Author: admin

Ep. 202 – Testing forScore’s “Face Gestures” to turn pages

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!)

Support from my patrons helped make this video possible: https://www.patreon.com/joshlayne

Ep. 200 – How I did I get started playing the harp? My harp origin story

Happy Birthday, Harp Tuesday!

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

Ep. 199 – A virtual duet! Renié’s “Les pins de Charlannes”

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!

Sheet music can be found at IMSLP: https://imslp.org/wiki/Les_pins_de_Charlannes_(Reni%C3%A9%2C_Henriette)

I did a similar idea many years ago (in 2013!) for the Bach/Gounod “Ave Maria”: https://www.harptuesday.com/ep-52-ave-maria-duet/

Support from my patrons helped make this video possible: https://www.patreon.com/joshlayne

Ep. 198 – What iPad should you get for reading music?

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/ )

Comparison chart: https://www.joshlayne.com/iPadScreenSizes.pdf
Bach 10.2 (base iPad) https://www.joshlayne.com/iPad8thgenBachExample.pdf
Bach 12.9 (iPad Pro) https://www.joshlayne.com/iPad12BachExample.pdf

I love the forScore app for organizing, reading, and marking music: https://forscore.co/

iPad benchmark info: https://browser.geekbench.com/ios_devices/11

Support from my patrons helped make this video possible: https://www.patreon.com/joshlayne

A couple of previous episode on iPads and sheet music:

Ep. 113 Sheet music on tablets (forScore/iPad)

Ep. 152 – Half Page Turns with forScore on the iPad

Ep. 197 – Godefroid’s Etude in E minor arr. for lever harp

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.

You can download it for free (account registration needed) at https://musescore.com/user/30597084/scores/6352144

I did a look at the pedal harp version (sheet music available for free at https://archive.org/details/etudedeconcerten01gode/page/n3/mode/2up ) in Harp Tuesday episode 65: https://www.harptuesday.com/ep-65-la-source-and-etude-de-concert/

Support from my patrons helped make this video possible: https://www.patreon.com/joshlayne

Ep. 194 – How to play the ‘Aria’ from Bach’s Goldberg Variations – working with tricky rhythms.

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.

My arrangement of the Aria is one of seven pieces in my new book, Transcriptions for Lever Harp.

Ep. 192 – Playing a left hand harmonic+chord (at the same time)

How to play a left hand chord with a harmonic on top. I talk about the various chords+harmonics in Godefroid’s take on “The Last Rose of Summer”.

The pedal harp sheet music can be found at https://archive.org/details/ladernirerosedtm00gode/page/2/mode/2up

I’ve arranged it for lever harp as part of my new book, “Transcriptions for Lever Harp”: https://www.joshlayne.com/store/?product=transcriptions-for-lever-harp-volume-1-downloadable-sheet-music-pdf

More videos on harmonics: https://www.harptuesday.com/harp-tuesday-ep-9/

Support from my patrons helped make this video possible: https://www.patreon.com/joshlayne

Ep. 191 – How to play Xylophonic sounds on the harp

What are “Xylophonic Sounds” on the harp and how do you play them? Find out in this episode of Harp Tuesday 🙂

My new composition, “Uncharted Shores“, features some xylophonic sounds, as does my composition Forgotten Summer.

Uncharted Shores:
Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og_yuRQz934
Sheet Music: https://www.joshlayne.com/store/?product=uncharted-shores-downloadable-sheet-music-pdf

Forgotten Summer:
Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWhDpSrGUDo
Sheet Music: https://www.joshlayne.com/store/?product=five-solos-for-lever-harp-downloadable-sheet-music-pdf

Support from my patrons helped make this video possible: https://www.patreon.com/joshlayne

Ep. 190 – How to play the opening Mordent from Bach’s Toccata and Fugue

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 🙂

Watch my performance of the Toccata and Fugue:

Buy the sheet music at https://www.joshlayne.com/bachtoccata/

Ep. 188 – a look at “Farewell to Stromness”

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.

Ep. 187 – A look at A look at Hasselman’s “Chanson de Mai”

A look at Hasselman’s beautiful “Chanson de Mai” (Song of May), freely available at the International Harp Archives.

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).

While you’re here, consider signing up for my email newsletter – you’ll get a bunch of other free music! 🙂

Ep. 186- What is musical phrasing?

