Innovative autoharp player

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  • Опубликовано: 24 сен 2010
  • Bob Ellis has redesigned his autoharps so he can play the melodies of fiddle tunes, instead of just chording. In this video he explains and demonstrates how he does this.
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Комментарии • 108

  • @raclarkus
    @raclarkus 10 лет назад +6

    The two most influential auto harp players today are Bob Ellis and Jo Ann Smith. Bob teaches that the instrument is not as simple as it seems, and Jo Ann teaches that it is simpler than it seems. It's great that they both share there talent.

  • @Bokescreek
    @Bokescreek 11 лет назад +5

    What a treat to run across Bob Ellis on youtube--I saw him at a festival some years ago and he immediately became one of my favorite harpers. He nails the melody like nobody else. If anybody else happens to have video of Ellis's wonderfully innovative playing, I hope you'll consider posting. It'd be a real service to everyone who loves the 'harp.

  • @PaulTheSkeptic
    @PaulTheSkeptic 9 лет назад +14

    That's very impressive. You've taken an instrument and single handedly reinvented it. Kudos.

    • @dsthorp
      @dsthorp 3 года назад +1

      ...with both hands!

  • @c_farther5208
    @c_farther5208 7 лет назад +4

    I've never seen anything like this, fiddler on an autoharp. Wonderful!

  • @USNAVDC
    @USNAVDC 8 лет назад +4

    I love that jangly sound. Nice playing and what a happy sound!

  • @gkseeton
    @gkseeton 11 лет назад +2

    The small one is a Sparrow Harp, D'Aigle autoharps makes and sells these, they too have a web site.

  • @Transit_Biker
    @Transit_Biker 23 дня назад

    Back again. Love this instrument.

  • @anonymous-es5gi
    @anonymous-es5gi 8 лет назад +8

    What a great demonstration and story ! Music is joy isn't it? I love the tingy sounds of double stringed instruments , mandolin bouzouki , now the auto harp , zither , oud , etc,. It just sounds like joy to me. Thank you and happy trails and playing with your wife and friend , and enjoying the music.

    • @RinoaL
      @RinoaL 7 лет назад

      music is just interesting sound to me.

  • @salvatornado
    @salvatornado 3 года назад

    Over the last 7 or so years I will occasionally revisit this video. Thanks old timer.

  • @NotesOfRelaxation
    @NotesOfRelaxation 12 лет назад

    I love the way you explained what you did to your Auto Harp. You play beautiful, and I love the sound. Its a full bodied sound! Awesome Job!!!!

  • @leighharwood3886
    @leighharwood3886 7 лет назад

    This is almost the same as the original autoharps from the late 19th. century. They took a three or four chord guitar zither and put three or four chord bars on it. I am so happy you recreated this!

  • @carollizc
    @carollizc 6 лет назад +1

    I loved this video. I lo e the sound of the autoharp. It makes me think of hot summer nights, sitting on the porch and tuning with family and friends, while the kids run around chasing fireflies. Aside from that, it has an amazing range as an instrument, as you demonstrated. A rank beginner can play along with others, but there's lots and lots of room for improvement and experimentation. Thanks for sharing your music.

  • @rondamico7802
    @rondamico7802 10 лет назад +9

    When I se and hear an autoharp I think of Maybelle Carter. I consider her the queen of the autoharp.

  • @GDayTrueBlueAussie
    @GDayTrueBlueAussie 12 лет назад

    Beautiful Bob , you realy put life into your music and very informative , Im into most stringed instruments but youve given me an awakening to an Autoharp

  • @USNAVDC
    @USNAVDC 8 месяцев назад

    It's great that you're making people happy with your music. We're about the same age and I remember street musicians
    playing on the streets when I was a kid. For an interesting story look up the story about Willie's Nelson's song
    PRETTY PAPER, PRETTY RIBBONS OF BLUE.

