When playing a 3,2,1,3,2,1 patter we should be placing only in “one direction” – but sometimes that doesn’t come easily. Here’s an exercise that is only possible with the “correct” fingering!
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https://thesession.org/ is a fantastic resource for trad tunes and in today’s episode I show one way to use it – by browsing, finding something that sounds interesting, and then trying it out!
I chose a song (https://thesession.org/tunes/1039 ) called Ar Éirinn Ní Neosfainn Cé Hí or “For Ireland, I’d Not Tell Her Name”. I picked it just because I liked how it sounded, without doing any research on it, but it turns out it is very well known ballad, and generally slower than I played it. This is another important step that I didn’t mention – to go and listen to a bunch of performances of a new piece you’re learning!
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I’ve been using an iPad for reading sheet music since 2015, and from 2020 I went all digital – and yet it’s not until this year that I actually bought an iPad holder – and I’m not using it much!
In this episode I ramble on about my experiences with tablet holders/stands and whether it is something that might be useful to you.
I’d love to hear your experiences with tablet stands – are you a convert? Do you have a favourite brand or type? Or like me, do you still find that a traditional music stand can often be the best tool for the job?
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While I was at OneHarpWorld in Toronto I had a chance to talk to Silke Aichhorn about her 365 day challenge. Every day this year she is posting a music video! Each one is a minute of music that encapsulates that particular piece – so a great way to listen to a whole bunch of music and discover new music to play yourself 🙂
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Inspired by a question during my Skye Boat Song zoom course, today I’m looking at how to avoid buzzing when the 2nd finger has to place next to a ringing string during a 1-5-8 pattern!
Of course this can apply to many other situations as well. Make sure to check out this related video.
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A few thoughts on building and maintaining a repertoire of background/gig music.
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The opening of Debussy’s Clair de Lune has a wonderfully free and rubato feel to it – and yet all of that is written in specifically, using in particular a shift from triplets to duples and back again.
In this episode I go over the first page and show how we might count and conceptualize the rhythm.
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A month ago I uploaded a video on how to play a lovely short piece called “Shepherd’s Cradle Song”. At the end of that video I ended up doing a short improv on the piece, and I had a request to do a guide on how to go about doing something like that – so here it is!
I’ve done various episode on the past that tie-in with this:
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Dotted rhythms have come up a few times recently when I’ve been teaching, and I thought I’d do a look at how to play them, as well as a brief overview/refresher of note values and what adding a dot after a note means! Hope it proves useful/interesting!
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A look at the “Shepherd’s Cradle Song” from Betty Paret’s “First Harp Book”. This beautiful minor key melody is fun to play and offers some good practice for coordinating both hands.
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These days I only use my iPad and the app forScore for sheet music – which means it’s crucial that I backup that data every so often! In this video I show how you can go about doing that, using a Windows PC, a Mac computer (easiest) or just your iPad and portable hard drive/cloud storage (due to the size of my library I had some problems with this).
Remember the 3-2-1 rule of digital data – ideally you will have 3 copies in 2 different locations – so in this case to have your library on your iPad, PLUS backed up to something local (computer/hard drive) AND backed up to the cloud. This provides a fantastic level of redundancy.
Here are some articles from the forScore website (let me know if any of the links become broken if you’re reading this in the future!):
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Here’s a simple (but not easy!) exercise to work on achieving a beautiful, sustained and singing sound when playing repeated chords (or anytime when we have to replace on a previously played string).
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In this episode I show how to replace a broken disc (one of the disc pins snapped off) on a Lyon and Healy pedal harp.
You can order replacement discs from https://www.harp.com/ and I talk about how in a pinch it’s sometimes possible to swap in a nearby low (sharp) disc if that particular sharp string isn’t being used in anything you’re playing.
As I say at the end of the video, I hope you never need to replace any of your discs, but if you do, I hope this proves helpful!
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In this episode I talk about how where we look can dramatically help us when doing fast jumps and movements, and also when and how it can helpful to practice playing without looking at the strings.
I mention my arrangement of Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring as having a good section to practice playing without having to look at the right hand. The sheet music is free and can be download here.
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Here’s a look at Samuel Milligan’s arrangement of “The Ashgrove” (Llwyn Onn) from his book Medieval to Modern volume 2. This was a piece I learned when I was fairly new to the harp and I loved the excitement of the 2nd page and all the fast 8ths notes 🙂
I’ve also done Harp Tuesday episodes on Bochsa’s Air and Rondo from the same book.
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Here’s an in-depth look at a lovely little piece called “A Riddle” from Betty Paret’s First Harp Book. The piece is great practice for smoothly playing intervals – plus a fun thumb slide spot, and some nice opportunities for dynamics!
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During slow passages we sometimes have time to use a fingering that produces exactly the sound we want, rather than a fingering that is most efficient. In this episode I demonstrate what that can sound and look like, using the opening of Glinka/Balakirev’s “The Lark” as an example.
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If you’re a benefactor on my Patreon, as a bonus you can hear my live performance of The Lark from a concert this past May.
If you love the beautiful melody of The Lark but don’t want to tackle the very difficult Balakirev version, Angela Klohn has a great arrangement of the original Glinka song.
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Play along with me to practice a 2 vs 3 polyrhythm – a rhythm that comes in very useful in, for example, Debussy’s First Arabesque. You can use the chapter time-stamps to skip straight to the playlong part.
You can also check out this episode I did specifically on the Debussy Arabesque:
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It’s Tuesday, it’s Harp Tuesday! And not just any Harp Tuesday – today is episode 300!
I wanted to do a special episode talking about how best to navigate and use these 300 (and counting!) episodes of Harp Tuesday.
