How the Harp Found Me #2

(Yes, I'm breaking my own rules, but for this particular endeavour I think it makes more sense to post these separately from my monthly notes.)

#2  So.... what did I read?

I wish I had written down the titles of the books they brought me that day,  but most of them were filled with  ‘the usual’ information., covered in such fine books as the Yeats, listed below. Thus there was plenty of information about the evidence for development of the stringed instruments, photos and drawings of carvings from Egypt and regions of the Middle East.... mostly two, three string curved, plucked instruments - from which all the stringed instruments gradually evolved.   In fact, all cultures have some kind of stringed instrument, along with wind and drumming.  As a child we certainly made music blowing on blades of grass.  Many believe that the bow and the harp have a close relationship - wonderful metaphorically as they both drive straight into the heart.   The most interesting book they brought me, for reasons I cannot think why, was one which showed how, in the late middle ages, once the ‘do re mi’ musical notation system was evolved that monks and others would hide messages in the music.  I spent a magical afternoon thumbing through these books, looking at pictures, reading text here and there until in the middle of all this reading, the lightbulb came on and I thought, What am I doing? Shouldn’t I be listening?

A Short Bibliography:

Story of the Irish Harp and Its History and Influence, Nora Joan Clark

Harps and Harpists, Roslyn Rensch

The Harp of Ireland  Grainne Yeats

The Belfast Harper’s Festival, 1792, and the saving of Ireland’s Harp Music, Edward Bunting

Tree of Strings, Crann Nan Teud, A History of the Harp in Scotland Keith Sanger

Carolan, the Life and Times and Music of an Irish Piper, Donal O’Sullivan

If anyone has more good ones to add, please let me know!

Almost June; How My Harp Found Me

Once upon a time I played the piano pretty seriously. It was my instrument in college, and because I played by ear, it came easily. Once upon a time, I came home from work and played to relax...played my daughter to sleep...played to learn more of the Baroque music I loved.

But then, I just.....stopped playing. I had a beautiful Yamaha school upright, and gradually I stopped playing, and even stopped getting it tuned. We bought an old, old cape way down a dirt road, and I spent time researching decorating and gardening ideas. I missed being a musician, but I was involved as a music teacher, and eventually I sold the piano ( and bought the most beautiful DRDimes chair with the money!). I bought a small virginal, and played it now and then, but I was basically not playing anything. Since I'd had a piano from the age of three, you'd think I'd miss it, but honestly I didn't.

And then one night I went to our local coffeehouse -haha, the one I'm so busy managing now!  - and a lovely woman brought her harp onto the stage. I was so transfixed that I changed seats to make sure I could see her hands. Maybe my Scots ancestry zoomed in on the Celtic tunes. I was afraid to approach the woman, but spoke with her after the concert, and found out a few details.

And then I rented my first harp, a Pratt. I loved the wood and the pillar, but it was a mistake to begin on gut strings when my fingers were so weak. I found a teacher, but she wasn't a good fit, and because I wasn't a beginning musician as well as a beginning harpist, she didn't know what to do with me. So I stopped taking lessons with her and I returned the Pratt. I took a 2-month break, and did a lot of research.

I went to the Harp Connection with a check in my hand, and I asked my favorite saleswoman, Lily, to play me every Celtic harp they had in stock. I don't know, maybe I listened to 20 harps. I was so green, I didn't know to ask the right questions. But boy, I knew the harp I wanted the minute I heard it: rich, a beautiful deep first octave, mellow and serene upper octaves, and a walnut soundboard to die for.

Thank you, Sharon, for introducing me to the Celtic harp, an instrument I never knew I would love so much, and that would fill the empty spot I didn't know I was carrying!

May: How the Harp Found Me. #1

In the story I was writing, an attempt at fantasy, there was a woman who had been put out to sea in an enchanted boat, so that she could not marry the king’s son as planned.  Nobly born as she was, it was also known her mother was a witch from the North and many did not like the idea that she would pass this heredity onto their children.  And so, before the wedding, the kidnapping by a cabal of royal wizards, men who disliked the idea of women practicing magic.  However, there was one (of course) who did not fully believe the witches were such a problem and could not bear the thought of murdering a young and innocent person, and so after she is put in the boat and the other wizards have gone, he casts a spell that puts the boat and the young woman into a state where the boat will be protected and where she will not age.  Then, as with all spells, in order to work have to be breakable, he hid a harp with no strings in the boat.   If she found the harp, could string it, tune it, and play the melody that would shatter the spell, then she would be free.   

After I wrote this, I thought, I don’t know blank-all about harps, I don’t know what they really look like, how many strings, how you would tune it..... not a single thing.  I’d better go and do some research.   So I went to the nearest library which happened to be, at that moment, the main branch of the Philadelphia Free Library, which has an entire room devoted to books and journals about music, recordings and sheet music, and asked for books about harps, their origins and history.  

They brought me a stack.  I picked out the most general one first and began to read.

******************************************************************************

In other news:
Once again, I can't seem to get it together until the month is half-way spent, but that is better than not at all......

Meanwhile, I have been playing the harp a decent amount, after all that, working the hardest over Carolan's Fairy Queen, and after that The Blackbird to be followed by The Crib of Perches a set which I was going to play at our bi-annual Among Friends party with a friend (flute) however, she can't attend, so that will have to wait for the fall party.  Also working on Planxty Dermot Grogan a very pretty tune (I have a recording about somewhere .... whistle and fiddle).  I should be brave and play The Fairy Queen at the upcoming Carolan festival in June but..... I hate playing alone, and that is a problem.

Since I missed commenting on your thread Andee - I love the 'play-together' group name - so much nicer than 'harp circle' which I've never cared for.  And I like that you teach other tunes to each other.

