Buttoned up

If there’s one problem we all share – no matter which harp we play – it’s replacing strings!  I don’t know anyone who springs out of bed of a morning and cries, “I sure hope a string broke in the night so I can put on a new one!”

Nope, no one I know.  You?

Like you, I know that with practice the knots get easier, string ends are less likely to spring from your fingers just as you place them, knots don’t pull through as often, and that eventually there’s exactly the right amount of slack for the wind. I know all those things are true. 

But I also know that, no matter how much I do it, I have yet to come to love replacing strings.  So, I’m happy for anything that would make it easier.  One of you asked me about this, so let me expound.

I LOVE STRING BUTTONS!

You might have seen them.  You might have heard me go on and on about them already.  But you might not have given them a try yet. 

String Buttons are made by Dusty Strings.  Here’s what they look like (photos patently stolen from the Dusty website).  I know, they don’t look like much.  In fact, they look like you got them at JoAnn Fabric.  Really, they look like you reached into Johnny Cash’s button box.

You might think that I just love them because Dusty makes them.  But you’d be wrong.  I love them because they make life easier!  They don’t just remove the chore from replacing a string. They can be an important part of growing older with your harp.

Wait, what? Well, think about it as we become more experienced humans, things change.  String Buttons can help you weather the changes.  Whether you have poor acuity, or your vision is changing – you might find handling thin strings and bits of string ends to tie a knot is becoming more challenging (especially in low light).  Or you might find that your hands are not as flexible or as strong as they might have been so gripping the string and the string end in a knot might be harder than it was before.  Or you might have built up a dread of making knots over time and ongoing battles with strings not knotting up quickly. 

In addition, String Buttons are inexpensive.  They come in packets of 12 and are just over a dollar a piece ($13.95). I just tossed mine in my tuning package (where I have the string ends) so they are ready when I need them. 

I hope you check them out – let me know what you think.  You know I want to know so share in the comments!

My new favorite thing

Having a seat at just the right height is so important to being able to play comfortably, healthfully, and safely.  But it is equally important that the seat be comfortable enough to sit for as long as you need to be sitting at your harp.  And you need to be the right distance from the ground so that your legs and knees are comfortable at 90^o angles.  You also need to have a seat that is lightweight enough to move, not only around the space behind the harp but also into and out of the car and wherever else you need to bring your harp and play. 

That’s kind of a tall order.  I have had an X bench since I started playing but they don’t seem to make that anymore.  It is perfect – the right height, relatively light weight and I have a carrying case so it’s easy to bring to gigs and workshops.

But when I have a lot of stuff to carry (like when I go to Ohio Scottish Arts School) it becomes a little bit of a liability.  A lot of other people have a bench that looks like mine so it could be easy to lose.  And it isn’t small (even when collapsed).  And if I have to carry my harp around the building (to move from room to room to teach or to join a session) then the bench is harder to bring along (and requires multiple trips).

So, as perfect as the bench is, it started to be not quite as perfect as I would like.  I was looking for another solution that was easier to carry and provided more flexible seat heights.

I found one! (yea amazon) I found a collapsible camping stool that can go from 2.3  to 17.75 inches high, weighs a little more than 2½ pounds, supports up to 400 pounds, comes in colors, and is less than $30.  When fully collapsed, it fits in the pocket of my harp case.  You can even get a cushion.  I sit on mine for a long time on teaching days and while you won’t find them in luxury seating, they do the trick and are relatively comfortable for gigs or competitions – or even long teaching days.   There are many versions available, but this is the one I got (I can’t vouch for the others):

https://www.amazon.com/Boreeman-Upgraded-Lightweight-Collapsible-Retractable/dp/B083945P76?pd_rd_w=HqvBr&content-id=amzn1.sym.c15e5526-d433-4ac0-a393-a3f3f7218fab&pf_rd_p=c15e5526-d433-4ac0-a393-a3f3f7218fab&pf_rd_r=RRPFB98B0MEEH0G6K87Y&pd_rd_wg=kYTWQ&pd_rd_r=1be9a080-1a1d-4e1c-bc30-94e7818abcb1&ref_=pd_bap_d_grid_rp_0_116_t&th=1

(Because someplaces have laws: Nope, no affiliate link, just a link. I’m sharing what I know.  This is my opinion; I’m not compensated for sharing it. But I did want you to know what I found). 

If you get one, let me know what you think – I’d love to hear about your experience!

Last week after I exhorted you to tune every day, you asked about tuners – good question!

A tuner is certainly an important tool.  Unless you are born with perfect pitch, you’ll need one (and only about .0001% of the population does – that’s only about 775,000 people in the world!).  But a quick internet search for tuners may set your head spinning – there are so many, and they are all shiny, and they all do different things, and are they even right for the harp?!

So, this week, a little walk through the veritable Candyland of tuner types.  Hopefully this will help you decide which one is right for you.  We should start with the (boring but required) caveats – all of this is my opinion,  If you click on a link and buy one, I won’t get anything and I have no endorsement arrangements with any organizations (because I’m an idiot and I don’t make any money by “influencing” you!). 