The topic of each Harp Tuesday episode has always been simply what I wanted to talk about that week – so there’s no over-arching order to the episodes, there’s no need to start with episode 1 and watch in order.
As I say at the end of the video, thanks for being here and watching! You’re part of the reason I made it to episode 300 – here’s to many more episodes 🙂
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If you have a lever harp, changing levers DURING a piece of music can be a bit scary if you’re not used to it – but it opens up a whole world of wonderful music! In this episode I suggest some ways you can get more comfortable with doing lever changes.
Make sure to check out these other related Harp Tuesday episodes.
And if you want some inspiration, here’s a playlist of beautiful music made possible via lever changes.
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In this episode of Harp Tuesday (episode 297) I take a look at a pattern from the slow movement of Rodrigo’s beautiful Concierto de Aranjuez. I arranged this for solo harp over 20 years ago, but I’m always looking for better ways to do things, and last year I came up with an option that I think is much better and lets me get the speed and sound that I want in this pattern.
Hope you enjoy this look at problem solving, and maybe carry it over to something you’re working on!
Watch a live performance of my arrangement:
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I’ve talked before in various episodes about paying attention to weak position notes, but I’ve never actually done an episode devoted to the concept – so in this episode I show which rhythmic positions are strong and which are weak and talk about why we often need to give a little “extra” to those weak position notes.
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In this episode I’m mulling over the question of whether the harp is a “hard” instrument to play! My thoughts are that it’s a pretty easy and accessible instrument on which to get started but can be pretty challenging as you continue…
How about you? Do you find the harp easy or hard, or is this question so individualistic that it’s not even worth asking?
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In episode 294 of Harp Tuesday I invite you to come along with me as I adjust the positioning of my bridge pin in order to get rid of an annoying twang.
Want to learn more about harp regulation? Check out this episode (plus the list of links).
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For today’s Harp Tuesday episode I wanted to talk a bit about learning and how our minds can sometimes be helpful and sometimes… not!
If you enjoyed this might also enjoy this episode.
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To get a clean sound on the harp we often need to use the left hand to muffle – whether it be a single note or a certain region.
By working on pieces that incorporate various LH muffles at specific places during the piece you can start to training your left hand to be able to automatically know when and how to muffle.
I’m using my arrangement of the Bach Prelude for Lute in C minor BWV999 as an example – if you want to play it yourself I’ve arranged it for both lever and pedal harp (though muffling is a bit more challenging on the lever harp since there are a lot of lever changes going on 🙂
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Tuning your ear to pick up on musical phrasing – how we get from note to note – is a great thing to do. In this episode I demonstrate what that can mean using the ending of the “Aria” from Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
(If you want to play the Aria yourself I’ve arranged it for both lever and pedal harp).
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A new year, a new harp! I couldn’t resist a Boxing Day sale on a used, 26 string, Dusty Strings Ravenna. I love the sound and am planning some projects for it, but first I want to regulate the levers and I thought I’d use that as an opportunity to film the process and show that it’s maybe easier than you think!
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When we are performing, I think what we do at the end of a piece of music is one of the most important things – and on the harp it means what we do AFTER we have physically played the final note or chord!
In this video I talk about what to do with your hands and eyes to help create an appropriate and compelling ending.
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The app I’m using is called Pro Metronome and its “rhythm trainer” feature. You have to pay a small amount to unlock the rhythm trainer plus “practice mode” which allows you to set the metronome to gradually increase in speed – super useful! (For example).
I’ve been happy with the app and it’s definitely been worth the money to me (despite the rather unintuitive interface!) but I’d love to hear if you know of any free options! (I believe Soundbrenner makes an app that has something like the rhythm trainer, but it has a monthly fee, i think).
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I revisit Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols (my first ever Harp Tuesday episode) to share a few spots that I’ve updated over the years, finding better fingerings or other options.
As a bonus, I actually discover another change I want to make on camera – demonstrating the idea that it’s always worth looking for new solutions even in pieces you have played for decades!
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Here’s a look at how I protect the skin under my thumbnail using climbing tape.
For me, my right thumb can easily develop a blister when the nail is short – as I play the skin gets pushed against the nail and when it has been recently cut the skin can be quite soft and easy to blister. Using something such as climbing (or athletic) tape to provide a “second skin” makes it possible to continue to practice without getting a blister! In case you have a similar issue I thought I’d share the process I do.
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Here’s a look at what I’m performing this fall in Europe and why I choose the pieces I did, as well as some thoughts on how I want to play music I am passionate about and draw the audience in for a shared experience of music that I love, rather than thinking about trying to please an audience whose tastes I can only guess at and never know.
This episode is the third of a trilogy of episode I’ve filmed this year around the topic of concert programs. Check this video about how I practice and prepare for a concert and this one on the typical structure/framework that I’m looking for in a concert program.
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Here’s a look at how to play left-handed harmonics on the harp, including some slow motion footage. I’ve done a bunch of other episodes about harmonics, check them out at https://www.harptuesday.com/category/harmonics/
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Here’s a look at how to play two handed trills on the harp, including some slow motion footage. If you want to work on trills you might also check out these other Harp Tuesday and Slow Motion Monday videos.
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In this episode I take a look at an old popular French song called Le Roi a Fait Battre Tambour. Louise Charpentier did an arrangement of it and Henriette Renie includes a version of that arrangement in her Method for Harp (this is the version I’m using).
