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.
Category: Getting started
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 Andr̬s has written a lot of music for harp, here in these episodes I look at three pieces from his book Ribambelle Рa 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”.
Ep. 34: Chord basics
I talk about chords – some very basic theory (what is a chord, anyway?), inversion, some possible exercises.
Ep. 29: Learning “Old English Country Dance”
In this episode of Harp Tuesday I demonstrate learning the Old English Country Dance from Mildred Dilling’s “Old Tunes for New Harpists“.
Ep. 22 Learning O’Carolan’s Air
In this episode of Harp Tuesday I talk about learning “O’Carolan’s Air” from Betty Paret’s First Harp Book.
Ep. 11 Wrist and arm movement
Arm and wrist movement:
Ep. 10 How to change a string
How to change a harp string:
I later did a follow up to this episode, plus an episode on changing wire strings:
And low octave gut strings:
Ep. 8 Broken/rolled chords
In this episode I talk about how to play one of the quintessential sounds on the harp – the rolled or broken chord:
Ep. 7 Your second harp lesson!
Your second harp lesson. In this episode I talk about playing multiple notes at the same time (chords) and some fingering basics (connecting, etc.)
Ep. 5 How to tune your harp + How to read music
In this episode I cover two topics – tuning your harp and learning to read music. I’ve also included the conclusion to my look at learning to read music, Harp Tuesday ep.
Ep. 4 Your first harp lesson!
Your first harp lesson! I talk about some basics to get you started playing the harp: