Thursday, October 7, 2010
Getting my harp!
I'm sooooo excited! I found out on Monday, but haven't had a chance to do any blogging, so I'm gonna say it now:
I'M GETTING MY HARP TOMORROW!
There. I said it. And I managed not to spontaneously combust because of happiness. Amazing.
I haven't been able to sleep properly all week, since I found out. I go to bed with a huge smile plastered onto my face and the last thought I think is "x days until I get my harp!!!!!" I really wonder if I'll be able to sleep at all tonight... My appointment at the Harp Connection is at promptly 11:00 AM. I'll have to leave around 7:30 if I want to get there on time, leaving myself an extra 1/2 hour in case of potential slow traffic or getting lost because of the GPS (have you ever noticed that those things always seem to lead you astray?)
Anyway, I need to do some homework, but I wanted to announce it while I'm still in the "eager anticipation" stage of this "journey"! I'll post about the trip and what it was like as soon as I can. My first lesson is on Tuesday - I can't wait! ARGH, the excitement is killing me! I can't wait until tomorrow!!!!!! ^_^
PS: tonight, I'm going with my mom and her best friend to see a play called "Amadeus", it's about Mozart, who apparently only lived into his 20's... I'm very excited about that, too (I love theater) but it pales in comparison to the excitement I feel about getting my harp!
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
~Shelby
Highland Games 2010
On Saturday (September 18th) my parents and I went to Highland Games. We went last year, but on a Friday, when there is not as much to see. The Games really get kicked off on Saturday. I was very excited when I saw Saturday's schedule on the Games website, because 3 harp workshops were listed, plus my harp teacher and several others were collaborating to put on a harp concert in the evening. You have to buy tickets for the night-time concerts as well as your gate tickets, but luckily the tickets were only $10 a person so we gladly bought some.
Now, last year, only 2 harpists were slated to come, but one of them couldn't get her car to start, so I only got to go to 1 harp workshop. And by "workshop" I mean the lady played a song, then talked about the history of harps, then played another song, then talked about the different kinds of harps and explained a bit about how they were played, then played another song, and so on. This year, the workshops gave me mixed feelings because several harpists came and were actually teaching classes and people could join in the circle with their harps for free. I haven't actually started taking lessons yet, so I didn't understand much of what the instructor was saying - which made the workshops rather boring, and I must confess that I only stayed for the first half-hour or so of each - but at the same time I was thinking, "Oh, if I had my harp with me, I would be having soooo much fun!!!" Still, I made mental notes on some of the exercises that I stayed to watch and the instructors' admonitions to not rely solely on 1 finger, but to be constantly strengthening them all. I've promised myself that next year I'll try to go for all 3 days of the Games and bring my harp so I can join the harp circles and enter the junior-level competitions.
One of the best parts of Highland Games was being surrounded by upwards of 600 bagpipes all day! I absolutely love the bagpipes, and my dad decided he wants to learn to play them. He's convinced that we'll be able to do pipe/harp duets once we've both got some practice under our belts, but bagpipes are on a totally different level of MHz compared to pretty much every other instrument on the planet, so I don't think that's going to work...
The caper-tosses were fun to watch; a world champion team was coming in to compete, too, but we didn't hang around to watch - my mom and I wanted to see Albannach performing!
Last year, my mom and I absolutely fell in love with this band called Albannach (see my "Links" page for a link to their site). They play a mix of tribal drums and bagpipes, and sometimes they sing traditional Scottish songs. People pack themselves into the concert tent like sardines! And their music just moves you - literally! There was this little old lady with a walker standing in the crowd in front of me during one of their concerts we went to, and she was doodle-boppin' around like a giddy teenager.
Another band we fell in love with is the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. Imagine this - traditional drums/bagpipe music meets pop-rock + psychedelic stage lights, red high-tops, and the 2x World's Fastest Drummer champion...(a link to their site can also be found on my "Links" page.) Let me just say that you ain't lived until you've heard "We will, we will rock you" on bagpipes. They also played a cover of "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol, which will be released on their latest album. I was so psyched because after their afternoon concert, they were at their booth selling t-shirts and CDs, so I got my pictures with them and their autographs. They're really nice and I wish all the best for them. They put a lot of heart and sweat into their work!
The night harp concert was really great. As it turns out, Bill (my teacher) is the music director for Highland Games! He played 3 or 4 pieces, 2 of which he composed himself. They were magnificent! Then an ensemble of 4 harps played a few songs, which was really amazing. The room where the concert was held was very "alive", so the acoustics were great and everything just reverberated through your body. There's something really powerful about a whole group of harps playing all together. Then a harpist from Wales who now lives in Seattle, Judith, played a whole bunch of songs. She also sang Gaelic, sometimes with the harp and sometimes a capella. At the end of her part, she sang 3 reels all in a row; the first was called "A Kiss from the Fiddler's Sweetheart", the next was "The Old Lady's Jig" and the last - you'll love this one - was "If I Had a Grumpy Old Man, I'd Dunk Him in the Pond, and if He Wasn't Clean I'd Dunk Him Again". I wish I understood Gaelic because I bet that last one was a hoot!
