Hmm, played for an hour this morning, mostly old favorites because I'm trying to make things more 'musical' and less like a fingering perfection. Did review Lisdoonvarna/Quaker/Morrison's Jig, which are OK if you like the slowest possible tempo. Playing quickly and nimbly is my downfall, mainly because of stage fright. Am thinking of moving the harp to a new room everyday to get more comfortable in new settings. Also hoping to continue making Tuesday 'Super Slow Tuesday' : everything at half-speed to check fingering, phrasing and the like. But the biggest goal is to play for 20 solid minutes every day. Time will tell.......
Tuesday- I can post on my own page? Magnificent! Thanks, as usual.
Tuesday-International Slow Day here in Hillsborough. My favorite! Checked fingering/phrasing/volume/tempo, etc. No wrong notes at slow speed, so you feel really good when you're done, too. Read through Rights of Man, which I haven't played for ages, and Little Beggarman.
Wednesday - Lisdoonvarna, Morrison, Quaker looking good. Rights of Man if I choose a slow, slow speed. Waiting (and waiting...) for my husband to learn a new 'A' section of Swan Lk 243 and the alto notes in Ashokan Farewell, and getting privately impatient, time for me to move on to something new.
Thursday & Friday - Away at a teaching conference, no harping at all :((.
Never have thought of that -- moving harp around to different places. It's people that frighten me!
ReplyDeleteOh, people frighten me, too, especially people noticing if I make a mistake! But I need to feel comfortable playing in different places besides the room where my harp always sits. We were doing a gig at the Hancock Inn, and I was almost paralyzed with fear for the first few minutes; "I can't see the strings, just the furniture behind it!" etc, etc. I have seen Billy Jackson play with a black rug on the floor so it's behind his view of the strings, and I am so tempted to do the same.
ReplyDeleteOK, played for a little more than an hour. Warmed up with C's Concerto and Baptist Johnson, then went right to my three little songs, Morrison, Quaker and Lisdoonvarna. All good, 2 partly memorized and getting a wee bit faster each time. (Thank you, Mrs. Blog, for inspiring me!) Sight read for quite a while, Geese in the Bog, Rights of Man, Boys of Ballysadare, songs everyone else seems to know and I don't. I love sight reading, but would much rather do a crossover than use my 4 finger in a phrase, which makes things a little bumble-y. Must work harder on this! Ended with all my favorites: Swan Lk, Si Begh, Fhear a Bhata. Took my Wii to school today to use Wii Rock Band Drums to end my 7th grade Beatles Unit. Too bad - I love Wii tennis to open up my back after practice!
ReplyDeletePam, I keep a white sheet in my harp case in case I'm encountered with crazy backgrounds or multi-colored carpets at gigs. I don't have to use it often, but we played a wedding in July last year and the carpet was shades of burgundy and green and was a swirling labyrinth-like pattern! I definitely needed it then!
ReplyDeletePam - you can post right on your blog itself with your daily 'reports' -click on the pencil at the bottom and it will return you to the 'edit' page. When you're done just hit update and bingo.
ReplyDeleteOooo Geese in the Bog - that is one I keep meaning to get to.
Always glad to be of help. Isn't it great?
ReplyDeleteAshokan Farewell is nice on the harp and not too difficult!
ReplyDeleteIt is for me, because I insist on playing EVERY piano note, and I am conflicted about when to unsharp/re-sharp my Cs. But maybe that's because I'm just a beginning harper. :)) Also, I'd love to hear which George White arrangement you're working off of. Someday I might meet you all, and I'd love to be playing the same arrangement!
ReplyDeleteWe were taught the same arrangement by Kathy D' while she was our teacher..... by ear. Hmm. I think I can solve that problem though. I'll be back later.
ReplyDeleteYou'll see me if you come to Somerset (since I'll be working there as usual) and you will also see me if you come to the Harper's Escape, which is my favorite harp event ever.
Here's a link to McDermott's Handy - Dennis' Grab Bag of Tunes (Dennis is Kathy's husband) - this is the melody version of GW's we learned - it's pretty standard I think as I've played this with other folks.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hslc.org/~gormley/tunes/geowhite.shtml
OK, thank you! I've printed it and will take a look tomorrow. I must have met you at Somerset - are you at check in? Babysitting harps? Selling me great things?? I have made a hotel reservation, and now just need to save enough moolah to register - I am positive I'll be there....unless I need knee surgery. :((
ReplyDeleteYep - I'm the tough cowgirl in charge of the harp corral. I really do need a Stetson for that job. You know Laura too.
ReplyDeleteGet right outta town!
ReplyDelete