I'd only had my harp for about 2 weeks and then, one Friday, I'm in my room doing homework and I hear a loud twang! from the closet. (I keep my harp in my closet because my cat is very destructive and I don't want anything to happen to my precious harp!!!) I nearly jumped out of my skin because the house was so quiet and the noise startled me.
In my research about harps, I'd read that when a string breaks, it makes a loud twanging noise, so I knew immediately that a string had just broken. A few days after I'd gotten the harp home, I noticed that the 5th string, a D (one of the very high strings), had a little nick in it near the tuning peg. Naturally, I assumed that was the string that had broken. Imagine my surprise when I opened my closet and found that it was the string below the D that had broken! (String #6: C)
My mom emailed Harp Connection and told them which string had broken and asked if they would send us a replacement for free since I'd only had the harp for about 2 weeks, and I hadn't even played it much. They emailed us back and basically said that string breakage is a part of harp playing, but since the instrument was new and I hadn't had it long, they'd send a replacement for free just this once.
I'll have to take the harp to my next lesson so Bill can show me how to put on the new string!
~Shelby
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
1st Lesson: 10/12/2010
My harp teacher lives about an hour and 15 minutes from my house, so my [hour-long] lessons start at 6pm so I can be home at a descent hour, since I get up at 5:30 every morning for a before-school Bible-study class.
The day before, my mom went to the store and got us grinders and Yodels so we could have dinner on the way.
Bill, my teacher, had asked that I bring my harp to the first lesson, so I did. He'd also asked me to purchase Stephanie Curcio's books "Student Harp Player" levels 1 and 2 before the lesson, which I did. I brought book 1 to my lesson with me, and since I already know how to read music, we skipped through almost all of the first half of the book.
The first thing we went over, before I even touched the harp, was something called "calisthenics". It's the foundation of harp playing. Basically, it is how you move your hands when plucking a string. And after plucking a string, you close your fingers all the way into your palm. Bill explained it like this: "Imagine you're playing tennis; after you hit the ball, do you stop your arm? No, you follow through! You keep swinging. It's the same with harp--it's more work to stop your finger right after you release the string than it is to allow it to close completely." I learned it is also important to keep your hands relaxed and your wrists straight.
Bill went over the finger numbers. Each finger has a number, apparently. Some sheet music has the fingerings indicated above each note. The thumb is number 1, index finger is 2, middle finger is 3 and ring finger is 4. You don't play with your pinky, so it doesn't have a number.
Then we went over Exercise #4: Single-finger Action. (Student Harpist, book 1) It helps you to develop each of your fingers so they are all equally strong and it helps you not to learn to rely on one finger more than the others.
Then we went into something called "grouping". When you play, you put your fingers on the strings you'll be playing next, but the goal is to be able to place your fingers on the strings simultaneously, so you have to learn to see groups of notes in the music. In Stephanie's book, she uses brackets around the groups, but in most music, the groups aren't indicated, so you have to find them yourself.
Finally, Bill instructed me to keep my thumbs at the same level and pointing up, with the rest of the fingers below the thumbs and pointing down. Strange as this might seem, it's actually quite comfortable, and you get a clearer, fuller sound than if your fingers and thumbs are at the same height.
All in all, it was a little bit overwhelming, but so thrilling at the same time! It's a lot to remember, but I'm so happy because this is what I've been wanting for years! I can't wait for my next lesson in 2 weeks!
~Shelby
"The journey of the a thousand miles begins with a single step."
The day before, my mom went to the store and got us grinders and Yodels so we could have dinner on the way.
Bill, my teacher, had asked that I bring my harp to the first lesson, so I did. He'd also asked me to purchase Stephanie Curcio's books "Student Harp Player" levels 1 and 2 before the lesson, which I did. I brought book 1 to my lesson with me, and since I already know how to read music, we skipped through almost all of the first half of the book.
The first thing we went over, before I even touched the harp, was something called "calisthenics". It's the foundation of harp playing. Basically, it is how you move your hands when plucking a string. And after plucking a string, you close your fingers all the way into your palm. Bill explained it like this: "Imagine you're playing tennis; after you hit the ball, do you stop your arm? No, you follow through! You keep swinging. It's the same with harp--it's more work to stop your finger right after you release the string than it is to allow it to close completely." I learned it is also important to keep your hands relaxed and your wrists straight.
Bill went over the finger numbers. Each finger has a number, apparently. Some sheet music has the fingerings indicated above each note. The thumb is number 1, index finger is 2, middle finger is 3 and ring finger is 4. You don't play with your pinky, so it doesn't have a number.
Then we went over Exercise #4: Single-finger Action. (Student Harpist, book 1) It helps you to develop each of your fingers so they are all equally strong and it helps you not to learn to rely on one finger more than the others.
Then we went into something called "grouping". When you play, you put your fingers on the strings you'll be playing next, but the goal is to be able to place your fingers on the strings simultaneously, so you have to learn to see groups of notes in the music. In Stephanie's book, she uses brackets around the groups, but in most music, the groups aren't indicated, so you have to find them yourself.
Finally, Bill instructed me to keep my thumbs at the same level and pointing up, with the rest of the fingers below the thumbs and pointing down. Strange as this might seem, it's actually quite comfortable, and you get a clearer, fuller sound than if your fingers and thumbs are at the same height.
All in all, it was a little bit overwhelming, but so thrilling at the same time! It's a lot to remember, but I'm so happy because this is what I've been wanting for years! I can't wait for my next lesson in 2 weeks!
~Shelby
"The journey of the a thousand miles begins with a single step."
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