You can find Charpentier’s original arrangement in her book “10 Pieces variees”
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I’m excited about doing a Harp Tuesday episode on the first of Godefroid’s five fantasies on Schubert songs (I already did one on the Serenade (https://www.harptuesday.com/ep207/ )
In preparation I needed to write in pedal changes and some fingerings and I thought I’d bring you along! I hope this episode gives you a sense of how you can do quite a bit away from the harp – although there is no substitute for actually trying it out, I know for sure I will change some of the fingering – stay tuned for the Harp Tuesday episode featuring it 🙂
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These days I’ve stopped using paper music entirely and have gone completely digital. In this video I talk of upgrading to the larger 12.9 iPad four years ago and offer some thoughts on whether using a tablet for sheet music is something you want to do.
Definitely check out my other videos talking about iPads (and about forScore, which to me is the best app for reading sheet music and the reason I got an iPad in the first place).
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In this episode I take a look at the Jolly Peasant from Betty Paret’s First Harp Book and talk about why the rhythm of the piece and coordinating both hands is so tricky!
A patron mentioned that in fact the dance is probably a “Furiant” and that the first 2 bars should likely be 3 bars of 2/4, in which case the LH rhythm for those two bars is the odd one out. Still hard to play it (as written), regardless of emphasis, since either the right or left hand will feel a bit weird!
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Since getting a larger size iPad pro 4 years ago I’ve gone completely digital with sheet music.
As I talked about in a video looking at what iPad to buy as far as using it to read sheet music goes, we don’t need the power of the “Pro” (and this is even more true now with the M series chips). So I think it’s fantastic that finally the large 13 inch size is available as an Air and not just as a Pro.
In this video I try to compare some various options, as well as talk about the new “Pencil Pro”. If you end up getting one of the new iPads and the pencil pro I’d love to hear about your experience!
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In this episode I talk about the general structure of my typical concert programs and how I think about putting all the moving pieces together!
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I’m getting ready to tour Australia and New Zealand – here’s a look at how I practice and prepare my concert program!
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My friend Dorothy Cook asked me a number of years ago if I could write down a piece that she had composed. That piece is called St. Columba’s Moon, inspired by an experience she’d had at a harp event at a place called St. Columba’s house.
I’ve always wanted to do a Harp Tuesday episode about the piece – and here it is! Dorothy has made the sheet music freely available if you want to play it yourself.
Dorothy as an amazing storytelling and I’m so glad that I got the chance to film her telling the story behind the piece. Stay tuned to the end of the episode to hear her story and to hear me play through the entire piece.
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Once you understand the basics of learning to read music (I did an episode on it many, many years ago! Episode 5…) I think the best way to get fluent is just doing it enough that it becomes second nature.
Drill/flash card style apps can potentially be a good tool. I’ve always thought it would be great to have an app that would let you play the note you think it is on your instrument, and tell you if you were right or wrong! (Rather than typing it, or otherwise indicating the note on the screen).
Thanks to a Facebook discussion I became aware of Note Rush, an app which does just that. In this episode I go over how it works and some of the quirks and downsides.
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I love George Winston’s take on Carol of the Bells (the traditional Ukrainian song Shchedryk). In this episode I take a look at how to play it on lever harp!
Here’s a link to the sheet music I’m using (note that this is an affiliate link – I will get a small percentage if you purchase the music using the link.
As I mention in the episode, there are several options for Winston’s music, none of which seem to be completely free of errors. If you like his music you might pick up the “George Winston Piano Solos” book 1.
I just bought the Kindle version of the book a couple days ago to see whether it is any more accurate and it seems to be exactly the same as the version I used (mistakes and all). The Prelude, however, seems more accurate, and of course it includes a bunch of other music!
I filmed a music video on pedal harp:
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Pedal charts are the best way to easily and visually represent the settings of the pedals on a pedal harp at any particular time. In this episode I talk about what they are and how they are used. This episode also covers the topic of pedal charts, from the point of view of a composer or publisher.
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I talk more about the mechanics of playing downward 3 note patterns in an episode on Aurum Aqua (which can be played on pedal or lever harp):
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I’ve recently returned home from a European tour – in this episode I talk about flying with a harp, something I had never done up until last year. I’d love hear your experiences and suggestions about flying with harps in the comments!
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In this episode I take a quick look at “Swinging” from page 5 of Betty Paret’s First Harp Book. It features right hand glisses – check out episode 18 for more on glisses: https://www.harptuesday.com/harp-tuesday-ep-18/
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I’m working on Chopin’s Prelude No. 15 (Raindrop) and in this video I give a look at the process of refining how I play the first 4 bars. Recording oneself, listening back and making notes, recording again, listening again, recording again, listening again… is a very powerful technique to help polish a piece of music.
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There’s a standard fingering to use for any interval. Of course you don’t always have to follow it (especially if you have particularly small or large hands) but it’s worth knowing about – as well as the reasoning behind it.
You can download a PDF showing these typical fingerings here.
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3 years ago I bought a 4 piezo pickup kit on Ebay for $70 US. I finally got around to installing it – watch the installation process in this video and tune in next week for my thoughts after using it for a week, and thoughts on pick-ups in general.
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In this episode I look at the first page of Felix Godefroid’s Etude de Concert in E flat minor. Download the first page with my markings on it here. The full piece can be found at the harp archives here.
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In this episode I talk about how in general you should play at middle of the strings to get the best sound, demonstrate a rule that helps ensure that’s the case when the hands are close together (left thumb above right fingers), and show how Près de la Table (close to the soundboard and Bas dans la cordes (lower on the strings) sound.
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Here’s a look at how to play the Rondo from Betty Paret’s First Harp Book. (I have wonderful memories of learning this piece 30+ years ago). It’s great practice for being able to smoothly turn around a 1,2,3,2,1 pattern.
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In this episode I take a look at the first (grade 1/grado 1) exercise from Pozzoli’s “Piccoli Studi facili e progressivi”, found in Maria Grossi’s “Method for Harp” (page 90 in the edition I have).
