In terms of reading sheet music more quickly, I recently tried having a student read out the note names in rhythm with a metronome and then slowly speed up the metronome. It seems to work very well!
Hello Christy. My name is Dwayne White, also known as DW Blues. I'm a doctoral student at the University of South Florida in Tampa. It is a double doctor degree in contemporary Theory and composition as well as solo performance, keyboard and vocal, emphasis Jazz. I am a jazz musician., and I play piano, synthesizer, Oregon, melodica, upright bass, Kalimba, aerophone, clarinet, and flute. I am interested in the harp, and I'm endeavoring to steady it on this my last year at USF. I love the sound of the harp on my Yamaha Motif, as well as my Casio WK 7600, however, remembering the words of the late Marvin Gaye, ain't nothing like the real thing. I want to play the real thing. I like the pedal Hub over the leaver hubs, because I can improvise on the pedal harp. On the pedal Hub I can play and change the pedals at the same time, and don't have to worry about switching leevers. I have a friend who has a pedal harp. She does not play it. She inherited it. I'm the only one that she allows to handle it. I'm honored that she trusts me like that, considering the fact that I was literally born with no eyeballs due to a Micro abthelmia condition. I've been playing in handling instruments for a long time, so I know how to handle almost any instrument I come in contact with. Actually, I find the heart pretty easy, and not very difficult to figure out. Listening to your videos makes it even easier. I just wanted you to know that. I don't think that'll be a problem. This will be instrument number 13. I forgot to put the vibraphone on my instrument list. I have a website which is d w blues.com, and my gmail address is d w Blues 251 at gmail.com. you are amazing because you make it sound so easy.
For @amountainlaurelmelody, whenever a pinky becomes numb, tingly, or “tired,” consider the possibility of cubital tunnel syndrome. It is similar to carpal tunnel, but a different tunnel and affects different fingers. The nerve that controls your pinky is actually the “funny bone” nerve that runs through your elbow, so you might also feel an ache running down your forearm. The nerve goes all the way up to your neck and down the other arm, so even leaning back on a hard surface (like reading in a bathtub) can pinch the nerve at your neck and make your pinky go numb. I had a bad case of it when I played piano and was learning a beautiful piece that stretched my hands way too widely (“The Heart Asks Pleasure First”). One day I tried to play, and my right pinky flopped around like a dead fish! Completely numb. Very scary. The cure is to stop stressing that nerve, for example, sleep with your arms straight instead of with your elbows bent, avoid over-stretching the fingers, do physical therapy moves that you can find online, and, of course, basic healthy living. I doubt you will see this, but others might have the same issue. Musicians must take care of their hands.
Thank you for featuring and answering my question (I'm @roseraphina!) it was very kind of you to answer it so thoroughly! I've been playing with the solutions you mentioned and been able to practice for hours and hours with no issues. Yay!!!!! Long may that last! It's also cut down my errors because I'm not trying to reach all the strings together and missing some strings or catching one I'm not supposed too! I like simple solutions! My hands are 138mm so very little, but then I'm only 1.53m tall. I make quite for a comical sight with my huge harp! Seriously though, it's good to know I'm not the only diddy fingered harpist out there. Thank you again. Enjoy your month off and have a wonderful Christmas! Thank you for all you Harp help videos this year, they are invaluable!
Hi Samantha. Such a pleasure, I'm so glad this helped!! Wow, you really do have small hands - I seldom meet anyone with hands smaller than mine! How is your pinky finger feeling?
You played clair de lune?!? Wow, that’s my absolute favorite!! And one of the reasons why I want to learn the harp ❤️ I am all signed up and on your new website at a member 🤍 I just need to buy a harp 😬
Hello Christy.! My name is Dwayne White, also known as DW blues, and I'm a doctoral student at the University of South Florida in Tampa. It's a double doctorate in contemporary Theory and composition, as well as solo performance, keyboard and vocal, emphasis jazz. I am a jazz musician, and I play piano, synthesizer, Oregon, melodica, marimba, Kalimba, vibraphone, aerophone, clarinet, and flute. I am very interested in the harp, and am endeavoring to study it this being my last year at USF. I love the harp samples on my Yamaha Motif, as well as my Casio WK 7600. However, remembering the words of the late great Marvin Gaye, ain't nothing like the real thing. I want to learn to play the real thing. I have a friend who has a harp. She doesn't play, She inherited it. I'm the only one she trust to handle it. It's an honor to be trusted like that considering the fact that I was literally born with no eyeballs due to a micro abthelmia condition. I've been playing and handling instruments for a long time, so I can handle just about any instrument that I come in contact with. I like the pedal hubs over the legal hubs because I can play and operate the pedals at the same time, allowing me to improvise more efficiently. Due to the fact that the harp is tuned diatonicly, I find the instrument relatively easy to play. Have to do a little math as far as the petals are concerned, but that's no big deal. Being blind, I have to obtain a relatively good memory. It's almost photographic thanks to a lifelong friend that I grew up with. She does have a photographic memory. She taught me how to develop mine and use it to its fullest capacity. She claims to have been in love with me since she was 3 years old. She's three years older than me. She too is an accomplished musician. She's a minister of music locally. She's awesome. Observing your videos makes playing the harp even easier. I just wanted to tell you that. It's like you're my RUclips harp teacher online. If I successfully Master this instrument, it will be instrument number 12. Then I would feel complete. I appreciate you videos very much. They really helped me. I have a website. My website is dwu blues.com. My Gmail address is b w Blues 251 at gmail.com.
