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Teach yourself to play the Folk Harp Sylvia Woods |
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| Contents: | Tutor / Method Book see Table of Contents and Contents panels below |
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| Instrumentation: | Lever Harp | ||
| Level: | Beginner Harpist | ||
| Format: | US Letter spiral bound | ||
| ISMN / Publisher Ref: | 9780936661421 | ||
| Publisher: | Sylvia Harps Harp Center | ||
| Edition/Year: | 30th Anniversary Edition 1978 - Revised 2008 |
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| Origin: | USA | ||
| Our Ref: | SM0337 | ||
Buy this music now £18.99 +p&p |
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| Other music by Sylvia Woods | |||
Teach yourself to play the Folk Harp
Sylvia Woods
This is the first book written exclusively for the folk harp that teaches the student how to play the instrument, step by step. Each of the 12 lessons includes instructions, exercises and folk and classical pieces using the new skills and techniques taught in the lesson. This is an excellent book for any student, regardless of previous musical training.
Introduction to the 30th Anniversary Edition
30 years ago, in 1978, when 1 wrote this book, the harp world was a far different place than it is today. There were only a handful of craftspeople making harps, and they often had waiting lists of a year or more. Because of this, harps were not as easy to purchase as they are today. There were also only a few recordings (LPs) of music performed on lever or folk harps.
When I began teaching, I realized that there was also a lack of music for the folk harp. Most of the music available was for the pedal harp, or for young children whose legs weren't long enough to reach the pedals. I couldn't find books that were suitable for the people who were becoming interested in the resurgence of the folk harp. That is why I wrote this book.
Folk harp teachers were also hard to find at that time. There were lots of pedal harp teachers, but a vast majority of them were not interested in teaching anything that didn't have pedals. This is why I entitled the book "Teach Yourself," because in those days, that was the only option for most players. And thousands of players have done just that. . . they have taught themselves to play just using this book, and also perhaps the video or the DVD.
Luckily, today you don't have to do it on your own. There are thousands of teachers throughout the US (and other parts of the world!) who are ready and willing to help you leam to play the harp. I highly recommend that you start lessons with a teacher as soon as possible. No matter how good a "teach yourself' book may be, the guidance and feedback you get from a teacher is invaluable. It is easy to get into bad habits without someone "looking over your shoulder" and showing you the correct way. Bad habits are harder to fix later than if you learn correctly from the beginning.
The "Thanks To" section on page 2 of this book is from the original edition. On the first line you'll see that I thank "Katharine, Shawna, and Heidi for being great guinea pigs." These were three of my first students, and were the first people to learn the harp by using this book. I'd like to give you an update on them. Katharine has been "taking some time off" from the harp, but has recently begun to play again on both lever and pedal harp. Shawna was 11 years old when she started lessons with me. She's now a professional harp player named Shawna Selline, and we sell her CDs on our website. And Heidi is Heidi Spiegel, a harpist who has been working for me since 1988 and who is an invaluable asset to the Sylvia Woods Harp Center. She is also a fine artist who has illustrated the covers of over a dozen of my books and pieces of sheet music.
In this 30th Anniversary Edition, I have kept all of the music pages exactly as they were in the first edition. Only the introduction and appendix pages have been revised.
There are no sharps or flats in any of the pieces in this book. At the time I wrote this book, sharping levers were not nearly as good, or as accurate, as they are today. They generally did not give an accurate pitch when engaged, and often wore away the strings. Many harps sold at that time didn't have any levers at all. That's why you don't need any sharping levers to play the pieces in this book. (See pages 73 and 74 for more information on how to use sharping levers.)
Table of Contents
| Introduction | |
| Introduction to the 30th Anniversary Edition | |
| How to Use this Book | |
| Types and Parts of Harps | |
| Brief History of the Folk Harp | |
| Holding the Harp | |
| Hand Position | |
| Fundamentals | |
| How to Read Music | |
| Lesson 1 | |
| fingerings and placing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star Yankee Doodle Go Tell Aunt Rhodie Lavender s Blue Are You Sleeping |
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| Lesson 2 | |
| overlapping brackets The Water Is Wide White Choral Bells Long, Long Ago Country Gardens Allemande |
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| Lesson 3 | |
| Joy to the World Blue Bells of Scotland Minuet |
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| Lesson 4 | |
| All through the Night parentheses Robin Adair Ode to Joy |
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| Lesson 5 | |
| bass clef Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes Planxty George Brabazon Scarborough Fair |
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| Lesson 6 | |
| The Grenadier and the Lady My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose Searching for Lambs Greensleeves or What Child Is This Planxty Irwin |
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| Lesson 7 | |
| Trip to Sligo or Lark on the Strand Minuet Farewell |
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| Lesson 8 | |
| 2- note chords The Christ Child's Lullaby Cherry Blooms (Sakura) St. Anthony's Chorale |
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| Lesson 9 | |
| 3- note chords Lullaby Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier Flow Gently, Sweet Afton Theme from the New World Symphony |
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| Lesson 10 | |
| Cockles and Mussels Au Clair de la Lune Shenandoah |
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| Lesson 11 | |
| sliding cross-overs and cross-unders Gilliekrankie Ash Grove Wild Mountain Thyme |
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| Lesson 12 | |
| glissando harmonics Minstrel Boy Southwind Sheebeg Sheemore Jesu, Joy of Man s Desiring |
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| Appendix | |
| Tuning Your Harp | |
| Sharps, Flats, and Key Signatures | |
| Harp Tuning Methods | |
| Accidentals and Lever Changes | |
| Taking Care of Your Harp | |
| Replacing Strings | |
| Tying the Harp String Knot | |
| Table of Symbols | |
| Alphabetical Index of Tunes | |
| What's Next? | |
Teach yourself to play the Folk Harp
Sylvia Woods
Song List
1. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
2. Lullaby
3. Joy to the world
4. Long, long ago
5. Minuet
6. Lavender's Blue
7. Greensleeves
8. All Through the Night
9. Allemande
10. Water Is Wide
11. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
12. Ode to Joy
13. The Ash Grove
14. Au Clair de la Lune
15. New World Symphony (Theme)
16. Yankee doodle
17. The Blue Bells of Scotland
18. Country Gardens
19. Scarborough fair
20. Planxty Irwin
21. Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes
22. Cockles And Mussels (Molly Malone)
23. O My Love Is Like A Red, Red Rose
24. Wild Mountain Thyme
25. Go Tell Aunt Rhody
26. Flow Gently, Sweet Afton
27. Frere Jacques (Are You Sleeping?)
28. Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier
29. Minstrel boy
30. Robin Adiar
31. Southwind
32. White Coral Bells
33. Farewell (Scottish)
34. Cherry Blooms (Japan)
35. Gilliekrankie (Irish) Connelan T.
36. St. Anthony Chorale
37. Trip To Sligo, The
38. Christ Child Lullaby
39. Planxty George Brabazon
40. Grenadier And The Lady, The
41. Searching For Lambs