One thought I've had from time to time, that may not appeal, or it may, is for one of us to choose a tune for all of us to learn - then if and when we see each other we might have some tunes to play together.  The one whose turn it is could record themselves playing it slow.

Also as I mentioned in a note to Pam I may try to get back to thinking more about music and the harp and writing in more depth about some of the things I think about.  I'll start at the beginning, most likely, with how I found the harp or it found me.  They'll take time to write, so be patient with me!

I'm so happy that you all post even when I am being dilatory!

How I Became a Harper / Oh the merry month of May!

     I was about 31 years old and very blocked creatively.  I enjoyed my job at Essene Market and Cafe, I had lots of friends, but the magic was missing and it made me really sad.  I no longer had any inspiration to paint or sew or do the creative things I used to do all of the time.  Everything was flat and colorless.

One of my favorite tapes at the time which was by a 'celtic' or new age harpist.  She is not well-known at all and I can't even remember her name now.  All of her pieces on this particular tape had something to do with legends (mostly Arthurian) and magic.  I also had a Patrick Ball tape and an Alan Stivell tape.  These three tapes were given to me by my roommate at the time.  I loved them.  I had discovered the magic of the harp, even if only to listen to.

One afternoon I was on the train from Center City to the 'burbs and was listening to the little-known new age harpist on  my Walkman and staring out the window.  My mind wandered and emptied.  I must have been in a very meditative and receptive state.  And then something amazing happened.  Nothing like it had ever happened to me before or since.  It was the stuff of fairytales (or crazy people!)!

"You can do this", a voice said  The voice was large, perhaps male but not necessarily.  It was definitely a voice that while inside my head, had come from outside my own consciousness.

"Do what?"  I asked it silently.  "This.  Play the harp.  You can learn to play the harp."  It was definitive.  It was almost a demand.  I was stunned.  While not a skeptic at all, these things just never happened to *me*.

Up until this point I had never remotely considered the possibility of taking up a musical instrument.  Other than piano lessons when I was 9 and violin / viola lessons when I was about 10 and 11, I had never played an instrument.  I considered myself an artist, a painter since I was in my early teens.  After all, it was what I went to college to get a degree in!

My life was about to change drastically.  I remembered a little dusty shop on South 4th street, a couple blocks below Fitzwater.  The windows were lined with tinted yellow plastic (to keep the sun out I suspected).  Inside looked like a wood workshop with harps all over.  Some intact, some in pieces.  The shop was no longer open to the public, but there was a note taped inside the window with a phone number on it.

I called the number and made an appointment.  I spent over an hour or more talking with the man who owned the business.  He was harp and dulcimer maker.  He went on and on about the history of harps and the harp in folk music and the care and feeding of harps.  He gave me a stack of papers and info.  I thanked him for his time and left.  I was thrilled and inspired!

From there I started to research them more.  For a year I read up on folk harps. I was also just getting into Irish music, folklore, and culture at the time.  My tape collection grew.   And then when I felt ready I started to look for a teacher.  How would I find one?  I went into the little Irish shop on South Street between Second and Third and picked up a copy of the Irish Edition.  In it was an article congratulating two young harpists for placing in the Comhaltas Regional Fleadh.  There was a photo of the proud girls alongside their teacher.  "*She* is going to be my teacher", I said.  There was no maybe about it.  It was Kathy DeAngelo, of course and I phoned  her immediately and set up my first lesson.


*******************************************************************************

Is anybody here a member of the HarpColumn online discussion group?  http://musicstand.harpcolumn.com/
 I don't know why I bother as half the time it's totally boring (classical) and the other half it's infuriating.  For example at the moment a woman new to the harp already plays tin whistle up to session standard and was asking for tips on how to get the tunes on harp up to speed.

A classical know-it-all basically told her she needed a classical background and 10 years of study!  WTF?!  Comments like that are like a red rag to a bull for me.  All she needs is a bit (or a lot--but not ten years!) of practice, keep the left hand simple (especially for sessions) and a few lessons on ornamentation.

I love nosing in and telling the classical know-it-alls they know nothing when it comes to trad Irish.

Update:  The woman who made the comment has since pointed out that she didn't think classical training was necessary, it was just in the absence of any folk harp teachers, a classical harpist would be able to teach good technique.  I apologized for any misunderstanding and agreed, but said that it stopped there, the learning of the tunes themselves is best done by ear if at all possible and that 10 years study was more than just a bit conservative an estimate.

I just inquired through email at a cafe in town if they'd like me to do a free concert.  I'd like some paying gigs, but the cafe is actually run by the charity I work for so it would have to be for free.  It's a really nice cafe in a historic building in the city center and I saw they've had a few informal concerts before.

My fiddle teacher last night said I have the best rolls of all his students--yay!  Thank you Kathy for teaching me such nice roll technique!

April has almost slipped away too....

Don't know why I am finding it so difficult to post here - I think it reflects the fact that I am in a bit of a harp slump.  In fact, there is irony here, as the whole reason for having this blog is to help with this problem.  Playing weekly at the hospital certainly helps, but I think my problem is a larger one in some way that I find hard to define.  Not quite so 'profound' (or profoundly stupid) as 'why am I playing this music' because when I play I love it, but because I suspect that my conditioning leads me to always want to set goals so as to improve or progress or some such thing, and I can't figure out, now, what my goals should be.  I would like to find someone who plays another instrument, preferably flute, I think, who would like to work up a wedding/event repertoire, but such people don't grow on trees and land in your lap when you snap your fingers.

Also I am distracted, as I mentioned before, by finishing up this book, which is like the ever-receding horizon.... or the task of Sisyphus.