Hi Christy Lynn, I also have small hands, and relatively old as well, since I started at the age of 54. I noticed that my 3rd finger is actually a lot more supple and nimble than my 4th, so how many ‘sacred rules’ would I be trespassing if I would use my 3rd at times where the 4th would be advised? I don’t want to acquire a wrong technique that might hinder me when my level goes up.
Hi Anne! That’s a really good question to be asking. The first thing I will say is that when we have physical limitations that make it impossible to do things the “correct” way, it’s important to do what works for your particular body, so that you can play with freedom rather than struggling to do something that will never work for your body. Having said that, we don’t want to rush into do things differently without first knowing the implications as you progress in your playing, so you can weigh up your options and see what will really work best for you in the long run. Are you referring to when there’s a 4 2 1 fingering pattern in the left hand? I’ve had students come to me using their 3rd finger for this pattern, usually when they are playing a small harp such as a Harpsicle with narrow string spacing. This can seem like a good choice because the 3rd finger is stronger and more coordinated and so it feels more natural to use it. The problem with this habit is that when you play a larger harp with wider string spacing, it will feel less comfortable with the 3rd finger but the habit will be hard to break by then. Also, when you start to play chords that have 4 notes, your 4th finger needs to be used for the lowest note so that you can use the 3rd finger for the in-between notes. This will be much easier if you’ve already trained the muscle memory to play those notes with the 4th finger already. The same applies to when you want to play 4 2 1 fingering with a wider interval between the top and bottom notes, such as a 10th instead of an octave. That will be too much of a stretch for the 3rd finger! So if you can manage to play those passages with your 4th finger, I do recommend it because it will help you down the road. If it’s a bit of a stretch at first that’s ok, it should loosen up and feel more natural as you keep practicing. But if it’s painful and feels impossible, that’s a good time to consider alternative fingerings such as using the 3rd finger 👍🏻👍🏻💕😊
When i play in a key for awhile like say....C....When i play in G, my mind is still in C and i sometimes play wrong strings. How can I get out of the habit of that?
Is it better to be really proficient at a piece (not just familiar with it) before moving on to another one? I feel I am not playing any harp piece really well though I have been doing it a year and sort of learned 30 compositions.
Hi Regina! I don't think there's really a right and wrong answer for this - I think it really depends on the person , how much time you have to practice, and how quickly you learn. If you've noticed this is a problem for you, perhaps you could try concentrating primarily on one piece until it's polished, and spending just a little bit of time keeping the others going in the meantime. It also really helps to give yourself a deadline and perform the piece so that you're forced to polish it for a particular occasion :)
I agree with Christy-Lyn's answer here! Especially if you're playing for just for fun, it's kind of up to you. And I also find that when you're playing at or above your skill level, it's much harder to "master" a piece - so if you've only been playing for a year I think that's pretty normal and you shouldn't worry too much. Once you advance a little, try going back to an easier piece you learned before and see if you can get really proficient at it!
Is there a way to get an updated link to the pros and cons of various sheet music reading apps? The link doesn't appear to be working. If not, that's okay! Thank you for all you do ❤️
Amy Ahearne Hi Amy. So glad you discovered my channel! Lovely to hear from you :) Are you also a harpist? I’m from Cape Town, South Africa. Where are you from? Xx
In terms of reading sheet music more quickly, I recently tried having a student read out the note names in rhythm with a metronome and then slowly speed up the metronome. It seems to work very well!
Samantha Ballard Such a great idea!!! 😍😍 I'm gonna try that with a student.