  • @minderDOTorg
    @minderDOTorg 9 лет назад +2

    Clearly this is the way to play this instrument - what a great video !

  • @nbarghou
    @nbarghou 12 лет назад

    I'm an elementary music teacher, I had no idea that the autoharp was such an involved instrument. This was so interesting! Thank you!

  • @JohnWilson-bn1xs
    @JohnWilson-bn1xs 7 лет назад +4

    WOW> Bob--your idea of tuning adjacent strings to the same note, like a mandolin or 12-string guitar is brilliant! What that does for novices like me is to double the amount of good notes, and lessen the amount of sour notes. I've been playing folk/traditional guitar for a long time...but just trying to learn autoharp at 67...though I've always loved the sound...particularly for the old gospel standards. Could you possibly be more specific on just HOW to double-tune the strings for D/A or G/C...on an old Oscar Schmidt?????? That would be an immense help! TXZ TX TX for the inspiration

  • @eugeniuswilliams5457
    @eugeniuswilliams5457 6 лет назад +1

    Inspiring in your innovative and practical approach. And you get a great sound brother!

  • @Farawayfly
    @Farawayfly 13 лет назад

    Wow! Amazing sound from that autoharp! Love it!

  • @davidwatkins2578
    @davidwatkins2578 4 года назад

    Beautiful music I’ve never heard this type music before want to hear more. Thank you for sharing.

  • @maybudha
    @maybudha 8 лет назад +19

    people are awesome

  • @MrTimBranston
    @MrTimBranston 7 лет назад +4

    Lovely playing! i've got an autoharp but can't play it like you do. I play guitar so I can work out how you're doing it. I've just gotta practice now. Thanks!

  • @9lontoonieful1
    @9lontoonieful1 11 лет назад +2

    Sounds wonderful!

  • @pressingpassions
    @pressingpassions 11 лет назад

    So unbelievably awe-inspiring!

  • @TonyPhillips24
    @TonyPhillips24 12 лет назад

    Good demonstration, Bob.

  • @OpheliaBird
    @OpheliaBird 12 лет назад +1

    I just got my first Autoharp four days ago.. I love your style. :) I don't think I'll ever be half as good as you ._. You're fantastic! ^-^

  • @claudedanse
    @claudedanse 8 лет назад

    Very impressive I enjoy you're playing and live style.Enjoy

  • @fnersch
    @fnersch 12 лет назад

    Wonderful video. Makes me feel good. Thanks for sharing.

  • @Ginasong
    @Ginasong 10 лет назад

    I love your playing and instruction. Thanks!

  • @begay2
    @begay2 12 лет назад

    I loved your explanation and like you said the big autoharp has so much more volume. (Love to hear Maybelle Carter though) Thanks for posting and hooray for youtube!
    Love from Holland and good health for many more years!
    Frans.

  • @bjhale7314
    @bjhale7314 7 лет назад +2

    Lovely. i could listen to that all day Top Man

  • @internetstress
    @internetstress 6 лет назад +1

    I could listen to this for eternity!😀

  • @Savetheworldfirebidennow
    @Savetheworldfirebidennow 2 года назад

    Beautifully done good sir

  • @theblacksheep1000
    @theblacksheep1000 13 лет назад

    JUST SO AMAZING! I am putting this into my favorites!

  • @simonmbush5047
    @simonmbush5047 10 лет назад

    What a joy that was to see and hear! I bet you could rattle out beat with taps on your shoes too. :)

  • @kelleymomelley
    @kelleymomelley 8 лет назад +5

    Taking over on Mother Maybelle's footsteps.

  • @TheDeffend
    @TheDeffend 7 лет назад +5

    Dude, that's brilliant! :D

  • @gfharper
    @gfharper 11 лет назад +1

    There is a magazine, called, "Autoharp Quarterly", that lists all the luthiers, or you could find them on the 'net. Look at some of my videos, entitled, "gfharper", and listen to some of the luthier autoharps. I am in Montana. I have more than a dozen luthier 'harps, and am satisfied with all of them! Some luthiers are: Pete d'Aigle, George Orthey, Ray Choi, Fladmark, Schrieber, Daniels, and others.