The last performer was Maeve Gilchrist (again, visit my "Links" page!). She brought with her a friend from her college days, who accompanied her on his fiddle. She played the harp and sang with a wonderful, strong voice, and he played the fiddle so beautifully! I must confess that the violin/fiddle isn't exactly my favorite instrument, but the way he played, it sounded like melting butter or the sunshine on your back. Maeve played mostly songs that she'd written herself, and if I had some extra cash, I would totally buy her CD right now! It was a very wonderful concert.
I'm only sorry that I almost fell asleep several times near the end of it; I'd woken up at about 4:30 AM (unable to sleep from excitement) and then a happy, busy day filled with LOTS of walking finally caught up to me during the concert.
All in all, it was a very fun day. I enjoyed just being able to chill with my parents and revel in Scottish culture, even though I'm actually VERY Irish :P ... I wish I'd been finish this post sooner, but I've been very busy with school! I guess I'm glad that Blogger has the option of saving drafts! So, just pretend that I actually posted this a month ago...
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
~Shelby
Now, last year, only 2 harpists were slated to come, but one of them couldn't get her car to start, so I only got to go to 1 harp workshop. And by "workshop" I mean the lady played a song, then talked about the history of harps, then played another song, then talked about the different kinds of harps and explained a bit about how they were played, then played another song, and so on. This year, the workshops gave me mixed feelings because several harpists came and were actually teaching classes and people could join in the circle with their harps for free. I haven't actually started taking lessons yet, so I didn't understand much of what the instructor was saying - which made the workshops rather boring, and I must confess that I only stayed for the first half-hour or so of each - but at the same time I was thinking, "Oh, if I had my harp with me, I would be having soooo much fun!!!" Still, I made mental notes on some of the exercises that I stayed to watch and the instructors' admonitions to not rely solely on 1 finger, but to be constantly strengthening them all. I've promised myself that next year I'll try to go for all 3 days of the Games and bring my harp so I can join the harp circles and enter the junior-level competitions.
One of the best parts of Highland Games was being surrounded by upwards of 600 bagpipes all day! I absolutely love the bagpipes, and my dad decided he wants to learn to play them. He's convinced that we'll be able to do pipe/harp duets once we've both got some practice under our belts, but bagpipes are on a totally different level of MHz compared to pretty much every other instrument on the planet, so I don't think that's going to work...
The caper-tosses were fun to watch; a world champion team was coming in to compete, too, but we didn't hang around to watch - my mom and I wanted to see Albannach performing!
Last year, my mom and I absolutely fell in love with this band called Albannach (see my "Links" page for a link to their site). They play a mix of tribal drums and bagpipes, and sometimes they sing traditional Scottish songs. People pack themselves into the concert tent like sardines! And their music just moves you - literally! There was this little old lady with a walker standing in the crowd in front of me during one of their concerts we went to, and she was doodle-boppin' around like a giddy teenager.
Another band we fell in love with is the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. Imagine this - traditional drums/bagpipe music meets pop-rock + psychedelic stage lights, red high-tops, and the 2x World's Fastest Drummer champion...(a link to their site can also be found on my "Links" page.) Let me just say that you ain't lived until you've heard "We will, we will rock you" on bagpipes. They also played a cover of "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol, which will be released on their latest album. I was so psyched because after their afternoon concert, they were at their booth selling t-shirts and CDs, so I got my pictures with them and their autographs. They're really nice and I wish all the best for them. They put a lot of heart and sweat into their work!
The night harp concert was really great. As it turns out, Bill (my teacher) is the music director for Highland Games! He played 3 or 4 pieces, 2 of which he composed himself. They were magnificent! Then an ensemble of 4 harps played a few songs, which was really amazing. The room where the concert was held was very "alive", so the acoustics were great and everything just reverberated through your body. There's something really powerful about a whole group of harps playing all together. Then a harpist from Wales who now lives in Seattle, Judith, played a whole bunch of songs. She also sang Gaelic, sometimes with the harp and sometimes a capella. At the end of her part, she sang 3 reels all in a row; the first was called "A Kiss from the Fiddler's Sweetheart", the next was "The Old Lady's Jig" and the last - you'll love this one - was "If I Had a Grumpy Old Man, I'd Dunk Him in the Pond, and if He Wasn't Clean I'd Dunk Him Again". I wish I understood Gaelic because I bet that last one was a hoot!
The last performer was Maeve Gilchrist (again, visit my "Links" page!). She brought with her a friend from her college days, who accompanied her on his fiddle. She played the harp and sang with a wonderful, strong voice, and he played the fiddle so beautifully! I must confess that the violin/fiddle isn't exactly my favorite instrument, but the way he played, it sounded like melting butter or the sunshine on your back. Maeve played mostly songs that she'd written herself, and if I had some extra cash, I would totally buy her CD right now! It was a very wonderful concert.
I'm only sorry that I almost fell asleep several times near the end of it; I'd woken up at about 4:30 AM (unable to sleep from excitement) and then a happy, busy day filled with LOTS of walking finally caught up to me during the concert.
All in all, it was a very fun day. I enjoyed just being able to chill with my parents and revel in Scottish culture, even though I'm actually VERY Irish :P ... I wish I'd been finish this post sooner, but I've been very busy with school! I guess I'm glad that Blogger has the option of saving drafts! So, just pretend that I actually posted this a month ago...
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
~Shelby
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)