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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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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.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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.
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”.
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!
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).
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).
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!
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).
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:
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…
In this episode I talk about transcribing music written for other instruments, with a focus on “solving” pedal challenges. I also demonstrate how I change 3 pedals at once for a Beethoven Sonata
I was still working on the format of Harp Tuesday and was splitting everything into shorter videos. Also, sound balance is not great – you may find you need headphones while listening.
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I was still working on the format of Harp Tuesday and was splitting everything into shorter videos. Also, sound balance is not great – you may find you need headphones while listening.
Get free sheet music and stay up-to-date on what I’m doing by signing up to my email newsletter!
Support from my patrons helps make continued Harp Tuesday episodes possible – if you would like to help support future videos you can become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/joshlayne
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.
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Support from my patrons helps make continued Harp Tuesday episodes possible – if you would like to help support future videos you can become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/joshlayne