  • @nansie7697
    @nansie7697 3 года назад

    Wonderful thank you, cheered me up

  • @tnasburypl
    @tnasburypl 10 лет назад

    I so want one. Ever since I heard one as a kid on Randy Van Warmer's You Left Me.

  • @lorencarlin2087
    @lorencarlin2087 Год назад

    Holy moly! Amazing!

  • @missesguitarchick
    @missesguitarchick 10 лет назад

    So inspirational thanks!!! Lookin' forward to retirement now!

  • @salmonfishandships
    @salmonfishandships 13 лет назад

    brilliant playing , I have to train making melodies with it too ...

  • @HankleburyTV
    @HankleburyTV 6 лет назад

    Listening to him talk is as inspiring as listening to his music. What a guy!
    Looks like his legs are just begging for a kick drum and hi hat :-)

  • @QuackSalver
    @QuackSalver 9 лет назад

    Love this video !

  • @debhayes2822
    @debhayes2822 Месяц назад

    Bob is excellent.

  • @Laurie-BoYESHUA
    @Laurie-BoYESHUA 11 лет назад

    i like how you play with your whole body. very cool.

  • @AnasaziAl
    @AnasaziAl 11 лет назад

    I LOVE YOUR SOUND!

  • @1Cyberix
    @1Cyberix 4 года назад

    Mr Ellis, you have symphonies in you!

  • @aubreysnyder338
    @aubreysnyder338 4 года назад

    I love this!

  • @gfharper
    @gfharper 11 лет назад

    I agree with you on the new manufactured autoharps, but listen to some of the luthier autoharps.

  • @HellgaBlack
    @HellgaBlack День назад

    Amazing 🎉

  • @joeshea1010
    @joeshea1010 12 лет назад

    thanks bob great stuff

  • @secretarykilkennychoir7137
    @secretarykilkennychoir7137 Год назад

    In a word - JOY.

  • @brucebowden1040
    @brucebowden1040 8 лет назад

    See Autoharp 101, performed by Bryan Bowers. He started using the picking technique at least 30 years ago and he still performs. Google Bryan Bowers, Scott O'Malley Associates "Bower’s creativity and talent have won him induction into Frets Magazine’s First Gallery of the Greats, after five years of winning the stringed instrument open category of the magazine’s readers’ poll. This distinction put Bowers along side other luminaries, such as Chet Atkins, David Grisman, Stephan Grappelli, Itzhak Perlman, Tony Rice, Rob Wasserman and Mark O’Connor, recognized for their personal accomplishments. In 1993, Bryan was the first living member inducted into the Autoharp Hall of Fame to stand only with Maybelle Carter, Kilby Snow, and Sara Carter. In 2003, Bryan organized and co-produced Autoharp Legacy. He brought together 55 autoharp players and created the definitive three-CD set on autoharp music. In addition, Bryan Bowers’ critically acclaimed recordings on Flying Fish/Rounder Records are: The View From Home, Home, Home On the Road, By Heart, Friend For Life and For You."

  • @patrickbly4170
    @patrickbly4170 2 года назад

    I enjoy your enthusiasm 😉 😊 wish I could play mandolin with you at your next barbecue.

  • @billybareblu
    @billybareblu 12 лет назад

    Awesome Dude :D

  • @loopbraider
    @loopbraider 8 лет назад +1

    Yay! 100,000 views! Go Bob!

  • @robbiedaug
    @robbiedaug 12 лет назад

    nice video

  • @mcneillmama50
    @mcneillmama50 7 лет назад

    Aren't you talented and clever! I love it

  • @batum44
    @batum44 12 лет назад

    Hi Bob, What a lovely video! I too am retired and have been learning ukelele! However now I want an autoharp! However I aint got a clue on what to buy and how much to pay. I play 5 string banjo and guitar and melodeon also so would buy a decent one cos I really want to play. Can you help?