If you’re looking for exercises the entire book has lots of good material, almost all of which can be played on a lever harp.
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In this episode I take an in-depth look at the first movement (theme and variations) from Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 11, transcribed for harp by Alfred Kastner.
Sign up for my email newsletter to get a copy with my fingering and pedal markings – both as a PDF and as a forScore file (in case you use forScore, which then gives you the option of easily erasing any of my markings you don’t need).
IMSLP has various editions of the piano music, including the first edition – useful to compare and check. And many of the editions include suggestions on how to play the various ornaments and appoggiatura.
I did an episode years ago featuring a very easy arrangement of the first half of the theme from this Sonata, as well as an “into the archives” episode offering a first look at Kastner’s arrangement.
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What to do if you have an injury/can’t play with one hand for awhile? I offer up a few ideas, exercises, and pieces, with a focus on the left hand, as it tends to not be as accomplished as the right hand so it can be worth doing some left hand work regardless of whether you can play with both hands or not!
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Should you talk between pieces as a classical musician? I do, and here are four reasons why.
What about you? Do you like it when performers talk a little bit between pieces or do you prefer they go straight to the next piece. Do YOU talk between pieces when performing?
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In August of 2022 I got a chance to try a prototype of a carbon fiber single action pedal harp, developed by Austrian engineer Andrea Pretzler. Here’s my interview with her, filmed in August of 2022.
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Harmonics on the harp really benefit from sustained practice, but often pieces only have a few harmonics. In this episode I use a very easy setting of a Bach Chorale that I did several years ago (episode 181) and turn it into an etude for harmonics!
And here’s the episode on the Bach Chorale – my discussion of the phrasing and dynamics apply whether you’re playing it with harmonics or not! https://www.harptuesday.com/ep181/
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In this episode I teach an easy arrangement I did of Carol of the Bells, suitable for small (fully-levered) harps.
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In this special 12th anniversary episode of Harp Tuesday, I show how I play the Prelude of Bach’s 1st Cello Suite with only the left hand. It ends up fitting so nicely, it’s almost as if Bach intended it for the harp and it makes a wonderful left hand exercise 🙂
I did a Harpist in the Wild episode featuring the cello prelude:
My original inspiration to try this Prelude with LH only was seeing that Fernando Guerrero had done so. Watch his video here and he has whole book of movements from the cellos suites arranged for LH only: http://www.arlu.org/arlu.html (click on “publicaciones”).
If you want to play the Prelude on lever harp, it’s one of the pieces in Anne-Marie O’Farrell book of Bach transcriptions.
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In this episode I answer a viewer’s question about playing ascending intervals, and how to make them staccato, specifically in the end of Debussy’s Prelude No. 8 (“La fille aux cheveux de lin/Girl with the Flaxen Hair”).
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Here’s a technique that you can use to “slide” your fourth finger along a previously played string to muffle it on the way to playing the string above it. Very useful to have in your bag of tools!
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I played a concerto this summer and used sheet music rather than playing it from memory. In this Harp Tuesday episode I talk about why. I also look at the history of memorization in classical music and how it went from something that generally wasn’t done to being the norm in many cases.
Support from my patrons helped make this video possible – if you would like to help support future videos you can become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/joshlayne
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The harp-e is an intriguing electric harp design. I couldn’t resist buying one and having been using it as I travel through Europe. Here’s my review/impressions of the harp so far – hope you find it useful/interesting.
I also did an episode interview the designer of the harp-e during the World Harp Congress: https://youtu.be/XlTTmlffmj4
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I use the app forScore when reading music on my iPad (and I love it). Here are four things I’ve discovered over the years that I thought were worth sharing!
1. Save sheet music in a cloud service first, then download it from the cloud service into forScore for extra backup/redundancy. (Here’s how to backup your forScore data that is on your iPad, something else you should do regularly! https://forscore.co/kb/backing-up/ )
2. Single tap to turn pages, rather than a swipe. Some pluses and minuses to this, I think, but to my mind it’s the fastest and most efficient way to turn pages. Set this in the “gestures” options under settings.
3. Make use of the multi-finger gestures. I have a two-fingered tap set to do a half-page turn, a great timesaver if I’m in full page turn mode but want to see both the end of the current page and the start of the next page. I also like the (default) option of a single finger long press to enter edit/annotation mode. Set this in the “gestures” options under settings.
4. Using bookmarks to “extract” a portion of a many-paged pdf file. You can use the bookmark tool to make it easy to navigate to certain areas of a book or long pdf. In addition, once you’ve tapped on a bookmark, you can go to “rearrange” and have the option to save just those bookmarked pages as a separate pdf!
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Hope you enjoyed this on location video about a very cool harp! Support from my patrons helped make this video possible – if you would like to help support future videos you can become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/joshlayne
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As a musician, protecting our hearing is rather important! Depending on your situation you may want to investigate musician’s earplugs, which attempt to “turn down” the sound level, while still maintaining the clarity and fidelity of the sound.
They tend to work pretty well, and what you’re looking for is then a question of fit. If you can find an “off the shelf” set that fit snugly and comfortably for your ear, that’s perfect! The etymotic er-20s I mention in the video cost only about $20, for example.
You may find that for a good fit and a comfort level that allows you to wear them for hours on end you need a custom set, molded to the specific shape of your ear canal. These can generally be purchased at your local ear and hearing specialists, and might range from $150-300. Expensive, but potentially well worth it!
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French harpist and composer Marcel Tournier’s “Etude de Concert” (Au Matin/In the Morning) is a beautiful piece of music that’s also very satisfying to play!
In this episode I offer a few practical suggestions for playing it. Make sure to watch my performance of the Etude here.