I am in the spring session with Benedict and Hilarie right now, week 5 of 6.  I think that Brian McNamara the piper will be at class tonight, which should be fun.  (Have to practice up a couple Leitrim tunes, quick!).  They decided we should have a concert on May 9 - just when I planned to be away working on the book so I am waffling and quandery-ing about that.

This is a salamander year, btw, and we have the cutest little yellow spotted critters running about everywhere.   There are lots of 'salamander crossing' signs up on the roads!  (Not official ones, mind you).  Vermont is a funny place to live.

I'll post a photo of one of them when I get it out of my phone and into the computer.

Organizing and Focusing

For April I am really trying to focus and organize.  I am no longer working crazy hours and have more time to practice so that's good.  I am finding it difficult to focus though for some reason.

I have decided to work my way through my Book (Lucy will know all about my book).  It's basically all my Irish tunes (airs, songs, O'Carolan pieces, etc.).  They are arranged by tune type so I am starting with jigs and working my way through.  I am working on each one to bring it back up to performance-ready standard (except for those which I have pretty much lost for the time being) and choosing one or two from each tune type to revive.

I have gotten through jigs and reels so far and have chosen to revive My Darling Asleep for jigs (as well as finishing up learning the two from the workshop last month) and Toss the Feathers and The Wind That Shakes the Barley for reels.

It's now the last day of April.  Beltane Eve!  Anyway, I am still plugging away at my repertoire, reviving and re-learning.  I skipped over polkas and slides (just for now)--haha!

I have also finally made a very big decision.  I told the harp ladies in the performance group that I would no longer be participating.  I did it in the nicest way possible (after all it's all about what I can handle, nothing to do with any one of them personally).  I told them I hoped no-one would be upset with me and that I considered them all my friends.  I hope to see them at the June play together which will be at my house.  The play-togethers have nothing to do with the performance group, it's open to everyone and the person hosting it usually teaches everyone a tune  (which is actually a lot of work!). Also people can generally share anything they want that they have been working on, etc.

March wind is unrelenting!

I cannot believe- again- where the month has gone!  And the cold, while punctuated by some teaser warm days, has been pretty steady.  Slowly the banks of snow are shrinking, but I am hungrier for Spring this year than I have ever been!

I have been working on a few O'Carolan pieces- Miss Noble and Sir Arthur Shaene (?)- and a lament. And a couple of Sue Richards tunes- Fire in the Hearth and Do Not Mourn for Me ( or is it Mourn No more for Me)??  Anywho- lovely pieces from her collection.

Sue and Brother Andrew have organized a Harp Gathering- Tune Sharing weekend coming up in  West Park, NY at Holy Cross Monastery that I am busting with excitement over!  I will (theoretically) have 20 new tunes in my head by Sunday!  Hah!  Well, and then a hard copy to refer to, thankfully!

Not spending enough time on the harp with Palm and Easter Sundays approaching and keyboard music to learn, but then it should be pretty smooth sailing and I have promised myself daily dips in the strings!

I am also investigating the carbon fiber harps by Heartland Harps in NC- have any of you actually played one of their carbon fiber creations?  They make them all with concert spacing, but CAN make them with the closer Celtic harp spacing (though you void the chance to return it after purchase, unlike their standard guarantee...) and I am wondering if the feel and sound are comparable to wooden Celtic harps and string tension/spacing?  I did their harp tasting audio online, and while I was actually able to pick out the wonderful aged Dragonwood harp amongst the carbon fibers, I was blown away by the sound I heard.  Not necessarily the best device to listen on, though, so just wondered if any of you have experienced first hand?  The weight and the indestructibility, and the ability to leave a harp in a hot car and sling it around, just seems like a miraculous idea!  I LOVE my Fisher harp, but transporting it anywhere is such a worry if it involves any distance in warm weather.

It will take me awhile to save up for one, if I go that route- just dreaming for now!  Harp lust, you know!!!

Stay warm and have fun, ladies- Spring is really on the way!  Promise!!  Sharon

March has gotten away from me!

Hello my friends, I am sorry about how terrible I've been about posting..... not sure why this is.  My primary focus has been my 'real work ' writing and will probably stay that way for the next few months until I finish my current project.

Having said that, however, I am playing the harp somewhat regularly because of the steady hospital gig.  So thank goodness for that.   My two 'assignments' are to work on Festus Burke to play with my sister along with Loftus Jones(but that is in good shape) and to learn The Fairy Queen, using the Caitriona Rowsome setting, which I listened to so much while I was learning the melody, that I gave up and gave in and am learning her really lovely accompaniment rather than struggling to come up with my own!  I kept trying and then I would realize I had internalized her setting and just kept 'finding' her notes!   I would love to have Fairy Queen ready for the spring 'Among Friends' party but I doubt I can do that.  I'm trying to prepare one new or old tune to play at each hospital day that I haven't played there before, but it's getting harder and harder to meet that requirement!  May have to reduce it to every other week.... or..... whenever!

The OTHER HUGE news is that my daughter entered the National Poetry Recitation competition called Poetry Out Loud and is one of ten Vermont finalists - (out of 5000 entrants).  Last week we had the 40 semi-finalists meeting and this Thursday she will compete with the nine other finalists, reciting her three poems on live Vermont Public Television.  Yowza!  You can bet that that is distracting me completely.  I've been assigned to be the one who is anxious about everything!   Anyhow, it should be streamable and I'll post a link - but really - googling either Vermont Public Television or Vermont Arts Council should get you all the info you need.

March is Irish Month

I am still working full-time plus!  Very little time to practice, but I did manage a couple days this week.

Tomorrow evening Fiana NiChoinaill is flying in from Limerick.  She'll be staying at my place overnight and then the workshop is the next day.  She is also going to fit a private lesson in for me at some point before she flies back on Saturday night.

