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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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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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’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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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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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!
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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/
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 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!
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 🙂
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!
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!
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 🙂
Hans TrneÄŤek’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!
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!
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 Greensleevesprojectpage for more info, or to buy the sheet music!
From orchestral playing to harp ensembles to duets, playing with other people is a lot of fun! In this episode of Harp Tuesday I talk about two aspects of playing with others and give some specific exercises you can practice on your own.