Tuners are simply tools.  They range from simple and old school to amazingly complicated and precise.  I have tried here to cover the basic types.  I have included some to improve your knowledge even though you are unlikely to need or want them.  Here goes.

First, you DO need a tuner of some kind.  You will, of course, also use your ears, but since the pitches of the notes are mathematically related to one another, some level of precision is needed.  When you are tuning, you will consult with the tool but you will also want to hear that your harp is in tune – that your octaves are aligned and that you are getting harmonics where you expect them. 

Second, no matter which tuning tool you select, you will get better, faster, and more precise if you practice using it. That tuning every day thing will really help with that.  In addition, the more you tune your harp, the better it will stay in tune.  Yes, this is an infinite loop but it ensures you get better at it!

The first tuning tool you could use is a Tuning Fork like this one.  Definitely old school.  Also, it’s a tuning fork not a pitch fork!  You can buy them at the behemoths or at a music shop.  For harps tuned to C, F, or other major scale that keep the A string open, get a 440Hz fork (because they do, in fact, come in pitches) (Note that if you are tuned to Eb, you will want to get a G# like this one because you’ll want to tune with the levers off).  I’d suggest the ones from a music shop because they have the rubberized handle which lets the fork vibrate while you hold it without impacting its frequency.  To use the tuning fork, strike the tines on your arm or leg and then hold the base (the single end) to the sound board.  You’ll hear the reference pitch emanating from the soundboard.  Now play A3 (the A above middle C) and tune the string until you only hear one sound.  If you can hear two separate tones, the string is not in tune.  Once that string is in tune, then tune all the other A’s to A3.  Then you can use the Circle of 5^ths to tune the rest of the harp.   

• Benefits of the Tuning fork –
  • Works in any light
  • Needs no batteries
  • Lightweight, sturdy, and easy to carry
• Drawbacks –
  • Only as accurate as your hearing and discipline
  • Difficult to use in a noisy environment (like with other instruments also tuning).
  • Significant learning and practice curve

The second tuning tool you could use is the Strobe tuner like this one.  Honestly, I have seen these but have never used one.  They are an electronic tuner which displays the difference between the reference frequency (what the note should be) and what you’re playing.  They are a “gold standard” for tuning. They are scary very accurate.

• Benefits of the Strobe tuner:
  • Accuracy!  More accurate than any other tuner (likely more accurate that you can hear)
  • Easy to determine if you’re in tune and if your harmonics are in (or out) of tune
    
  • Easy to see the display and what’s going on
  • Easy to use in a noisy environment
• Drawbacks –
  • Expensive (even the smaller ones)
  • Challenging (if you don’t fully understand how it works, you’re not easily going to find another harper to explain it to you)
  • High precision can lead to “chasing” the pitch up and down around the center

Third we have Chromatic tuners.  This is probably the most prevalent type of tuner you’ll see at any harp event.  Chromatic tuners allow you to tune your strings to the closest note of the twelve-note chromatic scale (think going up the piano playing C – C# – D – D# – E – F – F# – G# – A – A# – B – B# – c).  These are called semi-tones.  This allows you to tune to whatever major scale you happen to tune to (C, F, Eb, or whatever you have chosen). 

There is the handheld.  This is probably the type of tuner you have.  They come in a lot of forms but most of us are familiar with the Korg like this one.   There is a more complicated Korg like this one. 

• Benefits –
  • Inexpensive
  • Easy to read
  • Easy to use
  • Can be used in noisy environments if include a pick up (a small microphone you plug into the tuner like this one)
• Drawbacks –
  • Battery powered
  • Likely to break if you drop it

Another increasingly popular chromatic tuner is Clip On such as the Snark ST-2 like this one.  You can clip it onto the tuning key or onto one of the sound holes on the back of the harp (which can be a challenge to see while you’re tuning).  The microphone is in the clip, so they work well in noisy or quiet environments.  These are flexible and work well – just make sure you get the right (red) one – the others are for guitars and don’t have the response you need.  Same benefits and drawbacks as other chromatic tuners, but additionally even lighter, easier to carry, don’t need a pickup, and they’re just cute!

Finally, the last type of Chromatic tuner I’ll mention is a Phone App.  There are plenty of free versions for Android and for Apple.  I use gStrings but I don’t think there are vast differences between the available apps.  These work as well as your phone can hear (so, pretty well) and are easy to read.  Like the Snark, they have the same benefits as other chromatic tuners, the display may be more precise than your handheld (mine is at the single Hz so much more precise than my handheld) which can be good but may lead you to chase the pitch.  The benefits are enhanced by the ubiquity of the phone – if you’ve forgotten your tuner, you’ll probably still have your phone!  The don’t have a pickup so in a noisy room you may (or may not) be able to use it. 