  • @EvanTisby
    @EvanTisby 9 лет назад +2

    this things fucking awesome!

  • @tom_something
    @tom_something 4 года назад

    Sounds good! A lot of people starting out on the autoharp will do these really big chords, and some never go further than that. I don't really like that effect for a solo performance. Between the rapid succession of notes, the short intervals between those notes, and the long sustain of the autoharp, even harmonies begin to sound crowded to the point of near-dissonance.

  • @roymitchell3126
    @roymitchell3126 6 лет назад

    keep buying them Bob. this is important

  • @egreendc
    @egreendc 11 лет назад +1

    I play in a self-taught style like this. I keep about 8 black 12-bar autoharps from the 1950's & 60's. Whenever I found them at yard sales, for $40 or less, in good condition, I'd pick up another. I dont like the newer one so much

  • @CheifKat
    @CheifKat 11 лет назад

    i like this guy

  • @kalitaq
    @kalitaq 8 лет назад

    Lo amo!!!

  • @nansie7697
    @nansie7697 3 года назад

    Hi I remember playing 1 at age 10 in school 55 years ago
    😃🤗

  • @coelacanth9821
    @coelacanth9821 9 лет назад

    Good video; fine playing. ...Did you remove some chord bars from those 2 "key-dedicated" autoharps then?
    Thanks!

  • @TheBlondiesNr1
    @TheBlondiesNr1 6 лет назад

    i love that tune! what was it called, Roscoe? i can't find anyone else playing it online. beautiful!

  • @grandfunkable
    @grandfunkable 11 лет назад

    1 person came here, decided he could play better, and disliked it. What an awesome guy he must be.

  • @elizabethbarringer2791
    @elizabethbarringer2791 2 года назад

    That's totally cool and very impressive I'm on the same wavelength I've got me a new autoharp and I'm in my sixties I've had them in the past but now I really have time to me sitting around and making music and singing songs with your friends that's real life and it's real fun I play harmonica too I've got quite a few friends here now join me

  • @KelticDead
    @KelticDead 12 лет назад

    As I'm turnin' sixty this year, I understand what you mean by just havin' fun. I've always loved the autoharp, though I'm much better at the reed harps. - - KelticDead

  • @oOSabianOo
    @oOSabianOo 9 лет назад

    Autoharps are fun and I don't begruge anyone that enjoys playing them. But they were the death knell for a wide and varied group of instruments. That never recaputred popular use.

  • @ScottBuckBands
    @ScottBuckBands 12 лет назад

    Hi Bob, Who makes your lovely harps ?

  • @roldo23
    @roldo23 Год назад

    Is there any way that I could see a chart for those tunings? I'd really like to try that style.

  • @me35217
    @me35217 11 лет назад

    I have noticed only Bryan Bowers uses a strap sometimes to play autoharp. I'm wondering about using a strap as my forearm gets sore a lot from extended playing. Does anyone here use a strap sometimes? Thanks Bob, I'm in my early 60's and am finding enjoyment from my autoharp once again. My wife and I sing and play in a small church in Melbourne, FL called a Cowboy or Country church. It's part of a United Methodist church. The congregation loves the autoharp!!

    • @JohnWilson-bn1xs
      @JohnWilson-bn1xs 7 лет назад

      Yep, I'm 67---had the same idea for the same reason. I'd suggest holding the harp up across your chest at a comfortable position...figure a good place on either side...and drill two small holes. In the holes, screw in two smalll o-rings, and to those join a banjo strap or camera strap. Works great...and takes the strain offa yer arms. Yeah, I'll bet the congregation loves it. I'm using it on old gospel classics like" In a Land Where We'll Never Grow Old". And I think it's just a magical sound. I'm sure they were used in little country churches that couldn't afford a piano

  • @willmaybe8121
    @willmaybe8121 6 лет назад

    What kind of set up is the chord bars in?