Hello Christy. My name is Dwayne White, also known as DW Blues. I'm a doctoral student at the University of South Florida in Tampa. It is a double doctor degree in contemporary Theory and composition as well as solo performance, keyboard and vocal, emphasis Jazz. I am a jazz musician., and I play piano, synthesizer, Oregon, melodica, upright bass, Kalimba, aerophone, clarinet, and flute. I am interested in the harp, and I'm endeavoring to steady it on this my last year at USF. I love the sound of the harp on my Yamaha Motif, as well as my Casio WK 7600, however, remembering the words of the late Marvin Gaye, ain't nothing like the real thing. I want to play the real thing. I like the pedal Hub over the leaver hubs, because I can improvise on the pedal harp. On the pedal Hub I can play and change the pedals at the same time, and don't have to worry about switching leevers. I have a friend who has a pedal harp. She does not play it. She inherited it. I'm the only one that she allows to handle it. I'm honored that she trusts me like that, considering the fact that I was literally born with no eyeballs due to a Micro abthelmia condition. I've been playing in handling instruments for a long time, so I know how to handle almost any instrument I come in contact with. Actually, I find the heart pretty easy, and not very difficult to figure out. Listening to your videos makes it even easier. I just wanted you to know that. I don't think that'll be a problem. This will be instrument number 13. I forgot to put the vibraphone on my instrument list. I have a website which is d w blues.com, and my gmail address is d w Blues 251 at gmail.com. you are amazing because you make it sound so easy.
For @amountainlaurelmelody, whenever a pinky becomes numb, tingly, or “tired,” consider the possibility of cubital tunnel syndrome. It is similar to carpal tunnel, but a different tunnel and affects different fingers. The nerve that controls your pinky is actually the “funny bone” nerve that runs through your elbow, so you might also feel an ache running down your forearm. The nerve goes all the way up to your neck and down the other arm, so even leaning back on a hard surface (like reading in a bathtub) can pinch the nerve at your neck and make your pinky go numb. I had a bad case of it when I played piano and was learning a beautiful piece that stretched my hands way too widely (“The Heart Asks Pleasure First”). One day I tried to play, and my right pinky flopped around like a dead fish! Completely numb. Very scary. The cure is to stop stressing that nerve, for example, sleep with your arms straight instead of with your elbows bent, avoid over-stretching the fingers, do physical therapy moves that you can find online, and, of course, basic healthy living. I doubt you will see this, but others might have the same issue. Musicians must take care of their hands.
Thank you for featuring and answering my question (I'm @roseraphina!) it was very kind of you to answer it so thoroughly! I've been playing with the solutions you mentioned and been able to practice for hours and hours with no issues. Yay!!!!! Long may that last! It's also cut down my errors because I'm not trying to reach all the strings together and missing some strings or catching one I'm not supposed too! I like simple solutions! My hands are 138mm so very little, but then I'm only 1.53m tall. I make quite for a comical sight with my huge harp! Seriously though, it's good to know I'm not the only diddy fingered harpist out there. Thank you again. Enjoy your month off and have a wonderful Christmas! Thank you for all you Harp help videos this year, they are invaluable!
Hi Samantha. Such a pleasure, I'm so glad this helped!! Wow, you really do have small hands - I seldom meet anyone with hands smaller than mine! How is your pinky finger feeling?
You played clair de lune?!? Wow, that’s my absolute favorite!! And one of the reasons why I want to learn the harp ❤️
I am all signed up and on your new website at a member 🤍 I just need to buy a harp 😬
you are sooooo helpful when it comes to leaning the harp. thanks so much!
Such a pleasure!! What are you busy working on at the moment? 😊
Hello Christy.! My name is Dwayne White, also known as DW blues, and I'm a doctoral student at the University of South Florida in Tampa. It's a double doctorate in contemporary Theory and composition, as well as solo performance, keyboard and vocal, emphasis jazz. I am a jazz musician, and I play piano, synthesizer, Oregon, melodica, marimba, Kalimba, vibraphone, aerophone, clarinet, and flute. I am very interested in the harp, and am endeavoring to study it this being my last year at USF. I love the harp samples on my Yamaha Motif, as well as my Casio WK 7600. However, remembering the words of the late great Marvin Gaye, ain't nothing like the real thing. I want to learn to play the real thing. I have a friend who has a harp. She doesn't play, She inherited it. I'm the only one she trust to handle it. It's an honor to be trusted like that considering the fact that I was literally born with no eyeballs due to a micro abthelmia condition. I've been playing and handling instruments for a long time, so I can handle just about any instrument that I come in contact with. I like the pedal hubs over the legal hubs because I can play and operate the pedals at the same time, allowing me to improvise more efficiently. Due to the fact that the harp is tuned diatonicly, I find the instrument relatively easy to play. Have to do a little math as far as the petals are concerned, but that's no big deal. Being blind, I have to obtain a relatively good memory. It's almost photographic thanks to a lifelong friend that I grew up with. She does have a photographic memory. She taught me how to develop mine and use it to its fullest capacity. She claims to have been in love with me since she was 3 years old. She's three years older than me. She too is an accomplished musician. She's a minister of music locally. She's awesome. Observing your videos makes playing the harp even easier. I just wanted to tell you that. It's like you're my RUclips harp teacher online. If I successfully Master this instrument, it will be instrument number 12. Then I would feel complete. I appreciate you videos very much. They really helped me. I have a website. My website is dwu blues.com. My Gmail address is b w Blues 251 at gmail.com.