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I love the feeling and sound that gets created by firmly gripping the harp strings – putting quite a bit of one’s fingers on the strings. In this episode I give a close up (and slow motion) look at how far I put my fingers between the strings.
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These days we’re so lucky to have easy access to recordings and the full score when it comes to preparing many orchestral parts. In this video I show how I use these tools to help get ready to perform the harp part to Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Capriccio Espagnol”.
While this video is about learning a harp part, I think it’s relevant for any instrument, particularly those that have many bars of rest between playing… 🙂
IMSLP.org is an amazing resource for public domain classical music, and you can find there both the harp part and the full orchestral score to “Capriccio Espagnol”, along with thousands of other pieces.
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Harp carts can be expensive and hard to find – in this episode I show how I’ve been able to use a cheap golf cart as a pretty decent harp cart!
Re-purposing stuff is always fun – in this case I didn’t really have to do anything, just taped on some plastic padding and added a couple bungie cords.
Of course, golf carts aren’t designed for harps, so use this idea at your own risk, but it’s worked out very well for me!
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This simple (but not easy!) exercise is particularly good for a number of things, but particularly for working on placing all 4 fingers on the way down, rather than walking the fingers down one at a time. Hope you find it useful!
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In this episode I talk about three techniques you can use to help to memorize music and demonstrate them in action as I attempt to memorize a piece of music called Cherry Trees at Merchiston written by Isobel Mieras (http://www.isobelmieras.co.uk/) Written originally for the 2020 virtual edition of the Edinburgh Harp Festival, it is available as part of this collection: http://www.creightonscollection.co.uk/Pages/scores/SM/SM668.htm
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I believe it always pays to keep an open mind – even when playing a piece of music you know extremely well. There’s always a chance there might be an even better way of doing something!
This happened recently to me in a short section from a piece on which I’m working (Jaques de la Presle’s “Jardin Mouillé”). In this episode I demonstrate both my new and old approaches, as well as talking more generally about the benefits of keeping an open mind and cultivating an ability to change the way you play something!
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“Au bord du ruisseau” (By the stream, or on the banks of the stream) is a short, beautiful piece by the Henriette Renié, a monumental figure in the classical harp world.
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The time signatures of 3/4 and 6/8 both contain a total of six 8th notes. So what is the difference between them?? This is a question I’ve often been asked by students, and in this video I attempt to answer. (Quick answer – 3/4 has 3 beats or pulses per bar, and 6/8 only has 2 beats).
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A look at the technique I use to muffle a string before changing its lever.
I’m using as an example Bach’s Prelude No. 1 in C major, which is a fantastic piece to practice lever changes and muffles. Lots of arrangements for lever harp exist, including in my book “Transcriptions for Lever Harp”.
If you’re my patron at the $3+ level you can get a free copy of my arrangement of the Prelude.
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Recording yourself and listening back is such a powerful way to help polish and refine a piece. In this episode I look at a small section from Presle’s “Jardin Mouillé” that I want to try and improve.
For the final Harp Tuesday episode of 2021, I start composing, on camera, a new harp duet. If you like this type of episode, be sure to check on my videos on composing “Uncharted Shores” and “Fantasy on Greensleeves” plus arranging “The Skye Boat Song“.
An in-depth look at my arrangement for lever harp of the the Chaconne from Handel’s Suite in D minor, HWV 448. (One of seven pieces in my book, Transcriptions for Lever Harp).
Placing all four fingers but only playing 2 at a time – featuring a section from my composition Nordic Spaces.
This type of finger independence can be extremely handy! For more, check out Harp Tuesday episode 23, plus page 32 from Betty Paret’s First Harp Book and/or the first set of the Lariviere exercises.
How I record on outdoors with a handheld recorder (Zoom H5) placed inside the body of my lever harp, PLUS how to automatically sync the audio afterwards using free video editing software, DaVinci Resolve.
In this episode I attempt to clearly define the harp fingering rule of only placing in one direction/not playing out of order and demonstrate what that means in practice using Bach’s Prelude No. 1 in C Major.
Placing on a string not to play it, but to muffle it, is an excellent option in certain passages. Here, I demonstrate it using a two bar section from Bach’s Prelude No. 4 (C sharp minor) from the Well-Tempered Clavier.
In this episode I demonstrate how to use a metronome that is gradually speeding up to practice arpeggios. Also check out this episode on arpeggios: https://www.harptuesday.com/ep-39-exercises-arpeggios-scales-and-more/
The idea of “deliberate practice” can be a very useful concept and tool. In this episode I share a few thoughts about it and then try to demonstrate deliberate practice in action as I tackle two sections from Jacques de la Presle’s beautiful “Le Jardin Mouillé”.
How big a pedal harp do you need? In response to a viewer’s question, I thought I’d offer a few thoughts on whether to get a full-sized pedal harp or something smaller. (Answer – it depends!)
I use the Virginia Harp Center’s website as a handy reference for current US prices for Lyon and Healy, Salvi, and Camac: https://www.vaharpcenter.com/
I mention Tyrolean single-action harps as an interesting option for some people. Here’s a harp maker’s website: http://www.muernseer.at/en/harp/
In this short technique episode, I give a look at how to playing descending 2 note chords (3rds, 6ths, etc.) using a thumb slide – a technique that opens up the possibility of more speed than playing each chord individually.
In this episode of Harp Tuesday I take a look at a short piece from Betty Paret’s “First Harp Book”. “Night Song” is a beautiful piece, and great practice for right hand chords (3rds and 6ths).