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.

This episode is a followup to a couple of recent blog posts about listening.
Part 1 https://www.joshlayne.com/blog/focused-listening-part-one/
Part 2 https://www.joshlayne.com/blog/listeningpart2/

Ep. 185 – Rolled Chord Drills

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!

Android link
Apple link

Ep. 184 – Learning “Down by the Salley Gardens” by ear

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!)

Ep. 183 – Problem solving – a look at ‘Alla Turca Jazz’

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).

The sheet music is available at https://en.schott-music.com/shop/alla-turca-jazz-no354991.html

Ep. 182 – How to teach Skype music lessons

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.

Ep. 180 – 8 note chord progressions

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/

Ep. 178 – Composing a new piece

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!

Ep. 171 – From the archives – a look at Mozart’s Sonata No. 11 arr. for harp

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).

Ep. 170 – Playing fast ornaments (featuring “The Nightingale”)

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.

Sheet music for “The Nightingale” can be found at DHC’s website https://www.hipharp.com/

Ep. 165 – How to play “Petite Berceuse” by Hasselmans

A look at Alphonse Hasselman’s lovely “Petite Berceuse“. In the key of C and playable on a 25 string harp, the sheet music is in the public domain and can be found at archive.org – https://bit.ly/2Jo2aY9

Harpist in a Tree, episode 2, features me playing “Petite Berceuse” in a tree 🙂 Watch it at https://youtu.be/2hezgZDifyk

Ep. 164 – How to play with two hands at the same time (featuring Skye Boat Song)

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.

You might also find this episode useful: https://www.harptuesday.com/ep-110-coordinating-two-hands-contrary-motion-and-practicing/

My arrangement of The Skye Boat Song is available as a PDF at http://www.joshlayne.com/store/

Ep. 162 – Playing a smooth left hand pattern in Fauré’s Pavane

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

It’s also available as a PDF download: https://harpcolumn.com/music/all-music/artists/kim-robertson/celtic-harp-solos/

 

 

Ep. 161 – Relax! Staying relaxed while playing the harp

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.

Ep. 157 – From the Harp Archives – “The Last Rose of Summer”

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”

You can view and download the sheet music at https://archive.org/details/ladernirerosedtm00gode/page/2

And the Harp Archives in general can be found at https://archive.org/details/byuinternationalharparchive

Like this idea of “From the Harp Archives”? Let me know in the comments!

Ep. 155 – Non-standard harmonics (extended technique)

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!

Ep. 153 – Using a felt pick for glisses


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!

 

 

Ep. 152 – Half Page Turns with forScore on the iPad

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 did a longer episode talking about my experience using an iPad in place of paper music: https://www.harptuesday.com/ep-113-sheet-music-on-tablets-forscoreipad/

Ep. 149 – 151 in-depth look at Scheherazade on the lever harp (3 parts)

A look at Barbara Brundage’s wonderful arrangement of Themes from Scheherazade for lever harp.

You can buy it at https://www.harpcenter.com/product/pdf-download-brundage-class2-scheherazade/ or as part of Barbara Brundage’s collection “Classics on Request #2” https://www.harpcenter.com/product/pdf-download-brundage-class2-scheherazade/

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

Ep. 148 – How to improvise on the harp: two suggestions


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 🙂

You might also enjoy episode 70

And here’s a playlist of my various improv videos

Ep 137 Composing for the harp – pedal markings and pedal charts

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.

Ep 134 Adapting Tournier’s “Noel” for lever harp

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! 🙂

Ep 132 Learning Labarre’s “Caprice”

My music video of “Caprice”

Slow Motion Monday video:

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”

All 8 etudes can be found here: https://archive.org/details/grandetudepour00laba

You can sign up to my email newsletter to get access to my fingerings and pedal markings – (existing subscribers can follow this link as well)

The Harp Archives are a tremendous resources: https://archive.org/details/byuinternationalharparchive

Ep 129 How to play fast – Salzedo’s Seguidilla

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:

Ep 126 How to regulate your harp

Some useful links:

Dusty strings:
https://manufacturing.dustystrings.com/harps/accessories-hardware/tools-maintenance
https://manufacturing.dustystrings.com/blog/sharping-levers-camac-vs-loveland