Regardless of the type of tuner you select – a few more sage thoughts –

• Having a backup is a good idea (and essential if you’re gigging).  You might consider carrying two different tuners.  In my gig bag I have a Korg, a Snark, and a tuning fork…and my phone – just in case.
• No matter how good your tuner is, carry spare batteries!
• Since your harp life is likely going to be long and you never know what kind of music you might be playing or who you might have the opportunity to play with, make sure your tuner can be calibrated (for instance you probably tune to A440Hz as a current convention, but you might move into other music that might have a different setting (like A4 = 432Hz)).  You might also look for other types of tuning – does your tuner have non-equal temperament such as Pythagorean?
• No matter which of these you choose – practice using it!  The more you use it to tune, the better you’ll be able to correlate what the display tells you with how much to turn the wrench.
• Finally – nothing beats listening.  It really doesn’t matter what the display says if the harp sounds wrong!  Be prepared to retune a string that sounds off.  Do that before you start playing!

I hope some of that was helpful.  What type or brand of tuner do you have?  Do you like it?  What does it do that you like?  What is it missing?  Let me know in the comments!

While we’re used to thinking about our tools as our harp and the tuning wrench, we have other tools too.  Some we use more than others – electronic tuner, nail clippers, splines, music stand (and music) and more.  And then there are the tools we have but we resist using – like a recorder…or a metronome! 

Why do we resist using these tools?  Usually because we think (or we’re fairly sure) we’re not going to like what we learn when we use them.  It always feels like they are scolding us!

The metronome seems to hold pride of place as the most hated tool we have.  And I get that.  My parents gave me my metronome when I was a tween a million years ago when studying piano. It is a glorious wooden-cased Seth-Thomas.  But as much as I love that thing, I have hated it for years.   I was always late.  Or early.  Or just couldn’t get the subdivision right.   Or I was so busy  just trying to “hit the tick” that I’d forget to play.  And snaps?  Just wasn’t happening.*

So many mistakes – so very frustrating!

And I know I wasn’t the only one.  In fact, I’m writing this because one of you asked!  It is easy to feel like the metronome is not just a foe, but a diabolical one!

As “basic” as a metronome is, a lot of people don’t know how to use one.  And that’s exactly part of the problem.  After all it’s easy, right?  All of this will apply regardless of your choice of metronome.  Electronic or mechanical, they all do the same thing.

• What is a metronome? A metronome is…(drumroll)… a glorified clock.  No, really.  Ok, actually it’s a simplified clock.  It measures time (that’s what “metronome” means).  Just like a clock – but in the increments you might need.
• Why would you use one? A metronome is both regular and variable.  Regular in that it will beat out the tempo you set.  Variable in that you can change that tempo.  Typically, the tick represents a quarter note.  You can go slowly for laments (at about 40 beats per minute (bpm)) to reels (at about 125 bpm) to drum and bass (at about 180 bpm).  But more importantly, it helps you to be less variable.
• How do you use it? The basics are, again, easy.  You select a tempo and play along.  Easy-peasy.  But it’s not.  My breakthrough came when I determined that I needed a tick for each subdivision rather than for each beat.  Setting the tick as a quarter note was confusing to me – if I was subdividing (counting in “ands”) then I needed two ticks per beat (a tick for the “1” and another tick for the “and”, a tick for the “2” and another tick for the and, etc.).  By adding these additional ticks, the metronome was ticking and tocking to match the way I was counting.  It also acts as a regulator so all of the tune is even.
  
• When to use it? The best answer to when to use a metronome is – anytime!  But how you use it may vary depending on when you are in the music.  When you are just beginning and learning a piece, I’d suggest you don’t use it.  At all.  It’s too early, you’re probably barely hanging on to each note, the order they come, etc.  You probably don’t have the brain space to add that level of precision counting!  You can add the metronome in after you’ve gotten more comfortable with the music.  Initially you might use a slow tempo to assure you’re getting the rhythms right.  Once you’ve got that squared away, then you can gently increase the tempo to bring the tune up to speed.  In this phase, at the tender tempo, you can assure that the tune is even throughout, that the trickier parts aren’t slowing you down, and that the end and the middle are as strong as the beginning.  Then you can begin to approach the tempo noted.  Go up in small steps (one notch at a time on a mechanical or 2 – 4 beats at a time on an electronic) and as soon as anything is out of whack, slow down a little and approach the speed again (I go back 3 increments when I make an error).  This little bit of speed at a time ensures that you learn the tune rather than relying on momentum to get through it**.  Once you have the tune at speed, you can spot check your tempo on occasion to assure you have kept the tune the way you want it.

So, hopefully you can see that the metronome is your friend.  Even when it feels like it’s winning.  With the metronome (and any other tools you know you should use but keep avoiding) the more you avoid it the more you probably need it.  But anything that helps you gain clarity can not only help you grow but will do it as a friend (an honest friend!). 

What about you?  Is your metronome your friend or your foe?  How do you use yours?  Let me know in the comments!

* And in case you’re wondering, yes, I still have my beautiful wooden cased Seth-Thomas.  And yes, I still use it.  And yes do I love it – it always reminds me that my original fan club – my parents – knew what i was capable of, even when I didn’t.

** I tell my students to go back 3 increments when a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g is not right.  That includes a wrong note, a messed up fingering, a wobbly rhythm, a wonky phrasing, or anything that’s just not right.  The first reason is that you are doing this for you so don’t cheat yourself – expect your best.  The second is that you don’t want to keep practicing an error, so eradicate errors as soon as you identify them.  I guarantee you will not be able to perform the tune sooner by cutting corners!