Fiana was a student of Janet Harbison and now has her Masters Degree in (Irish?) Music performance.

I had the most fantastic time hosting Fiana and at the workshop!  She is such a lovely and friendly young lady, not to mention very talented, of course!

She arrived after 10:30 pm and we sat around chatting for three hours!  She must have been exhausted after travelling by bus for two and a half hours from Limerick to Dublin and then the flight from Dublin to Leeds.  I was full of nervous energy wanting her short stay to be comfy and perfect and excited about the workshop in general.  It was really interesting talking to her about music, and also just about things like formal education and grading in folk and Irish music which is a funny thing in itself, plus the differences in formal education between classical and \Irish music.  I wish I could remember more specifics, but at the moment my brain is tired.

I had about 4 hours sleep in total, but wanted to be up and ready before Fiana so she could sleep a bit more (only one bathroom in our small cottage!).  I 'made' her eat something and made sure I packed snacks for the day just in case.  (I really am giving you a play-by-play description, aren't I?).

Mike got us to the venue in plenty of time for Fiana to settle in with the borrowed harp and tune up.  My friend Joan commented on how my face lit up when Fiana played the first tune for us.  I was thinking, "Now *that's* what it's all about!*  She taught us two jigs--Leitrim Fancy and The Wind on the Lake.  She managed to teach all 11 of us by ear and no-one even protested about not getting the sheet music beforehand!  She was extremely thorough and went at a slow and steady pace so as not to leave anyone behind.  We learned the bare bones of the tune first and then three completely different ways of ornamenting it.  With the second tune she gave people ideas for what they could do in the left hand.  We also learned the slow air With Her Gun and Her Dog which is from the Petrie Collection (around the same time as Bunting, a lesser known collector and collection of harp tunes--must look into it further).


Gigs booked:  I now have three summer gigs booked.  Two different farmer's markets and my usual gig at Kirkstall Abbey playing inside the Cloisters.  One of the market gigs may be as a trio (with Mike and Brian's duo Craig & Wylie, so we'd be Craigs & Wylie or Craig & Craig & Wylie).

In the meantime I had a fiddle lesson yesterday and have almost completely learned Reel of  Rio.  A bit tricky especially since I wasn't already familiar with it.

Still so so busy at work and have now resorted to practicing my fiddle either before opening the shop or after work before I go home.  The harp is another matter and I've so much to work on as always, of course.

February's almost over!

Hello harp ladies--sorry I've been absent!  I've been full-time plus at work still and also just got back from visiting my mom in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida where I can sadly say there are no harps or irish music as far as the eye can see and the ear can hear.  Except for perhaps some Plastic Paddy music scheduled in March.  That being said, I *did* hear a man playing pennywhistle just off the beach and I think he was playing The Merry Blacksmith.  I wanted to say something to him but he was gone when we went past the second time.

I know you are all so sick of snow but we've had a mild winter in the UK and today feels almost like spring.  I really really wanted snow at least once this year but it doesn't look likely now.

I am very, very behind in both my harp and fiddle stuff and Irish Month is only days away so I've got to get playing.....I'll stop by here again later!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it......

February- I have heard it described as the longest shortest month in the calendar!  Well, despite the weather, and all the snow we are buried under, it seems to be moving pretty quickly!  At the very beginning of the month I had back to back gigs.  The "All Ladies" night at the Coffee House was a blast.  I played with my daughter Kate- she played flute with the "Christ Child's lullaby" that I have incorporated whole sections of Stephanie Curcios arrangement into (There is a lovely little descant like part that plays perfectly over her variation of the traditional tune as well as over the traditional tune!  So harp and flute trade off those melodies.) and she played on flute the 2nd harp part of Sue Richard's arrangement of "Var Det Du" (Scandinavian piece) and she sang with the harp on "She moved thru the Fair", which is a tune I really love.  I play broken and harmony chords when she sings the melody, then take the melody when she takes a break!) 

I also have met with another flute player who is interested in doing Celtic Evensong services with me, as well as just having fun with Celtic, early, Baroque or classical stuff.  I may have to resort to the piano for the Baroque and Classical- don't have the time or inclination to really work that up on the Celtic harp with all the necessary lever changes, and the piano is so much easier for me to play that stuff on!  But having someone to make music with for fun is great.  She has recently plugged into an oboeist and a cellist- so who knows what might happen down the road!

An answer to a prayer has just come thru- a friend of mine and fellow ex-library trustee- just finally succumbed to taking Celtic harp lessons and just bought a slightly used 2013 Rees harp and is over the moon about learning to play!  She is right in town, and a brilliant lady, so I am sure she will reach and surpass me as quickly as Miss Pamela did! At any rate, while she is also a busy person, I think we will be able to get together and do duets  and I am really looking forward to that!  She is also a Physician's assistant at a local hospital, and interested in Music therapy courses, as am I....so maybe another whole new thing may be happening over the next year or two.  I LOVE the sound of multiple harps playing....really transportive!

Oh, the second gig the next night was our Celtic Evensong service, and Kate and I did the same harp/flute things, so we were in practice!  The weather made it tough for attendees at both venues to get out, so it was a bit sad that more folks weren't there to hear or participate.- but you get what you get, and it is all good!

Now I just need more hours in the day... or more days in the week...or more weeks in the month...Take care in this everlasting winter cold, Dear Ladies!

Sharon

February, Sunshine, Snow and Music

February 11 Not exactly straight lines here, as this is a photo of a painting...... it's me with corgis and cats, painted by a friend who stopped by while I was practicing and took pictures of me practicing.  I did tell her the left hand should be higher up than the right..... but it obviously doesn't work compositionally.   I'm thinking of asking her if she would let me use the photo for a 'business' card - I do have people stop and ask for them during my hospital gig and I don't have any.  I particularly like the red socks, which apparently I really was wearing that day.

