| Teaching yourself to play the Harp THIS IS A PRINT FRIENDLY PAGE |
| There are a number of ways to learn to play a harp if there is no Harp Teacher available (1) Learn the basic "building blocks" of music and the harp ( Keys,Chords, Arpeggio's, Fingering techniques....etc, and discover your own style. OR (2) Sylvia Woods book and companion cassette...."Teach yourself to play the folk harp" (probably the best,but you can check others from the links below...ie...HarpLore or Harpcenter. For those who just want the basic "building blocks"of playing a harp I have started "Playing Basic Harp" (below) and will be adding to it to help you get started.....and this may be all you need to start your adventure, ENJOY!..... |
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| Playing basic Harp OR: "I did it my way" Lesson 1.....prepare yourself |
| The Harp has got to be one of the easiest instruments to get a tune out of.....Forget the fact that there are SO many strings! Concentrate on one Octave...ie "C" to "C" (red strings)..... whatever you do in one octave you can do in any other.... BUT FIRST: Look at the pic on the left, that is the shape of your hands for the duration of your harp playing "career"! This is the hardest thing to do in harping.....but if you persevere you will have obtained the basis of an exciting career or lifestyle!! (You can have your little pinky amputated .......as the Irish Harpers of old did....But you may need it for nasal recreation!) |
| Now look at the chart to your right>>>> This is a basic chord chart using "TRIADS" that is, 3 fingers (the thumb is counted as #1) there should be a string between each finger. Look at the pic above and you will see 4 fingers being used,that is correct for those who want to be a "harpist" as opposed to those who want to be "harpers".....If you want to be a "harpist" and play classically, please stop browsing this page and get a harp teacher! NOW....see the first 3 fingers are on A+C+E this makes an A minor Triad chord....now look at the Triad chord chart and see the other chords that can be played by using the same hand shape but starting on different strings....Note that whatever string your 3rd finger is on, will tell you the root of that chord, either Major or minor. Using the 3 Major and 3 minor chords shown here will allow you to play or create 1000s of tunes. If you need to play a Major chord where a minor is all you can play (as a Triad) I will show you how to do this on the next segment of this page.... In the meantime, become familiar with these chords by playing them with both hands (an octave apart) first by plucking all at once (striking) and then one at a a time,straight after each other. (arpeggio) from the lowest to the highest, this is known as a "run". ...............Enjoy! |
| Other chords .....D,E,A Major Because harps are "Diatonic" and not "Chromatic" this means that there are only 7 notes to the scale instead of the 13 which would have allowed you to play any chord and any note ever invented. This means that unless you have a cross strung harp ( 2 rows of strings in a "X") which is extremely difficult to master, or a Pedal Harp which is used in orchestra's and is harder to master and extremely expensive.....you are going to have to use abreviated chords when you want to play "D Major" instead of "d minor" "E Major" instead of "e minor" "A Major" instead of "a minor" NOW.....to play these abreviated chords you place your fingers on the Triad of the minor chord...ie "d minor to play a "D Major" but instead of your 2nd finger being on the "f" note.....take it off....or better still, don't even put it on! The same goes for the E and A Majors......Place your fingers on the triad for the minors but omit the middle finger each time..... NOW you have the ability to play millions of tunes!!! Can you see now why the basic harp is one of the easiest instruments to learn to play.....especially by THIS method....?! |
| The first thing to do is make sure you are holding your harp suitably.....because we are dealing here with Celtic and not Classical Harping, we are not going to be too "politically correct" We want you to enjoy your harp and harping..... If you want to be a "Harpist" instead of a "Harper"....... Please don't look at anything below!!!!! Just go and find yourself a Classical Harp teacher. |
| Lap Harp Sit on a chair or stool place your harp either on your Knee's (Lap) or cross your right lower leg over your left lower leg and place your harp in the crook where your calf meets your thigh. Now place your face to the left of the harp,and rest it on your right shoulder.... If you find either of these uncomfotable you can place your harp on a low stool or ottoman..... |