Thormahlen Harps:
http://www.thorharp.com/pages/regulatingcamaclevers.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRcLPupXuIc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFKYjmmjzvM

Great set of articles about all sort of harp maintenance by Mike Lewis, here’s the link to the article on regulation:
http://www.harptech.com/Articles/Regulation/Regulation.html

Rees levers:
https://reesharps.com/regulating-rees-harp-levers/

Loveland levers (via musicmakers): https://www.harpkit.com/mm5/pdf/Instructions/Lever-1Regulation.pdf

 

Ep. 122 Fundamental exercises on the harp – chord progressions

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:

https://www.harptuesday.com/ep-34-chord-basics/
https://www.harptuesday.com/ep-71-chordjumping-exercise/

 

Ep. 120 “Alfonso el Sabio” from Kim Robertson’s “Celtic Harp Solos”


In this first episode I take a look at a beautiful piece called Alfonso XII el Sabio (13th century Spain) from Kim Robertson’s sheet music book “Celtic Harp Solos . (I wonder if in fact it’s music associated with Alfonso X el Sabio).

EDIT – Thanks to Therese Honey in the YouTube comments – it is indeed from Alfonso X “Cantigas de Santa Maria”  This is number 166 “Como póden per sas culpas”. Check out this site which has sheet music for the entire set of songs: http://www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/csm/166#music/r

With a rather hypnotic tune and great rhythms this is a very fun piece to play!

(Celtic Harp Solos is an excellent book. Your favourite harp music retailer will probably have a copy (or could obtain one for you). It also appears to be available as a PDF download. For example:

https://gourd.com/robertsonbooks.html

https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/kim-robertson-celtic-harp-solos-digital-sheet-music/19899385

And check out Kim Robertson’s website.

Ep. 119 Software – the gear behind Harp Tuesday part 3

In this episode I complete my look at the gear I use to create Harp Tuesday and music videos, etc.

This episode looks at some of the software I use.

Here’s a list of not only the software I talk about in the episode, but also other tools I’ve used:

Reaper.   Fantastic audio editor that also functions as a pretty good video editor. Just recently discovered that it has more video editing capabilities than I was aware of and I’m super happy about that! I love it as an audio editing program and am now using it as my main video editing program. These two videos were both created in Reaper, for example:


Try out the complete program for free for 60 days, and it’s just $60 for a personal license. Highly recommended!

The rest of these programs are either free or have a free version:

Open Broadcast Software (OBS).  Steaming/capture software that lets you record your screen if you want to display sheet music + video, for example (such as this episode):

Of course, you can also use it for livestreams!

Lightworks. Professional quality video editor. Free (basic) version only lets you export at a max of 1280 x 720. Steep learning curve and not particularly intuitive, but very powerful.

Since it’s free, potentially worth checking out. I have used it for various music videos over the years:


DaVinci Resolve. There is a free version available (scroll to bottom). I’ve played around with it a tiny bit, but wasn’t sure I wanted to tackle the learning curve given that I all ready know how to use Lightworks (to some extent!) and now I’m very happy with Reaper. Still, if I end up wanting to do some greenscreen videos, for example, I may revisit Resolve.

Handbrake. Open source (free) video conversion tool, can be handy to have around.

VirtualDub. Free tool for encoding/some editing.

FFmpeg library – many other programs make use of this library, can also access it from the command prompt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ep. 117 & 118 “Soupir” on lever harp

In episode 117 I demonstrate how to play Marcel Tournier’s beautiful composition Soupir on the lever harp. Written for the pedal harp, it works very well on the lever harp as well! Download my adaption for free. (Want to play this on the pedal harp? The sheet music I used, sans my notation, can be found at archive.org)

(Note that in the video I’d forgotten to circle the low Gb at the end to indicate it’s to be played as an enharmonic (F#). The PDF link has above has the correct notation).

In episode 118 you get a look at me learning Soupir as I try to get it in shape to record it:

Ep. 116 Recording Equipment – the gear behind Harp Tuesday part 2

In this second of three Harp Tuesday episodes I talk about the gear I use to create Harp Tuesday videos and offer some thoughts and suggestions for those looking to record their own videos.

This episode is about recording equipment. I use a Royer SF12 ribbon mic and an AEA “TRP” preamp for most of my recordings. I also have a Zoom H5 for easy on location recording.