I've had two gigs so far this month, one with no harp at a snowshoe festival at the Green Mountain Club (concertina instead) and one with harp playing on the balcony at the Richmond Free Library with a small group during their Book Sale.  Both were very very different and both were extremely fun.  I think the hospital experience is helping me be calmer and more confident.  Yay!

I know many of you have gigs and things that were coming up, I'd love to hear about them.  Especially photos!

What an exciting way to start 2014!

There was an email from the Grand Dame of Irish harp in my inbox!  Janet Harbison got my email address from someone else and thought I could help her make connections for her for upcoming concerts and other Irish harp related events!

I'm not sure how much I'll be able to help her to be honest as it seems she'll be based around Liverpool and that's a couple hours drive from Leeds and I don't know anyone in that area.  Also, I'm not exactly the most connected person and I don't really know a lot about networking, etc.  But, she still wants to call me and ask me a few questions, etc.

I do know the UK (well England anyway) really really needs a good shot of Irish harp related stuff as everything is sort of generic folk, Welsh (blah), Scottish, or Classical.  I will do everything I can to help her!  I'm excited to talk to her on the phone.  I wonder (doubt it!) if she'll remember me taking her week long workshop 15 years ago.  I certainly remember so much about it--it was such an amazing experience!

Bloody finger!  Literally.  I cut it on a can of beans a couple days ago and it's still bleeding off and on.  And it's my right hand pointer finger (that's harp finger number 2).  So it's hard to play right now.

Anyway, with my help, my chapter of the Clarsach Society has booked Fiana NiChonaill to do a workshop for us in March.  She's a former student of Janet Harbison.  I'm really excited about it--it'll be the first Irish workshop we've had since I've been a member!  She's also offered me a free lesson since she'll be staying with us when she flies in from Ireland, so yay!

I don't know what else to say right now except for only about 6 weeks to go until 'Irish Month'!  Can you believe one of my harp lady friends didn't even know when St. Pat's was??!

Finger has healed but I have fractured my little toe!  At least it wasn't a finger!

I have relearned The Blackbird and am confident with it except for a bit of the B part where I put some variation into the melody and getting that to go with the left hand at the same time.  I am thinking it's a big no-no to play a tune with the same variation / ornamentation both times when competing in the fleadh, which is why I'm pushing to get The Blackbird learned with the different variations for both times through.

I have also relearned a simple slip jig I learned from Janet Harbison eons ago called Baltiorum.  Also an air which was one of the first tunes I learned from Kathy.  At the time she thought it was O'Carolan's  Lament for Owain Roe O'Neill. but now we know it isn't O'Carolan at all.  It's on an old Clannad album, we don't have a name for it.

Have any of you seen the book 'Irish Harping 1900-2010' by Helen Lawlor?  It's very interesting!

Fiddle lessons!  I had my first fiddle lesson (in the UK) last night!  Apparently he is the only fiddle teacher in Leeds!  He's a lovely young guy from Co. Tyrone, Tommy Peoples was his teacher.

 I brought my 'book' (Lucy is familiar with my harp book--well this is the same with my fiddle tunes all written out in my own quirky ABC format) and said that at the moment I don't need any new tunes, I just need to refresh on the tunes I already have.  He's really easy going and was fine with that.  We worked on Mist Covered Mountain (which they don't play much in Co. Tyrone *or* Leeds) and Cliffs of Moher.

He showed me loads of different ornamentation to do including double stops and rolls.  I know, this is not harp stuff, but it's related, right?  The double stops gave me ideas to try on the harp (left hand stuff) and also he had a super cool different bit in the B part of Cliffs of Moher which I've got to learn on the harp!  I was up half the night with my mind racing about this stuff!

A Brand New Year, January 2014

Happy New Year fellow harpers!

January 2
I've been quiet lately and I don't quite know why, I guess too much other stuff going on.  This is one of the things that gets in the way of playing and practicing, in fact, but there isn't a lot one can say about it.

New Year's is the time for resolutions - practice more, learn more tunes, revive old tunes.......   What are you all thinking about?  I don't know yet myself.  I hope something occurs to me.

January 3
It is bitterly bitterly cold and I am finding it hard to muster the energy for much of anything...... perhaps what it is is winter doldrums?  Whatever it is I am not enjoying it very much and I'm not playing! Before this hit I was doing pretty well reviving the Michael Rooney's lovely tune Glor Na nAingeal which we learned for Kathy's Harp Orchestra and I let lapse..... also I've been reviving The Blackbird, which wasn't as hard to do as I've periodically brought it back into my repertoire.  Both take energy to play and I haven't any.  Just taking the dog out for five minutes is like being thrown against a wall, a real shock to lungs, skin, bones!  Ugh.  We're going to be -19 F tonight - I really really don't like it!  I'm hydrating my harp like mad too......

January 29
I have no idea why I have found it so hard to stop in here this month.  I have been playing the harp plenty - having the goal of playing at least one unplayed before tune at my hospital lobby gig every week, has borne fruit - it's fun as well as helpful.   This week the 'unplayed before' tunes will be the very pretty Planxty Dermot Grogan  or else a set of hornpipes:  Napoleon Crossing the Rhine/Rights of Man.   Or maybe both, won't know until I try!  Other recent tune revivals have been Henry McDermott Roe,  Michael Rooney's lovely Glor etc. Last week it was The Blackbird, which I had better listen to and work on a little bit tonight.  I have one place - not too far from the end where I tend to drop a beat whenever I haven't practiced it for longer than a week.  Drives me mad!  

