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how to find Celtic harp lessons


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The next child scheduled to begin receiving instrument lessons wants to learn harp. His biodad plays harp but lives across the country. Harp was a popular grade school instrument amongst the kids we knew when we lived in Wyoming, but it's downright exotic here in NY. I do recall my ex saying frequently that it's an ideal first instrument, even better than piano. So, harp it is for the new kindergartener.

 

The only problem is: how do I get him instruction?

 

I can not seem to find instructional DVDs for kids. Are there any at all?

 

What should we expect to pay an instructor?

 

If our local music store doesn't rent harps, is there any internet service that's trustworthy?

 

Is a twelve string travel harp good enough for a beginner?

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found a website for the nearest city's Irish Society, emailed a person who was on the site and they provided a name. She teaches harp and fiddle. We have been with her for 9 months and she is wonderful with my daughter even though she has never taught a child as young. I pay $20 for 1/2 hour fiddle lesson.

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# strings: lever harps typically have 34-38 strings. I've never heard of someone taking lessons on a harp with fewer than 34. 12 strings sounds like a toy to me -- like a piano with 12 keys; who are we kidding? ;) (A concert grand pedal harp has 47.)

 

Instructional DVDs: doubtful. I wouldn't go there.

 

Cost of lessons: depends on who and where. Typical is maybe $45-$85/hr varying largely due to cost-of-living and caliber of teacher. Weekly lessons are standard.

 

Finding a teacher:

 

Here are links to a couple of teacher referral/listing sites. . . http://www.harpsociety.org/resources/teachers.html

http://us.harp.com/teachers-us.htm

 

My dd began harp on a lever (celtic type) harp and recently progressed to a pedal harp. She has always taken lessons from classically trained Salzedo style harp teachers.

 

We were living in the DC burbs at the time dd began and after a few hours on google it became clear who the ONE really good harp teacher was in our region. That's who we went with; she was fabulous. When we moved, our prior teacher helped us find our new teacher (who also became quickly apparent via the internet.). If there are any universities or colleges in your area, a visit to their website or call to the music dept can get you some leads. There aren't many good harpists in any town, so a little leg work will pull up just a few in your area.

 

I don't know anything about music except how to write checks and drive kids to and fro, so I've committed myself to finding the best available teachers. I figure if we're going to do it, we should do it right. That has worked well for me. Watching master teachers teach (and seeing the poor results of less competent teaching in other children) convinces me that teaching music is a real profession and there is a noticable difference in the results gained by a committed pro.

 

Virginia Harp Center and Lyon & Healy both rent harps -- I am pretty sure those are national rental programs. They'll likely run $75-$150/mo or so for a lever harp.

 

I don't want to freak you out, but a word of warning: harp is *really* expensive. The first lever harp for dd was 4 figures + and I thought that was rough. Her new concert grand pedal harp is well into 5 figures, being more expensive than any car we've ever owned or would likely ever consider buying for that matter. Her harp costs about 35 times more than her very good violin and about 150 times more than her little brother's very lovely guitar. . . The *annual* adjustment/string change thing for my dd's new harp will run us about $800; new strings for the guitar are $10; the violin are $20 . . . Our annual insurance bill for the new harp will be more than purchasing a guitar!!

 

Serious harpist pretty much all use Lyon & Healy harps -- for initial teaching (both b/c of size and cost), they use L&H lever harps first (b/c the strings have similar tension to the pedal harps they'll later move onto. . . if they start on different harps w/o the same tension/strings, it can be very hard to move to the pedal harp later. . .) Visit the L&H website for a scary look at pricing. . . I've linked you to the page for the Troubadour, which is the classic school/learning lever harp http://www.lyonhealy.com/lever-troubadour-vi.htm and would be the one to buy, IMHO.

 

The thing is, if the child is really good and committed, the natural progression in harp leads from lever to pedal harp (which offers the possibility of playing more complex music, bigger and amazing sound, orchestra stuff, etc.) That progression requires a *huge* $$ investment. Contrast that with most other instruments where your $500-$2500 instrument will be great for almost anything until college at least. . .