I know this is an old video but I was shocked to see an Oklahoma mug! We are a very underwhelming place, so you don't see us represented very often!
Hehe that’s so cool that you noticed!! 😃😃😃 I was in a stage production of “Oklahoma” the musical theatre show... loved it!!
i dont have harp but im still watch video
Hi Christy Lynn, I also have small hands, and relatively old as well, since I started at the age of 54. I noticed that my 3rd finger is actually a lot more supple and nimble than my 4th, so how many ‘sacred rules’ would I be trespassing if I would use my 3rd at times where the 4th would be advised? I don’t want to acquire a wrong technique that might hinder me when my level goes up.
Hi Anne! That’s a really good question to be asking. The first thing I will say is that when we have physical limitations that make it impossible to do things the “correct” way, it’s important to do what works for your particular body, so that you can play with freedom rather than struggling to do something that will never work for your body.
Having said that, we don’t want to rush into do things differently without first knowing the implications as you progress in your playing, so you can weigh up your options and see what will really work best for you in the long run.
Are you referring to when there’s a 4 2 1 fingering pattern in the left hand? I’ve had students come to me using their 3rd finger for this pattern, usually when they are playing a small harp such as a Harpsicle with narrow string spacing. This can seem like a good choice because the 3rd finger is stronger and more coordinated and so it feels more natural to use it.
The problem with this habit is that when you play a larger harp with wider string spacing, it will feel less comfortable with the 3rd finger but the habit will be hard to break by then. Also, when you start to play chords that have 4 notes, your 4th finger needs to be used for the lowest note so that you can use the 3rd finger for the in-between notes. This will be much easier if you’ve already trained the muscle memory to play those notes with the 4th finger already. The same applies to when you want to play 4 2 1 fingering with a wider interval between the top and bottom notes, such as a 10th instead of an octave. That will be too much of a stretch for the 3rd finger!
So if you can manage to play those passages with your 4th finger, I do recommend it because it will help you down the road. If it’s a bit of a stretch at first that’s ok, it should loosen up and feel more natural as you keep practicing. But if it’s painful and feels impossible, that’s a good time to consider alternative fingerings such as using the 3rd finger 👍🏻👍🏻💕😊
When i play in a key for awhile like say....C....When i play in G, my mind is still in C and i sometimes play wrong strings. How can I get out of the habit of that?
Very good video.
BAAAD planning if there is no tea. I buy my coffee when my last beans go to the dispatch container
+Kobus Britz Ja, very bad planning!! 😆
Is it better to be really proficient at a piece (not just familiar with it) before moving on to another one? I feel I am not playing any harp piece really well though I have been doing it a year and sort of learned 30 compositions.
Hi Regina! I don't think there's really a right and wrong answer for this - I think it really depends on the person , how much time you have to practice, and how quickly you learn. If you've noticed this is a problem for you, perhaps you could try concentrating primarily on one piece until it's polished, and spending just a little bit of time keeping the others going in the meantime. It also really helps to give yourself a deadline and perform the piece so that you're forced to polish it for a particular occasion :)
I agree with Christy-Lyn's answer here! Especially if you're playing for just for fun, it's kind of up to you. And I also find that when you're playing at or above your skill level, it's much harder to "master" a piece - so if you've only been playing for a year I think that's pretty normal and you shouldn't worry too much. Once you advance a little, try going back to an easier piece you learned before and see if you can get really proficient at it!
Is there a way to get an updated link to the pros and cons of various sheet music reading apps? The link doesn't appear to be working. If not, that's okay! Thank you for all you do ❤️
Aw, thanks for being so sweet. Sorry about the broken link! You’ll find it here: www.learningtheharp.com/downloads
Is great
Hey, just discovered your channel and your music is so beautiful ... I don't mean to be blunt but I was just wondering where you're from?
Amy Ahearne Hi Amy. So glad you discovered my channel! Lovely to hear from you :) Are you also a harpist? I’m from Cape Town, South Africa. Where are you from? Xx