The endless bitter cold of this winter has really gotten to me.  Normally taking the dog out for a good ramble morning and evening is one of my favorite things, but I've gotten so sick of having to bundle up - and it makes my nose hurt, my hands hurt - no fun!

I'll try to be better in February.

Yikes!!! December!!!

               Well, someone please tell me where November went?  Honestly!  And already Dec 6th!! 
 Since my other job(besides being Co-owner and Office Manager for our veterinary clinic)is Music Director and organist at our local Presbyterian church, most of my musical focus this month will be for the Christmas Eve service.  So harp will be on the back burner and keyboards will be front and center.  Since I am basically doing THAT job flying by the seat of my pants!, it gets a bit stressful!  And my poor little choir keeps shrinking...and yet, that service is packed, and acts like a family reunion- so we want to do well!  For many years I played the harp for prelude music before the service, but this year I am not.  Such a worry to leave it all alone while I dash between piano and organ, and unsupervised toddlers wander thru the sanctuary!  Talk about YIKES!

                I am participating in "A Celtic Christmas" on the 14th, organized by Pamela as a fundraiser for the church that sponsors our open mic/coffee house.  I will be playing 2 tunes alone- Blessed Be That Maid Marie, and Da Day Dawnes, and doing a duet with her on the Christ Child's Lullaby.  It is not strictly Celtic!  British Isles!

                Also played for our Celtic Evensong, and was very unhappy with how my big boy sounded.  Usually my bird's eye maple Kortier is bombproof- hasn't needed lots of babying in terms of humidifying, etc.  Holds in tune forever.  And I stick that mic down his back at church and he sounds lovely.  Sunday night, the tuning pins seemed slippy and the tone on a number of strings sounded hollow and nasty.  He felt dried out. Not a good experience.  So he is now in my basement, soaking up more humid air than the forced hot air heating system in the house proper.  Not a lot, but until I figure out a better plan, there he rests.  I realize the harp is about 14 years old now, but the sudden change has me concerned.  I brought him to the Harp Connection in Salem 2 years ago to be regulated, and maintained, and that is all that has been needed until now.  I like having a contrast to my new Fisher- my sparkly "robust" girl! (Except- are the strings spaced a hair closer together on the Fisher, because when I go from him to her I am overreaching the first 30 minutes or so!) He has a quieter voice, and a bit mellower sound.   Any thoughts?

                So- if I don't get back to the blog anytime soon, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy Harping New Year!  Stay safe, stay warm!

                 Sharon

Lucy sings Tra La in December

It's December 3 so high time to get things started here..... I want to post a picture of my Dusty - which lives now in Florida at a wee house in Sarasota.  It's a long involved story!   I love playing it when I am here as the sound really is different from my Fisher.  The only problem, really, is that the strings are slightly further apart?  And of course, the wide flat back makes it feel awkward to play, at least at first.

I will explain that in my non-musical life I am a writer and I am finishing up a book that is part of a post-apocalyptic trilogy that was left unfinished by the writer, who I knew quite well.  Two and a half years ago I was asked if I would like to finish it...... wisely or unwisely I took it on.   I come here to work in a particular place, Sterling Lanier's old 'lair' I call it, a woodshop that was made into his studio when he moved to this house in Sarasota.  I am close to his widow and stay with her when I am here. If you are interested, the books he wrote are called Hiero's Journey and The Unforsaken Hiero, the title of the book I am working on is Hiero's Answer.  I am in the home stretch and eager to get the first draft completely done, my fantasy being that that could conceivably happen in the next few weeks. (Yeah, right, with Christmas coming?  Who am I kidding?)  Soon anyway.  I have no more than two chapters and an epilogue at the very most to write, I hope!

That might distract me from harping, but I hope not completely.  It is a nice way to relax after spending a day at the computer, that is for sure.

The time slipped away and now it is December 9 and I am back home in Vermont..... I never took a picture of the Dusty which was stupid, because I should have - I discovered that two of the rings that protect the wood where the strings go into the soundboard were popping out...... after a call to Dusty Strings it was off to the hardware store for putty epoxy, (the slower drying kind) and the delicate operation of trying to put the stuff on the rings and in the itty-bitty holes without clogging up where the strings go......  then the wait.  I couldn't restring until Sunday, so I don't really know how it will go.  I didn't force the new strings full up either.  I changed four strings in all (one snapped too while I was playing - in fact that is when I noticed the problem) so I may have finally done it enough times in a row for it to be a less traumatic event.  Anyway the upshot of all that was that I didn't play much music while I was there, not what I hoped I might.

December 14  Now I am realizing that I should have taken pictures of the pins sticking out and the repair process and outcome...... it would have been interesting and possibly useful to someone.  

So anyhow, last night I settle down to play and lo and behold POP! the low A string goes - something in it just gave way rather than snapping it just went sort of limp - took me a minute to identify just which string went and that it really was done for.  I put the harp away.  I don't generally do things as well at night as I do in the morning.  But did I get around to dealing with it today?  No.  And then when I finally did feel ready, late afternoon, the cat got interested, wayyyyy too interested, so then I decided to wait until a time when he isn't around.  I got the old one off anyway.  It's the first string to go on the Fisher.  I expect there will be more.  I'm trying to keep the harp hydrated but we've had such incredibly cold weather!  Since the floor is cement (radiant heat underneath) I put a little puddle of water just under the harp - and keep it covered, hoping the water, as it evaporates will make a difference.  I should find a small cup and break up a sponge the way you do it Andee, and I will, I will.  Luckily too, the radiant pipes are far enough apart that there are 'cool' spots and I have made sure the harp is on one of those areas.   So not much playing the last couple of days.