  • @whiteshadow247
    @whiteshadow247 6 лет назад

    how thick is your pick width?

  • @stonereds1
    @stonereds1 8 лет назад

    Helloo, great to see you playing/teaching, somehow i get here to your video, and i feel almost like the same you say here, i'm 20 years old, from brazil, and I like music, at all, producing, to write songs, playing, sing.
    Since all this 20 years of my life i was passive in music, just listening to songs and afraid to enter in this world, so now I decide to take this road for my life, a "musical open mind", so I started playing flute (quena flute), drum and maracá, and writing songs.
    Now I interested in autoharps/mini harps too, but i dont know how can i get it, here in Brazil, i need a cool and nice one to start to play, what you recommends me?
    grateful for the video, nice to meet you
    sorry for my bad english, hope you understand me hahah
    peace and light!
    cya

    • @breno4659
      @breno4659 7 лет назад +1

      Procura um luthier.
      Aqui em brasília tem uma loja especializada em instrumentos menos conhecidos. Certeza que tem lá!

    • @stonereds1
      @stonereds1 7 лет назад

      eta sou de SP, tem como vc me passar o nome da loja ou o site?
      Eu achei um lugar mas é la na Europa, mt caro, da uns 200 U$, contando o preço da entrega, fora q vai demorar uns 3 meses p chegar.
      Obrigado pela dica!

    • @breno4659
      @breno4659 7 лет назад +1

      Caio Alcântara Não sei onde é a loja. Só sei que tem uma aqui.
      Pesquisa no google, pra ver se acha.
      Eu acho que é na asa norte, mas realmente não sei te informar. Boa sorte na tua carreira!

    • @stonereds1
      @stonereds1 7 лет назад

      Obrigado irmão! vou pesquisar

  • @laurastokes4777
    @laurastokes4777 5 лет назад

    Bryan Bowers figured out these innovations early 70s

    • @laurastokes4777
      @laurastokes4777 5 лет назад

      He would tune by ear as he had perfect pitch

  • @chrispineapple
    @chrispineapple 11 лет назад

    Such happy tunes played with such as serious face. lol

  • @CharlotteFairchild
    @CharlotteFairchild 8 лет назад

    Do you sell them?

  • @gxtmfa
    @gxtmfa 4 года назад

    I don’t play autoharp. Instrumental techniques just fascinate me.

  • @egreendc
    @egreendc 11 лет назад

    where do I find luthier autoharps? I take it they are hand-made? I live in Wash., DC. Where are you?

  • @Acelevi999
    @Acelevi999 6 лет назад

    Do you teach ?

  • @NIIVES
    @NIIVES 8 лет назад +5

    I'm waiting for Eddie Vedder to make a song with this man

  • @BeeMichael
    @BeeMichael 11 лет назад

    What a find on you tube!

  • @manimazinani8331
    @manimazinani8331 6 лет назад +1

    Two words: Washington Phillips.

  • @ericjacksonheights
    @ericjacksonheights 11 лет назад

    isn't this what Bryan Bowers has been doing?

  • @Poppy323F
    @Poppy323F 3 года назад

    Trixie Mattel got me here.

  • @dvrsweet1
    @dvrsweet1 12 лет назад

    ....when I grow up...........

  • @mackt6482
    @mackt6482 7 лет назад +16

    from around 2:00 he could be talking about women

  • @billjarv
    @billjarv 5 лет назад

    so......its playing it like a zither

  • @baldbollocks
    @baldbollocks 12 лет назад

    The wives just don't get it...hee hee

  • @thedoc8008
    @thedoc8008 9 лет назад

    Press 2 on your keyboard three times then press 5 once.
    Thank me later.

  • @masarukameya7696
    @masarukameya7696 3 года назад

    No I'm
    No no I'lol v