 

You also have to have a vehicle big enough to move the harp for performances, lug the thing around, tune 30-47 strings daily, insure it, hire pros to maintain it.

 

Really, the harp is a total and hugely expensive PITA. I'm not sorry dd plays the harp, but I do feel the $$ pinch. I'm so glad she loves it and there is nothing more beautiful. But, wow, expensive and a lot of trouble! If dd didn't LOVE harp and LOVE music, there is no way I'd be able to swallow the expense and hassles of harp-owership!

 

So, if $$ is a big issue at all, I'd really suggest going with another instrument. FWIW, guitar is just great and very happily, they are sooo cheap!! (Now, that was a happy surprise when I went to buy the ds's first guitar after years of purchasing violins and harps!)

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Harp is a fabulous instrument and has the added advantage of sounding great in the early stages (unlike, say, violin). Stephanie Z has given lots of good advice, but I'll add a few things:

Lyon and Healy doesn't rent harps anymore. One of the chief problems with this instrument is getting your hands on one to try it out. IMHO the cheapest L&H is junk and you really need to go up notch or two, where they get really good.

 

My advice is to find a teacher first. The teachers often have a few harps to rent. Also, don't buy anything unless you have the teacher with you to purchase it--ours tried out 7 L&H pedal harps of EXACTLY the same model before teacher was satisfied--lots of "this one is dead in the middle range", "The upper range on this one is too lively", etc. I actually could hear that the one we bought sounded better, but not all the fine distinctions between the other 6--and this was our 3rd shopping trip before he even found any he really liked.

 

If your child really gets into harp and needs a pedal harp, plan on a trip to Chicago to select it in person, in about late January, when the new run comes off the factory floor. Late in the year they are very picked over. We paid for the harp at the end of the year sale, but didn't pick it up until late January.

 

For lever harps, Thormelin (sp.?) is really highly regarded. Two others which our harp ayatollah really likes are Stoney End and Dusty Strings (which we bought used before we knew anything). The Dusty has a really easy pull and was a good thing to start on. However, if you can avoid it, don't buy it used without the teacher checking it out. Harps don't have the long life of pianos--a 20 year old harp is really old. The lap harps are fun for taking around to a friend's or on a plane for vacation, but are fairly useless for serious study. Even Celtic music usually requires at least a lever harp.

 

Transporting it is a big issue. The lever harps can be slung in the back of our Subaru Forester, but forget it with the pedal harp. How we've dealt with this so far is that the orchestra at the high school that dd will be playing in in the fall has an onsite harp. I have basically told her that we will not be moving the elephant unless she gets a paying job and we will rent a van for the day. Cartage charges are standard for wedding gigs, etc. However, she has a rate card which shows different cartage charges for the lever and the pedal and so far every job has gone with the lever (wonder why!?)

 

There is a dvd/book by Sylvia Woods that teaches a bit of beginning harp. However, both teachers dd has had HATE the book. Hand position is absolutely critical in playing the harp and you really need a live teacher for it. Also, don't think the harp is an instrument for angelic little girls only. As dd's teacher puts it, the harp is an alligator and you have to wrestle with it.

 

I have heard of kids starting harp at 8 or 9, but generally it isn't the first instrument a child studies, due to size if nothing else. Personally, before I coughed up the dough for a harp, I wanted to be sure my dd would practice. We put it off too long, however--12--and she is having to work harder than if she'd started it younger, since it caught fire and now she wants to major in it in college. I'd start with something that teaches reading basic music--piano, maybe with an electronic keyboard for a year or two. Not the best for learning piano, but you can judge the child's practice ethic.

 

Now you know why 300 people try out for violin or flute orchestra jobs, but somewhere near 20 show up when it's harp. On the other hand, this is an instrument when the child can have a pretty lucrative part time job to pay for all this stuff by high school or earlier.

 

Maybe try a camp to get a chance to try it out? Dd is going to Blue Lake this summer but I don't know if you can go there as a total beginner (didn't look). Also, there are folk festivals around here in the summer where you can often take a workshop or two in Celtic harp to try it out.

 

HTH

Danielle

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