Have any of you heard Farewell to Stromness (Peter Maxwell Davies)?  There is a clip of someone (.... Scott) forget first name, playing it on the harp - rather well too -.  I'm sorely tempted to give it a try, but get a load of the OVERHAND lever change!!  I've never seen that before!  Yowza.  Not even Maeve.

December is upon us! (says Andee)

I have been working so much--things are not back to normal yet, so that means less harping.  However, today was my day off and I visited this shop:   http://www.earlymusicshop.com/About.aspx I've been wanting to check out the Camac Janet.  Well I played for an hour in the shop!  It really is a great harp.  Very expensive!

The other night I had a dream that was harp related.  I do believe that some / most dreams are loaded with meaning and there for us if we choose to listen.

In the dream I was agreeing with an older gentleman that yes, I would be available to play for his group (not sure what his group was, but some kind of club of members with similar interests of some sort).  The performance was to be music and something to do with Seamus Heaney.

Now of course I am familiar with Seamus Heaney but I've never read his poems.  Today I read a few of them and definitely resonate with at least a couple of them.

Would it be pretentious to read a poem and follow it with a tune or an air that I felt went well with it?  My choice at the moment it Lovers on Aran teamed up with Mist Covered Mountain / Cliffs of Moher.  Here's the poem in case you're curious.

Lovers on Aran

The timeless waves, bright, sifting, broken glass,
Came dazzling around, into the rocks,
Came glinting, sifting from the Americas

To posess Aran. Or did Aran rush
to throw wide arms of rock around a tide
That yielded with an ebb, with a soft crash?

Did sea define the land or land the sea?
Each drew new meaning from the waves' collision.
Sea broke on land to full identity. 

Seamus Heaney

My question is:  Is this pretentious?

A weird thing about the dream; the next day an older gentlemen acquaintance of mine who I hadn't seen in ages stopped by my shop to say hello.

He is about to become secretary of the Retired People's Club and I asked him if they had need of a performance anytime in the future as I asked a couple of years ago but things were all booked up for the whole year.  He said yes and I gave him my card.

Danny Boy (Londonderry Air)  It's east to laugh off Danny Boy and to vow never to learn it on principle.  However, I have changed my mind.

I recently watched a program on BBC about the history of Danny Boy.  It was the most comprehensive program ever conceived about one song, ever!  There were musicologists, musicians, singers, social historians, actors (like Gabrielle Byrne)--so many  people all talking about Danny Boy from its original roots as Londonderry Aire to it being set to words (by an Englishman in 1913) and it's place in history.  How it was politicized during The Easter Uprising, WWI, and WWII.  How it was incorporated into jazz, blues, rock and country (they showed everyone from opera singers, film stars, Elvis, Johnny Cash and my favorite--Harry Belafonte (who knew?!) doing fantastic versions. 

Well guess what piece I am now obsessed with learning?  I will have a super version by St. Pat's Day!

Danny Boy is shaping up as is Tell Her I Am (finally) and am going to play the two as a set.  Don't think it'll be ready for open mic tomorrow, though....

I am hearing very good things about a newish harpmaker in Galway, Brian Callan, whose harps are supposed to be just like Fisher harps in sound and quality.  My friend Fiana (was taught by Janet Harbison) reports that she adivsed Brian at the early stages of his harp building and now many of Janet's students (many of which have the Camac Janet) are now on waiting lists for one of Brian's harps.  But you can't get them anywhere else except for Galway at the moment.  Might look into trying one next summer when we're in Clare.

Open mic night last night was good.  I played my Irish Christmas set of Silent Night / O'Sullivan's March and Flying to the Fleadh.  'Flying' could have been better, but it's really getting there.  I'm thinking of doing that one at the fleadh this year if I decide to compete.

In the second half I did Danny Boy / Tell Her I Am.  I barely had those two ready, but it turned out pretty good, but I had to think *a lot* during Danny Boy about which chords were next.

My second piece was the poem (Lovers on Aran) and then into Mist Covered Mountain / Cliffs of Moher which I do think people appreciated.  I'll do it again in the future, but I'll just practice my delivery (phrasing) of the poem a bit more.

I also brought my homemade chocolate chip cookies to pass around and they held their weight fairly well among the more traditional British treats of mini sausage rolls and mince pies.

Lucy's November Notes

8 November
So where has the time gone this month?  Already it is the 8th!

The good news is I am playing the harp more steadily.  This hospital gig makes that happen.  I try to play a new tune every week - this week it was Inis Oir, even if it was a bit shaky it sounded fine I think.

Flakes flying about today.

Sunday is one of our "Among Friends" musical gatherings and I am playing Sport on the harp with a flute friend.  We sound pretty decent I think!  I'm kind of amazed, I've only been working on that tune for ten years!  I finally simplified the left hand and bingo!  Michael Rooney I ain't.

30 November
OK so I have been a terrible blog host or whatever I am !

The Among Friends party went swimmingly, and I am so happy that I have finally nailed Sport - well - not nailed but kind of tacked it up so it mostly goes as it should.

I've been playing the harp a lot.  Last Sunday (the.....23rd?) I found I had the house to myself and sent out an open invite and two friends were able to come over and they 'forced' me to play the harp instead of the concertina (which I never even got out of its box!) the whole time.  What a nice afternoon it was, one flute, one fiddle and one harp - and lots of shared tunes, including a good deal of Carolan.

I think I have Mme Maxwell in pretty good shape, so it's a 'what's next'? for Carolan - I think I should bring some of the oldies back up to speed, like Planxty Irwin and then pull Inchiquin up a notch or two.