I could resist a beautiful June day, and took Harp Tuesday outside! This also ties in with my new series, Harpist in the Wild. Episode 2 (A Baroque Feast) is about to wrap up, with the season finale on June 5. More at https://www.harpistinthewild.com/
Another “into the archives” episode, where I take a look at a piece of music from the International Harp Archives. In this case it’s a lovely little piece by Felix Godefroid called the “Mysterious Valley“.
Requested by a viewer, I wasn’t familiar with this piece but I really enjoyed reading through it, and as well as introducing it to you I offer up some ideas on how to approach a piece when you’re first learning it.
In this video I look at how to break down and practice a short section from Bach’s Toccata in D minor. This method of finding a small section or “chunk” that you can practice effectively is a very important and useful concept for practicing in general!
A chance to watch how I go about practicing a section from Presle’s beautiful “Le Jardin Mouillé”. I always think we need more options to watch people practice, rather than just seeing the finished product. Hope you find this interesting!
DaVinci Resolve is a free and extremely powerful video editing program. In this episode I show you how you can use it to create a virtual duet, trio, quartet or more, where you play all the parts!
A short etude to work on your left hand’s ability to jump from a low chord to a high chord and back again! Playable on a small harp – no sheet music, but I just teach it by rote – hope you enjoy!
In this episode of Harp Tuesday I take a look at Felix Godefroid’s beautiful take on Schubert’s “Ständchen” or “Serenade“. Here’s a live performance of it from 2016:
Here’s my answer to a viewer’s question on what you need to do on the harp to make a chord major or minor. (Answer – the fingers play the same strings – it’s all about the lever or pedal settings!).
Come join me as I practice a section from Vivaldi’s “Winter“! We see the finished product (performance/recording, etc.) but I think that getting a chance to also watch a practice session can be very useful! Hope you enjoy 🙂
In this episode I take a look at the “Face Gestures” that forScore pro offers and explain why the gestures, as well as the motion based page turns via AirPod Pros (I haven’t tested them, since I don’t own AirPods, but the motion turns are available to all forScore users) are not something I’m interested in using – fun to test, but not a usable option from my point of view!
I love the forScore app for organizing, reading, and marking music: https://forscore.co/ (not sponsored!)
In this episode of Harp Tuesday I take a look at how to play Carol Kappus’ beautiful arrangement of “Poor Wayfaring Stranger”. Check out Carol’s music and sign up for her email list at http://www.carolkappus.com
I recorded “Poor Wayfaring Stranger” as a standalone music video:
This episode is special not only because it’s episode 200, but also because Harp Tuesday turns 10 years old today! Ten years ago on Dec. 1, 2010, I uploaded the very first episode of Harp Tuesday. (https://www.harptuesday.com/ep1/)
Support from my patrons has been invaluable over these past few years. You can become my patron and support the work I do on YouTube at: https://www.patreon.com/joshlayne
A special virtual duet episode of Harp Tuesday! I’ve uploaded myself playing the 2nd harp part to Henriette Renié’s beautiful duet, “Les pins de Charlannes” and I invite you to play the 1st harp part along with me!
Are you thinking using an iPad for reading sheet music? In this episode I try to answer the question of which iPad you should get! I also give a review of my experience upgrading this year from an iPad Air 2, to a 12.9 inch iPad Pro, as well as using the Apple Pencil.
As far as using an iPad for reading music, the short answer is that any of the current iPad offerings (iPad 8th Gen, iPad Air 4th gen, or iPad Pro) are easily capable of doing so. The question comes down to screen size – if you want the 12.9 inch size (so nice!) you’re forced to get an iPad Pro. If you think you’ll be fine with the smaller screen size, then the iPad 8th Gen will be fine.
If you’re trying to figure out what screen size you want, here are three PDFs I created. One shows the dimensions of the current set of iPads (as well as my old iPad Air 2), the other two show what a piece of music would look like, on the 12.9 and 10.2 size, respectively. (The music is my freely available arrangement of a Bach cantata – https://www.harptuesday.com/jesu/ )
A viewer did this excellent adaptation for lever harp of the theme from Felix Godefroid’s Concert Etude in Eb Minor. In this episode I introduce you to the piece and look at how to play it.
30 years ago, on Oct. 9th, 1990 I started learning “Good Morning, Little Yellow Bird”. This is the earliest piece of music I have on which my teacher (Kathryn Ely) wrote the date we started. 30 years later I thought it would be fitting to do a Harp Tuesday episode on it – hope you enjoy!
A look at two very common left hand accompaniment patterns and how to play them fluidly! 1,5,8,9,10 crossing under (or 1,5,8,10,12) plus the big stretch of a 1,5,8,10 without crossing under.
The Aria that starts off Bach’s Goldberg Variations has note values from half notes to 32nds and the rhythm can be a bit intimidating at first glance. In this episode I walk you through how to decipher and make sense of this and other music with tricky rhythms.
Here’s the system I use to indicate lever changes easily and clearly in Finale. Lever changes can pose a bit of challenge to show exactly which lever is to be changed.
Even if you work with a different notation software (Musescore, Sibelius, etc.) I hope this episode is helpful and gives you some ideas 🙂
The mordent that starts the Toccata and Fugue in D minor is one of the most recognizable openings in all of classical music. In this episode of Harp Tuesday I talk about two possible fingerings – one that I feel is ideal for this type of pattern, and the other, that I ultimately ended up using 🙂
My Camac Excalibur is almost three years old (hard to believe!) and I recently replaced the wire strings.
In this video I talk about and offer tips on the process, as well as playing before and after sound samples to try and give an idea of what effect it has to put on new strings!
Farewell to Stromness is part of the “Yellow Cake Revue” – a set of songs plus two piano interludes (Farewell to Stromness being one) that Sir Peter Maxwell Davies wrote to protest a proposed uranium mine on the Orkney islands in 1980.