| Floor Harp Sit on a chair and pull your harp towards you onto your right shoulder, move your chair until the harp comfortably rests against your shoulder without being heavy.... |
| Hand Positions Your left hand should be placed towards the lower strings of your harp....this hand plays chords or bass notes... Your right hand should be placed either 1 or 2 octaves above your left, this hand plays melody (the tune) or added chords..... You are ready to play! |
| TRIAD CHORDS The dot on the left or each set of notes indicates where your 3rd finger should be (the longest string in each set) the second dot is for 2nd finger and the 3rd dot for 1st finger (thumb) |
| Striking chords Now, hit the button to hear each of the above triads being played....... ie: C,Dm,Em,F,G,Am. The notes in each chord are struck simultaneously (all at once) There is a short pause between each chord. After soundfile has downloaded, you can play it as many times as you wish by hitting the PLAY button. |
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| Arpeggio chords This time, hit the button to hear each chord (triad) being played as an "Arpeggio" (notes in each set are plucked individually...... |
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| Arpeggio X 4 chords This time we are arpeggio'ing each chord 4 times...... |
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| TIP Once soundfile has fully loaded..... "hit" the same button again to hear unfragmented sound. (As many times as you wish...... |
| Lesson 2.....The left hand (mainly) |
| Now......you can use any of the above options to play chords as an accompaniament to the melody that you will learn to play (or create your own) any combination of the chords in the TRIAD chart. |
| Try a few different combinations........ ie: (1) C.....................Dm ( three times ....then) F............G............. ( once each..... ( we are using arpeggio chords....play them slowly at first, then build up your speed) Then do it again, and again, until it becomes a continuous piece of music. Hit the button to hear it....(the whole piece played twice.) Remember to replay it to hear it "unfragmented"....... |
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| Please note: Harplore has changed hands, new details are: Ph: (02) 6258 8215 Fax: (02) 6259 0120 email: mary@harplore.com.au |
| Lesson 3 (the right hand) |
| To be able to play tunes, and melodies with the right hand, you are going to need to learn one of 3 ways ACADEMICALLY ....ie...perform the action as you read the music. (if you want to do it this way....get a teacher of buy a Teaching book) OR ROTE (in a mechanical way without thought or meaning)..... ie...play each tune until you know it off by heart....... (if you want to do it this way......you ARE the teacher....good luck! OR AD-LIB........let your subconscious create what you want to play. (you allow your subconscious mind control your right hand whilst you use your conscious to create Chords and/or Bass accompaniament with you left hand.) THIS IS THE 'SECRET' OF ALMOST ALL THOSE MUSICIANS WHO CAN PLAY FOR HOURS WITHOUT WRITTEN MUSIC OR EVEN PROMPT SHEETS! If you want to do this, I can follow with some tips on how you can get started. BUT you will need to mentally 'amputate' your right hand from your mind.....for very 'clever' people this may be very difficult and in fact may be impossible! Aplologies to all those prospective Harpers who have constantly come back to this page hoping to find 'LESSON 3'........ I will start adding future steps for this section......but if you are not familiar with the previous lessons, then lesson 3 may not happen, because you will need to 'engage' your conscious mind to your left hand, so you are better able to release your right hand to your subconscious mind. (think about it.....it does make sense) |
| Updated 15 Jan 08 |
| Do this daily for at least 15 minutes........ Place the appropriate fingers of your right hand (see Triad chords) as if to play a C chord on the second octave. Now, while you stare out of a window, start plucking any strings around that octave in any order or consistancy that happens.....whatever you do, DON'T think about what you are doing) just keep looking out of the window into the distance and let your subconscious mind absorb your hand actions in relation to the sounds produced. For those who are not 'dreamers' this may take a while until it 'clicks'... (for some......weeks......the sooner you relax, the sooner it will happen) |
| To be continued |