Ep. 115 Cameras – the gear behind Harp Tuesday part 1

In this first of three Harp Tuesday episodes I talk about the gear I use to create Harp Tuesday videos and offer some thoughts and suggestions for those looking to record their own videos.

This episode is about cameras. I currently record with a Canon T4i and Canon 18-135 STM lens. The Canon Rebel/Ti series are solid cameras, with the ability to connect a mic via a 3.5 mm input and an articulating screen, both essential features as far as I’m concerned. I’m currently eyeing the Panasonic GH5…

Ep. 114 A new Harp + improv!

In this special episode of Harp Tuesday I’m very excited to show off my new Excalibur lever harp! (Made by Camac Harps and purchased from the Virginia Harp Center). It’s a super fun harp to play – I do some live improv to give you a chance to hear how it sounds!

Will be doing a lot more videos featuring this harp on locations around beautiful Victoria, BC.

The Virginia Harp Center can be found at https://www.vaharpcenter.com/

Camac Harps: https://www.camac-harps.com

Ep. 113 Sheet music on tablets (forScore/iPad)

In this episode of Harp Tuesday I talk about my experience using the forScore app on an iPad air in place of physical sheet music. (I’ve found it very useful).

ForScore

The Donner foot pedal I’m using

I mentioned three places to find free, public domain music online:

The International Harp Archives at Brigham Young University

IMSLP

And for traditional music – The Session

Ep. 111 Exploring electric harps part 1

In this episode of Harp Tuesday I talk about and demonstrate the “Firefly 2” electric harp I bought last year from Wickford Harps / Dick Ranlet as well as talk about electric harps in general.

I will be doing a follow-up episode demonstrating using a looper pedal – if you have any questions you’d like answered let me know!

Video where Dick Ranlet demonstrates his two part harp system –

Ep. 109 “Pistachio” by Bernard Andres

“Pistache” (Pistachio) is one of a collection of pieces by Bernard Andres called “Epices” (Spices) where every pieces is based on a spice (Paprika, Cinnamon, Vanilla, etc.)

Pistache is probably my favourite from book one of the collection, and in this episode I take a look at it. Pistache has a bunch of cool effect/extended techniques, some fun rhythm stuff, and is just overall a blast to play 🙂

Ep. 106-107 An in-depth look at Songs of Nymphs by Marjan Mozetich

A two part look at Canadian composer Marjan Mozetich’s beautiful harp solo “Songs of Nymphs“. Written for Erica Goodman in 1988 with the assistance of the Ontario Arts Council, Songs of Nymphs is made up of four songs, or movements:

Prelude
Reflection
Ritual
Freedom


I love playing this work, and recorded it in 2001 on my CD Masterworks for Harp

Here are videos from two of my performances of Songs of Nymphs:

You can buy the sheet music at https://www.musiccentre.ca/node/13668 Also check out http://www.mozetich.com/

Ep. 100! A guide to buying a harp

Welcome to the 100th episode of Harp Tuesday! 100 is a big number and I feel proud to have reached it! 🙂 Thanks to all of you who watch and comments on my videos – you’re the reason I’ve made it to #100!

In this episode I offer some thoughts and advice on buying a harp, with an emphasis on advice for someone looking to buy their very first harp.

I hope this is helpful, and thanks for watching!

The complete episode is below, but I also split this episode into individual sections if there’s something specific you’re interested in.

1. Introduction https://youtu.be/lY2PVTGFb-A
2. General advice/synopsis https://youtu.be/znZ6D3Pyss0
3. Three categories of harps https://youtu.be/IINfg-emaQo
4. Celtic harps – how many strings? https://youtu.be/8m-vBBdJY7c
5. Celtic harps – do I need levers? https://youtu.be/OrqoGgxEc8I
6. Build quality and ergonomics https://youtu.be/JcdPXdPgG6k
7. Sound quality https://youtu.be/Q_hj0a-OvRQ
8. Strings – gut or nylon? https://youtu.be/P1xQUAT1mDw
9. Pedal harps https://youtu.be/9tz-M-EvqCQ
10. Other type of harps https://youtu.be/S87aHF79BiE

Ep. 99, 101-105 A look at Fantasy on Greensleeves for lever harp Part 1

In this six part series I take a look at my Fantasy on Greensleeves, the lever harp version. Be sure to check out my Arranging Greensleeves project page for more info, or to buy the sheet music!