Written for the piano, I think it works beautifully on the harp (thanks to a viewer for the suggestion!). In this episode of Harp Tuesday I talk about some of the fingerings and other things I’ve done to adapt it for the harp.
A look at Hasselman’s beautiful “Chanson de Mai” (Song of May), freely available at the International Harp Archives.
[EDIT – I have come to believe that in the arpeggio section that starts with the second to last page, the 2nd bar is missing a flat symbol in front of the Cs, and they are in fact played as B natural. Here’s an updated version with pedal markings].
Click here for my annotated copy with pedal markings, etc. (Keep in mind that I wrote these marks on my iPad, so somewhat sloppy – you may want to print out a clean copy from the Harp Archives and transfer my markings over instead).
A look at one of the most important part of music – phrasing, or the space between the notes! In this episode I analyze three different recordings of a bar from Chopin’s Nocturne, Op. 9 No. 2 to try to make clear what I mean when I’m talking about phrasing.
Play along with me as I do some rolled (broken) chord practice on the harp!
I’m using a metronome app called Pro Metronome (thanks to viewer Keven for his suggestion!) and its “practice mode” to very gradually speed up the pace. Link below, though note that practice mode is a paid upgrade. Do you have a favorite app that does something similar? Let me know in the comments!
I thought I’d do something a little different today and try and teach (and learn myself!) a tune by ear. A beautiful Irish tune known by a number of different names – Down by the Salley Gardens (or Sally Gardens), Maids of Mourne Shore, The Foggy Dew, etc.
While it kind of defeats the purpose (of learning it by ear) if you’d like a free copy of the music with my fingerings, sign up for my newsletter
(Existing subscribers, email me and I’ll send you a copy!)
Here’s a look at 6 spots in “Alla Turca Jazz” where I ended up changing my fingering or otherwise problem solving in order to play it better!
Ekaterina Afanasieva’s excellent arrangement of Fazil Say’s “Alla Turca Jazz” is an irresistible piece to play (based on the iconic last movement from Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 11, K. 331).
I’ve been teaching harp lessons via Skype for almost 10 years and I love the convenience and the ability to work with people all over the world. I’ve been planning to do an episode at some point talking about how Skype/Zoom/Facetime lessons work and some of the differences between them and in-person lessons. Current events pushed this video to the front of my to-do list!
I hope that it contains at least some useful and helpful information for those of you just starting to teach or take music lessons online.
An easy Bach “Chorale” gives me an opportunity to talk about phrasing and dynamics!
If you’d like the sheet music for this easy harp arrangement of “Erkenne mich, mein Hüter” from Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion, just sign up for my email newsletter and I’ll send you a copy 🙂
A look at eight note (four notes per hand) chord progressions, using the opening of Naderman’s First Sonata as an example. (You can find the sheet at the harp archives).
Such a useful thing to automatically be able to do! Here are a few other Harp Tuesday episodes that touch on chords and chord progressions: https://www.harptuesday.com/category/chords/
In this episode of Harp Tuesday you get a real-time look as I start a new composition.
I always have a bit of a soft spot for these real-time episodes, but primarily I think they’re useful for me, haha 🙂 Still, I hope you find this interesting and/or useful – comment if you end up watching the entire episode!
The Governor in Our Brains and The Mountain… or the Jungle – why learning new things can seem hard. In this episode I talk about a couple of concepts that relate to learning things that are new to us. Hope you find this helpful, would love to hear from you in the comments!
Carlos Salzedo’s “Concert Variations on O Tannenbaum” is one of my favorite carols to play – so much fun! I just published a music video of it and here’s a Harp Tuesday episode going over the variations and offer some thoughts and suggestions.
I recently came across a transcription of Mozart’s Sonata No. 11 arranged for harp by a harpist called Alfred Kastner. He did an excellent job with it – join me as I take a look through the first movement in the 2nd in a series I’m calling “From the Archives” as I highlight sheet music from the harp archives.
If you’d like a copy of my current pedal and fingering markings (still a work in progress!) sign up for my email list and I’ll send you a copy (plus you get to stay up-to-date on what I’m doing).
In this episode I talk about how choosing a fingering that focuses just on a fast ornament or section and then comes off, even if there are additional notes after the ornament, can be a useful approach. I use two sections from Deborah Henson-Conant’s “The Nightingale” to demonstrate what I mean.
Come along with me on an adventurous Harp Tuesday as I talk about what goes into recording on location with my small electric harp. Plus, two short improvisations! If you liked this style of video, let me know in the comments 🙂
In this episode I take a look at a piece from Mildred Dilling’s collection “Thirty Little Classics for the Harp”. It’s a Minuet in G minor by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (yes, the philosopher). A beautiful, elegant tune that’s easy to play.
Is playing a separate pattern in each hand a challenge for you? In this episode of Harp Tuesday I offer some ideas of how to coordinate playing with both hands at the same time, using as an example a small section from my arrangement of The Skye Boat Song.
“To Zanarkand” is a beautiful melody by Nobuo Uematsu from the video game Final Fantasy X. I plan to record a music video of this sometime this summer and I still need to practice the lever changes towards the end of the piece – join me as I work on them!
In this episode of Harp Tuesday I use the left hand pattern in Kim Robertson’s arrangement of Fauré’s Pavane to talk about three things to do to make an up and down left hand pattern sound as smooth and flowing as possible.
Kim Robertson’s Celtic Harp Solos is an excellent book. Your favourite harp music retailer will probably have a copy (or could obtain one for you). For example: https://gourd.com/robertsonbooks.html
Relaxation is so important when playing any instrument – both for speed and to remain injury and pain free. Making sure your fingers don’t stay clenched into the palm when they aren’t playing is one key to staying relaxed. In this episode I talk about how to achieve that (including using a rubber band as an aid!) and demonstrate how it looks.
