Getting started – Harp Tuesday

Ep. 213 – Easy harp music – how to play “Night Song”.

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/

Paret’s “First Harp Book” is an excellent book with some nice music and great fingerings. You should be able to find it at your favorite local music store, or online for example at https://www.harpcenter.com/product/paret-first-harp-book/harp-music-books-betty-paret

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

Ep. 206 – How to play “A Winter’s Day”

Get the free sheet music by signing up for my email newsletter 🙂

Watch the companion Harpist in the Wild episode:

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. 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. 181 – An easy Bach “Chorale” – phrasing and dynamics

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 🙂

Ep. 168 – How to play Rousseau’s Minuet in G minor

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.

Ep. 167 – A metronome rant! :)

An ode to the design of a basic, no frills, metronome 🙂

Ep. 166 – Playing the harp without pain – a few thoughts

Some general, non-technique related thoughts on ways to stay pain-free while playing the harp. Please note: I am not a medical professional! 🙂

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. 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. 146 – Learn “Oh Come Emmanuel” on the harp

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

Ep 135 Open octave/muffle refresher course

A quick look at left hand muffling with open octaves. Also check out Episode 24.

Ep 133 How to play Barbara Allen on the harp (patterns and shapes!)

Ep 131 How often do harp strings break? Do I need a replacement set?

Ep 127 practical tips on tuning your harp

In this episode of Harp Tuesday I offer a few practical tips on tuning your harp. For some additional information on tuning, see Harp Tuesday ep. 5

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. 121 Fundamental exercises on the harp – 4 finger exercise

In this episode I talk about how to play a 4,3,2,1,2,3,4,3,2,1 pattern – a great basic exercise and good workout for the fingers!

Ep. 110 Coordinating two hands, contrary motion, and practicing

In this episode I take a look at a contrary motion exercise you could use to practice coordinating two hands at once. But the practice principle I talk about can be applied to anything you’re working on!

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. 92 Learning “En Roulant” on the lever harp

I talk about learning En Roulant from Betty Paret’s First Harp Book.

Among other things I discuss counting/clapping a 6/8 rhythm and looking for patterns when learning a new piece!

Ep. 87-89 Ribambelle #1, 2, and 8 by Bernard Andrès

Harpist and composer Bernard Andrès has written a lot of music for harp, here in these episodes I look at three pieces from his book Ribambelle – a set of 10 short works for lever or pedal harp

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. 79 Coordinating two hands while playing the harp

In this episode of Harp Tuesday I talk about some ways to try and make playing with both hands at the same time feel easier…

Ep. 72 Mozart’s Sonata No. 11 on the Harp

A look at my arrangement of Mozart’s Sonata No. 11.
Click one of the links below to download the free PDF!
In A Major (original key)
In C Major
In F Major

Public domain editions of the original and complete Mozart sonata can be found at Mutopia and IMSLP – you might enjoy exploring the rest of the Sonata!

Ep. 71 Chord/jumping exercise

A chord/jumping exercise! Download the free PDF here!

Ep. 66 Two Bagpipe Tunes on the harp

In this episode of Harp Tuesday I take a quick look at “Two Bagpipe Tunes” from Mildred Dilling’s “Old Tunes for New Harpists”.

Ep. 56 Thoughts on practicing

Ep. 51 Back to basics

I take another look at the basic finger/hand motions involved in playing the harp, including some close-ups that give a clear picture of what I’m talking about!

Ep. 46 Using a metronome

I talk about using the metronome and some of the things that it can and can’t do

Ep. 39 Exercises – Arpeggios, scales, and more

In this episode of Harp Tuesday I talk about three different types of exercises – scales, finger independence, and arpeggios. I give a somewhat in-depth look at arpeggios starting at 14:26

Ep. 38 Fingering basics

In this episode I try and cover some fingering basics and rules

Ep. 36: Memorizing music

I talk about looking at patterns as a way to help memorize music, and demonstrate by memorizing “Flowers in the Valley” from Betty Paret’s “First Harp Book”.