Intro and theme:

Practice tips/Variation 1

Variation 2

Lever changes, Rhythm, and more – variation 3

Bridge and Variation 4

Ending and tremolos

Ep. 98 A look at Anne Vanschothorst’s “I Feel Different”

“I feel different” is one of my favourite compositions by Dutch harpist/composer Anne Vanschothorst. It felt like a great subject for my return to Harp Tuesday after a long break due to my European trip, etc.

Feels great to be back, and on almost exactly the five year anniversary of the very first Harp Tuesday episode!

Hope you enjoy – I’ll be doing a couple follow up Slow Motion Monday videos from this piece – look for that next week.

Check out Anne’s music at http://www.harpandsoul.com/ and buy her music books here: http://www.harpandsoul.com/#!shop/c1c9t

And of course check out her YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/user/annevans…

 

Ep. 97 a look at the Rondo from Bochsa’s “Air and Rondo”

In this special edition of Harp Tuesday from the Zagreb Harp Centre in Croatia (http://zagrebharpfestival.com) I take a look at the “Rondo” from Bochsa’s “Air and Rondo” – the first piece in Samuel Milligan’s “Medieval to Modern volume 2”.

Last episode I talked about the Air: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo8Nf…

Was wonderful to record surrounded by all these amazing Camac harps (http://www.camac-harps.com/)

Ep. 96 Bochsa’s “Air” from “Air and Rondo”

In this special edition of Harp Tuesday from the Zagreb Harp Centre in Croatia (http://zagrebharpfestival.com) I take a look at the “Air” from Bochsa’s “Air and Rondo” – the first piece in Samuel Milligan’s “Medieval to Modern volume 2”.

Next episode will look at the “Rondo” 🙂

Was wonderful to record surrounded by all these amazing Camac harps (http://www.camac-harps.com/)

Ep. 95 Looking at Prokofiev’s Prelude in C, Op12, No. 7

In this edition of Harp Tuesday I take a look at Prokofiev’s wonderful Prelude in C, Op. 12, No. 7.

I played this as part of a my livestream concert on August 2nd (2015).

IMSLP has the preludes, though depending on where you live they may or may not be public domain.

In 1997 I recorded the Prelude on my CD “An Afternoon of Harp Music“

Ep. 91 Experimenting with phrasing in Grandjany’s “Rhapsodie”

In this episode I look at a very small section from Marcel Grandjany’s composition “Rhapsodie” and talk about and play around with different ways of phrasing it.

In many ways what it boils down to is first figuring out how you want it to sound (in your head) and then working on being able to play it that way on your instrument…

Ep. 83-86 A look at Handel’s “Harp Concerto”

In these episodes I give an in-depth look at Handel’s Concerto for Harp, including Grandjany’s extended cadenza.

I learned and play the Grandjany edition, but you can find the original on IMSLP




One of the very first videos I ever uploaded on YouTube was the Grandjany Cadenza:

And here are two performances of the entire concerto:

Ep. 80 How to read music part 2 – Rhythm!

In this episode of Harp Tuesday I finally (!) finish my look at how to read music. In December of 2010, for my fifth episode of Harp Tuesday, I talked about how to decipher notes on the printed page and translate them into which strings to play on the harp… In this episode I talk about the other aspect of written music – Rhythm!

This was a tricky episode to put together, and I’m still not sure how much sense it makes, but if you’re trying to learn to read music hopefully this will help!

You can download the PDF sheet showing what shapes equal what note durations (Whole note, half note, etc.) here.

Ep. 74 – 78 Looking at “Variations on a theme by Mozart” (or is it?)

In these episodes of Harp Tuesday I look at a piece that I learned as “Variations sur un theme de Mozart”, playable on the Celtic harp and edited by Odette le Dentu. However, it turns out it may have nothing to do with Mozart! Thanks to a youtube comment I found the original on IMSLP – it’s the first of 4 Airs and variations by French composer Martin Dalvimare.