Finding patterns in music is such a powerful tool! In this episode I analyze a section from Einaudi’s “Primavera” as an example. Whether you want to memorize a piece or just improve your fluency while playing from sheet music, looking for and finding patterns will serve you well 🙂
Here’s the start of a new type of video: From the Harp Archives. A quick look/read through of a piece of public domain music that I feel is worth highlighting. In this case, it’s Felix Godefroid’s beautiful setting of “The Last Rose of Summer”
Normally, when we play a harmonic on the harp it sounds an octave higher.
But it’s possible to play harmonics that sound an octave and a 5th higher, or 2 octaves, or 2 octaves+ 3rd, 2 octaves+ 5th, etc.
In this episode I demonstrate a technique I worked on recently to facilitate these extended harmonics that’s different from the way we normally play harmonics. Hope you enjoy 🙂 Would love to hear from you if you use an unusual physical approach when playing harmonics!
Need to play a bunch of glisses and want to save your fingers? A hard felt pick might be just what you need 🙂 In this short episode of Harp Tuesday I demonstrate what a glissando with a pick sounds like.
I’m using these Ukulele picks from Amazon – 3 for $3: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B005A09I7Q/ (not an affiliate link) but I believe any hard felt guitar or ukulele pick should work!
I’ve found half page turns to be a super useful thing when working with an iPad and digital sheet music. It helps allow you to do both pedal changes and bluetooth foot pedal page turns, as well as reading “across” the page when practicing.
I’m using the forScore app for iOS – I highly recommend it as a way to view and manage sheet music on an iPad. https://forscore.co/
I highly recommend listening to the full orchestral original. Here’s a link that shows the score as it plays: (We hear the violin solo+harp chords “Scheherazade” theme for the first time at 0:52 )
Hope you enjoy! Thanks to one of my patrons for the suggestion – I wasn’t aware of this arrangement and it’s beautiful and a lot of fun to play 🙂 You, too, can become my patron and support Harp Tuesday at https://www.patreon.com/joshlayne
Happy 2019 everyone! I’m busy finishing my annual New Year’s Improv video, and I thought what better subject for today’s Harp Tuesday episode than a look at improvisation. I offer two concrete ideas to spark your creativity and get you improvising in 2019 🙂
In this episode of Harp Tuesday I talk about ways to practice playing fast downward arpeggios – using Samuel Pratt’s classical “The Little Fountain” as my example!
And I did a Slow Motion Monday episode from a different angle:
In this episode I show how to learn an easy version of Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel / Veni, Veni Emmanuel. Find the free sheet music at http://www.joshlayne.com/emmanuel
I’m home from my fall 2018 European tour and ready to get back into recording Harp Tuesday episodes! Here’s a look at a short section from Debussy’s 1st Arabesque that features two different places where you have to be very careful to avoid buzzing!
Hans Trneček’s transcription of Smetana’s “The Moldau” is one of my absolute favourite pieces to play. In this episode I look at the last 3 lines and talk about problem solving and how sometimes we can come up with a better way to play something!
A year ago I bought a beautiful new Camac “Excalibur”. I did a video talking about it when I first got it and I thought it would be fun to do something a year later (spoiler alert, I’m still in love 🙂
In this composer-centric episode I talk about pedal change, pedal markings, and pedal charts. As a composer, should you include these in your scores/parts? Answer – it depends 🙂
Hopefully helpful and interesting to composers and non-composers alike! Questions? Email me at info@joshlayne.com
I use my arrangement of Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring as one of my examples – find the sheet music here.
Here’s part 2 of my process of arranging the Skype Boat Song. Was inspired to do this from remembering my Arranging Greensleeves Project and thought the time was right to do something like that again! I’ll be arranging the Skye Boat Song over several episodes, watch part 1 here.
A real-time look at adapting for lever harp the first of six “Noels” by Marcel Tournier. Tournier wrote these for pedal harp, and there’s a certain amount of modulation going on in this Noel. Still, having played through it a couple times I’m hopeful that I can adapt it for lever harp – join me for the journey and lets see if it works out! 🙂
I fell in love with this song many years ago listening to a Zabaleta recording. Couldn’t find the sheet music at the time, but was thrilled to finally track it down a few years ago online at the harp archives
Labarre’s “Caprice” (as recorded by Zabaleta) is No. 7 from his “Grande étude pour la harpe : composée de huit caprices : op. 30”
In this episode I take a look at Carlos Salzedo’s “Seguidilla” from his suite of eight dances. I give some tips on it in general, and then talk about playing fast and offer some ideas and ways to work on speed.
I also made a version of this episode which shows the sheet music onscreen as I talk about it, though the video quality is worse overall. You can watch it below:
In this episode I look at how to play the polyrhythm of 2 against 3 using examples from Debussy’s First Arabesque.
You can find Renie’s transcription of the Arabesque at IMSLP – http://imslp.org/wiki/2_Arabesques_(Debussy%2C_Claude) (Look for the “Arrangements and Transcriptions” tab).
In this episode of Harp Tuesday I use the Irish slip jig The Butterfly as a starting point to talk about fingering and technique. Music for the Butterfly and 1000s of other traditional tunes can be found at https://thesession.org/tunes
Sign up to my email newsletter to get a free PDF copy with my suggested fingerings!
In this episode oI talk about chord progressions and working on the ability to automatically go up and down a chord sequence (root, 1st inversion, 2nd inversion). As a companion to this episode you might find these two episodes helpful:
