How To Learn The Harp

The bigger the dream, the harder the conclusion must be to realize it. The same holds truthful for musicians. And when the dream is to play the harp, the eﬀort put in must be equal to i of the most challenging—and nigh cute—instruments there is.

Picking upwardly the harp (or more accurately standing with or sitting next to it) is dissimilar learning to play any other instrument. The harp is unique, a work of art in itself, and circuitous and difﬁcult both to play and to maintain. Yet it creates a unique passion in its fans, and that passion drives apprentice harp players to study, exercise, and larn with unmatched zeal. Those who follow this path report that playing the harp provides securely rewarding beneﬁts.

Overcoming Obstacles

Wayne Snow, of Common salt Lake City, Utah, understands the challenge of taking up the harp afterwards in life. "Learning the harp gave me a greater adoration and appreciation for how music is crafted," Snow explains. "Harp music is only and elegantly beautiful." As ﬁrst vice-president of an chapter of ﬁnancial consulting ﬁrm Smith Barney, the 54-year-old begetter of six had a lifelong fascination with the harp. He found himself so drawn to harp music that he decided to buy his ﬁrst used harp 2 years ago. Recently, he bought a brand new Salvi Diana Pedal Harp, with a cost tag comparable to that of a new car.

One difﬁculty for any harp player is the intense coordination needed. Harpists utilize the ﬁrst four ﬁngers of each hand to play, with both easily working separately to make music with the musical instrument'south 47 strings. And so there are the pes pedals, used to change the pitch of the strings. "Combining everything is hard, specially since you have to continue the rhythm steady," Snow explains.

There are other considerations, such as the need for physical strength and endurance and intense memorization, not to mention the costs involved. Still, Snow has persisted taking lessons one time a week since 2002, and he spends 45 minutes every day with his 74-inch-alpine, 88-pound harp. "People I've known for l years would never expect me to sit at home on a Friday nighttime playing the harp while my married woman plays the ﬂute, and actually believe I'chiliad having a boom!" Snow laughs. "Through the harp I'm redeﬁning my life."

Amazing Advantages

Reinvigorating your life, not to mention a spousal relationship, is i of the many beneﬁts of choosing the harp. Another has to practise with its positive effects on the listen and body. Investigating the furnishings of music on humans is the primary mission of Sarajane Williams, a licensed psychologist also as publisher and editor of The Harp Therapy Journal. Williams created the international, interdisciplinary journal partly to inform people of the harp's use as a therapeutic instrument.

Williams' passion is harp therapy, a full general term that includes many therapies the harp contributes to. There are passive types of harp therapy, which involve listening to its ethereal music, equally well as active therapies, which encourage subjects to play the musical instrument. Williams suggests that individuals who play the harp may feel relief from hurting. The harp tin also assist its players overcome mental and emotional challenges, and focus physical rehabilitation. "Skilful mitt technique is an essential ingredient in producing a good tone on the harp, developing agility and speed, and preventing injuries," Williams explains.

She also ﬁnds that the unique timbre of the instrument soothes and relaxes. In fact, Williams notes that the harp has long been idea of in western culture as an instrument of healing, it'south lofty position symbolized with pictures of harps in the hands of kings, gods, and angels.

Losing Yourself

"I think the full general public has a fascination with the harp that helps them see it as therapeutic," says Virginia Chang, an amateur harpist of 9 years. "Later on all, the harp is the instrument associated with sky." Chang, 41, who lives in New York Metropolis, practices her harp every other 24-hour interval. She spends most of her time raising her two immature children, having left a career as an environmental consultant for the government.

She wanted to play harp as a kid and, equally an adult, she promised herself she would learn to play by her 40th birthday. She reached her goal, beginning lessons in her early 30s, and she continues to take lessons every other calendar week on her Lyon and Healey Style 23 Natural Harp. "It'south a different medium for expression that I didn't accept in my professional career. I honey the concentration, the focus, the intensity, and the audio of the instrument," Chang says. "When I play, I become lost. My dearest for playing the harp will last all my life."

Chang says her favorites pieces to play include arrangements by Marcel Grandjany, Bernard Andres, and renowned harpist Carlos Salzedo. It was Salzedo who founded the prominent harp department at the Curtis Plant of Music in Philadelphia and who equanimous some of the most well-known harp pieces.

It was also Salzedo who coined a saying that sums up the difficult work harpists demand to play the music of the heavens: "To play like an angel you lot have to piece of work like the devil."

Sharon Clott is a freelance author based in Philadelphia, PA.