You can find the score and play along at IMSLP

Opening theme and first variation

Variation 3

Variation 4

Variation 2

Variations 5 and 6

Ep. 73 A look at Godefroid’s “La Danse des Sylphes”

In this episode of Harp Tuesday I take a quick look at the end of Felix Godefroid’s “La Danse des Sylphes”

A very fun piece to play 🙂

You can watch the last couple minutes in a video I just recorded:

Or a live performance of the entire piece from 2007:

I also recorded it in my 1997 CD “An Afternoon of Harp Music”

If you’re interested in learning the piece it appears to be available on archive.org

Ep. 70 Accompanying and improvising

In this episode of Harp Tuesday I talk about creating simple accompaniment patterns for the left hand based on chords, and offer some ideas on improv. Both draw heavily from a firm knowledge of chord structure – I did an episode on chords that might prove useful.

I use Auld Lang Syne as the demonstration piece for this episode. I’m reading from a handwritten lead sheet (chord symbols + right hand tune). Download the PDF here.

The section on improvisation starts at 10:22

Note that since this episode I’ve been doing more and more free improvisation – here are a couple shorter improvs and an improv concert:


Ep. 69 figuring out lever changes (Bach – Prelude No. 1)

In this episode of Harp Tuesday, I try to arranged Bach’s Prelude No. 1 in C from the Well-Tempered Clavier for the lever harp.

The episode:

And you can watch me figure out the lever changes in real time:

I used a public domain setting of the piece from Mutopia

Here is a scan of the completed version with all my markings – download the images by right-clicking and selecting “save image as…”

Ep. 67 Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring

In this episode I talk about Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” (from Cantata BWV 147)

The beauty of virtual sheet music is I can easily offer a whole bunch of different versions!

So pick the one you prefer, or download them all!

The arrangement is for the public domain, so feel free to copy and distribute as much as you would like.

(All files are PDFs)

For lever harp with complete fingerings

For pedal harp with complete fingerings

The only difference between the two versions is a low B in the bass, and the markings for the lever/pedal change.  The next two versions include the low B.

Partial fingerings

No fingerings

Ep. 55 Pedal Changes!

In this episode of Harp Tuesday I take a look at pedal changes, with a bird’s eye view of how I change pedals, plus a simple exercise to help familiarize your feet with the pedals!

The piece I play at the end is the 2nd half of the Gigue from Bach’s Partita No. 1 in B flat major, BWV 825.

Ep. 53 In depth look at “A Bird Came Flying”

In this episode of I take an in-depth look at Anne Vanschothorst’s A Bird Came Flying from her book of five original solos.

I recorded a music video of A Bird Came Flying last year.

The piece can be broken into 5 parts, here are time links to when I start talking about each part:
Start – Page 1  1:50
Page 2  12:15
Page 3   18:56
Pages 4+5   24:50
Page 6   30:15

Information on ordering the music book of A Bird Came Flying can be found here: http://www.abirdcameflying.com/order.htm

You can watch Anne Vanschothorst’s beautiful music video of one of the other pieces in the book (I Feel Different) here

Here’s audio from a concert I gave last summer of A Bird Comes Flying + I Feel Different – https://soundcloud.com/harpandsoul/harpist-josh-layne

Ep. 52 Ave Maria duet

For the first Harp Tuesday episode of 2013 I tried something new – a virtual duet of the Bach/Gounod Ave Maria.




I’ve recorded both parts to the Bach/Gounod Ave Maria, with the idea being that you can pick a part to play (tune/accompaniment) and then playing along with the video of the corresponding part – a virtual duet!

The tune is quite easy – just single notes for the right hand.  It can be played on the lever harp (there are two lever changes, but since the left hand isn’t playing they should be fairly painless…)

The accompaniment (Bach’s Prelude No. 1) is harder, and involves a number of pedal changes.  I’m also not sure how easy it will be to try and play along with the tune, since the tune has a lot of long notes, where there is no way of knowing whether we’re together or not…  Would love to hear your experiences if you try it!

You can download a PDF of the sheet music.  As long as it isn’t too confusing, I’d suggest trying to play from the score, which has both parts.  This lets you see what the other part is supposed to be doing 🙂

Download the score

Download the tune only

Download the accompaniment only

Ep. 1 Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols

November 29, 2010 – Episode 1 – An in-depth look at Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols. The first ever Harp Tuesday! I ended up re-uploading this after adjusting the audio levels – I’ve linked to that version, but you can still find the original on my YouTube channel.