet or quiet to loud). The point is to test your control (and decision making).

Just about the time you think you’re big and bad and hard to diaper, it’s time to do the really challenging exercise. Because real control will be having different dynamics in each hand – a quiet base line under a loud melody. Or a shift of the melody to the lower register (and in the left hand) with a quiet harmony in the right hand. Remember the idea is to control your hands and make good decisions.

Here we go – Play the bottom of the octave only (e.g., C-D-E-F (up to but not through the cross) in each hand. Select which hand will play fff and which will play ppp. Give it a go. Now, this is much like when you first tried contrary motion – you might feel like your fingers are connected to someone else’s brain! Just breathe and keep on. You want to have each hand doing its thing (now you see why you have to practice!). And when you are feeling pretty confident on this, then do the whole octave up and down.

If it doesn’t seem to be coming along, try letting one hand come ever so slightly before the other so that you’re in control of each finger. Breathe. Relax. Work them closer and closer together until they’re simultaneous. This is hard – don’t rush it. When you think you have it – make a video to assure that you’re not getting tense (and that you’re keeping the dynamic distinction between hands consistent).

Important things to keep in mind (especially when it isn’t going swimmingly):

  • Progress not perfection.
  • This is about control not volume.
  • Whatever leaves you thinking you’ve had enough and can probably get by without is exactly what you most need to work on.
  • It will be worth it – when you bring tears to a listener’s eyes…and they’re not from painful eardrums!

Remember that even fast tunes have a story (of some sort). If you want to tell the story of a frenetic rave + chase scene from a video game, then by all means, keep thrashing away. But if you’d like to tell a more subtle story (Battle of the Somme or Flowers of the Forest anyone?) use your dynamics and tell it!

I’d love to hear how you get on with this – let me know in the comments! If, after reading this, you are a little lost, let me know that too – and we’ll work on it. And if you have other approaches, let me know!

Turn it up to 11

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Turn it up to 11

Did you know there are apparently four musics of the harp? They are Goiltai (for crying), Geantrai (for cheering), Suantrai (for sleeping), and Thrashai (for being heard over any other sounds present on the earth). (ok, I might have made up that last one)

Have you ever noticed how many people play their harps like they are auditioning for the Scorpions or MegaDeath? It seems as if playing as loudly as possible is their only goal. Now, I get it. You sit behind the instrument, and it is designed to project in front of you so you really might not be able to hear how loudly you’re playing. And if you sit in enough sessions between the other instruments, you could be forgiven for thinking that thrashing away at the strings is the best possible way to get out there.

But ugh – stop! Whacking away at your poor strings is not what you need to get better at. If you really want to join a death metal band, buy an (really big) amp.

If you want to be a better harper, work on dynamics.

Dynamics are an easy way to differentiate your playing, bring musicality to your music, and help your audience to know which of the three musics you’re trying to convey. Dynamics allow you to play at varying loudnesses. There are two major parts of adding dynamics to your tunes – storytelling and technique. Let’s start with the easy one this week.

Storytelling is essential to your playing. Remember that when you play, you are communicating with your listener (even if the only listener is you). For each tune, you’re telling a story. For many laments, airs, and songs there is a specific related story or tale. For others there isn’t (or the story has been lost, or you just haven’t heard it). When you play, you’re going to tell a story – whether you mean to or not. Might as well tell the story you mean to (even if you have to make it up).

The story you convey will be put forth on the tune and will be told through the tempo, the rhythm, the accompaniment, and the dynamics! So having some (dynamics) is a great place to start. If you doubt what I’ve said, I refer you to Prokofiev’s Peter and Wolf a very easy example of this point.  But also, Holst’s The Planets or Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture * or Muse’s Uprising as other easy examples. **  When you listen to these pieces you can quickly hear how much the dynamics support the story being told.

You can do that!

When you’re preparing a piece of music, think about the story you want to tell and how your dynamics will help you tell it.

How? (you already know what I’m going to say….)  The way to get better at varying dynamics is to practice. Next week, I’ll share some exercises you can incorporate into your practice to develop your dynamics!

If you have tips or tricks for playing dynamically, I’d love to hear them – let me know in the comments!