Otherwise the jig set of Old Man Dillon and The Green Hills of Woodford is really starting to come together and I am beginning to work on a new set of The Gallowglass and The Legacy.  I'm finding it more and more these days that I do like to think of tunes in sets - I don't have to be glued to them - but I find it more satisfying to figure that part out too and learn them together.  It certainly helps make that transition a smooth one!

Heaven knows what December will bring.  I have a number of non-musical obligations (not just holiday stuff but also my work) that will be taking up a huge amount of my time, but we'll see.  I've been buffing up Henry McDermott Roe because my bro who plays the cello has learned it and will be eager to play it when he comes up for New Year's.

Hope everyone else is doing well and harping away!

Sharon's November Thoughts

                                            Sharon's November Thoughts

It is definitely getting chilly after a long and wonderfully colorful fall in NH.  Prettiest autumn we have seen in the area in years!  The month started off for me with the Coffee House at Smith Church, where I introduced my new Fisher harp ("Colleen") and got to find out if I needed to amplify her or not.  For years I have brought my workhorse- the 36 string birds eye maple Kortier- and stuck a mic down inside him, and let the sound guy in the back of the room work his magic.  For such a big harp, and with such a big hollow base, he has a mellow but very quiet voice.  When Sue Richards met him last summer in Lubec, Maine, she was surprised at how quiet he was , especially for his size.  However, Colleen is just fine relying on her own power- no amplification necessary at all.  Really makes things simpler- I can play the strings with a normal firm hand, instead of tickling the strings to avoid feedback and un pleasant sounds!  I was thrilled- and so was the audience!  Just played 4 tunes- Cliffs of Moher, Eleanor Plunkett, Cooleys Slide, and ended with Woe Betide Thy Wearie Bodie.  The next night was our Celtic Evensong at church, and I went back to the Kortier with amplification, because I was not sure the Fisher would carry in that huge sanctuary, with the sound dampening wall tiles and the carpet.  I just didn't have time to check that out, with the Fisher, so went with what works.  Next month I will bring Colleen instead.

I have been asked to bring my harp to another church later this month, as they experiment with an evening service for the first time.  I checked out that sanctuary and I think the Fisher will project in there just fine.  They want 3 separate musical interludes.  Should be fun.  I will be doing them all from memory- I find I can use music if I am doing background stuff, but if I am front and center, I want to have what I play thoroughly memorized, with just a few gig notes.  And I am still so amazed at how much faster I learn, and how much longer I retain, pieces I have been taught by ear and rote!  As opposed to learning by sight reading- and I sight read really well.  I read the explanation of why that is so, but it still amazes me! 

Christmas music!!  Need to learn some more, fast!  My stand bys are, Greensleeves (What Child is this)Da Day Dawnes, That Night in Bethlehem, Silent Night and Christ Child's Lullaby.  I am working on: Blessed Be That Maid Marie, The Friendly Beasts, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent, and a few others...not sure they will all get into the memory banks, but I would prefer that!  Does anyone know of any other Irish traditional Christmas tunes that I should add to the holiday repertoire?

Thanksgiving is coming- and I am very thankful for harps and harp music and harpers!!
Have a great one! 

Andee's November Ramblings

November already!  

I realized that I haven't learned any new Christmas music like I said I would this time last year.  Oh, well; if I get any Christmas gigs they will have to be 'An Irish Christmas' which is me mixing in the small handful of Christmas music I already know with the rest of my repertoire.

We just got back from a mini-vacation in the Dales and I've still got a few days off of work--things are going back to normal for me and I'm going to have to make a decision about the performance group and let the ladies know if I decide to leave.

I know so many harpers with multiple harps and I do have two myself (my 'big' Dusty Strings 32 and my smaller Dusty Strings 26).  I was just thinking how grateful I am for my big harp (small one, too but it's the big one I use most) even though it is two strings less than what would be ideal.  It has a wonderful bass and wonderful volume for its size and I've gotten so much use out of it--15 and a half years!

I remember the day I got it--a snowy March day a couple weeks before my birthday.  I took the train up to Bucks County Music Shop with close to $3000.00 in my pocket, (I didn't do credit cards in those days and I guess they didn't take checks.) because I had just spoken to one of the guys there and found out they had a couple second hand harps that had just come through.

I went back and forth for *hours* playing on first the Triplett and then the Dusty.  I finally made my decision which I had sort of already made before I even played them.  I remember the look on the guy's face when I handed over the cash.  Then the owner Carl drove me to the train station and told me how he learned to play the banjo by ear by playing records on a slower speed back in the day.

Then I walked from the train station to my apartment with my new harp!  That meant I had to say goodbye to Kathy's 31 string Caswell which I had been renting for 6 months.  I loved that harp, too but it was time to graduate.

It's been a busy month for me!  I haven't posted since my initial stuff above because I've been working so so much!

I've done one open mic since the above and have had only one big practice time--things should be back to normal week after next.

I've pretty much told the ladies I'm out of the performance group until further notice.  I've put three harp related items on my Christmas wish list:  The O'Carolan book and CD that Lucy told me about, a book on the harp in Irish music from 1900 til present day, and my favorite fantasy novel I gave away before I moved to the UK 'Gossamer Axe'.

I've no Christmas gigs at all unless I decide to play in my shop like I did two years ago, but this time I think I'll put a basket out for donations (to be made to the charity), we'll see....

I saw the Eastern European girl who busks on her accordian in town today.  In the past I've only seen her in front of the grocery store in my neighborhood, but today she was in the pedestrian shopping area where there are usually a few buskers scattered around, but today she was the only one.

She always looks so happy, playing the music of her homeland!  She recognized me (hard to miss I guess in my plaid purple coat) and gave me a big smile and a hello as I threw some change into her case.  I don't know why but she makes me feel good, she has a nice presence.  I do still want to busk, but will probably leave it until spring, now.