Reply-to: boylan@world.std.com
Barbara,
I can understand all the reasons you gave for not wanting lessons. I just
thought I'd add my perspective, since you invited such comments!
I'm commenting as someone who has a long background in music, and I've
learned to play happily for myself and friends on several instruments, but
I'm not a teacher. I've only been working on the harp for about 4 months.
I really learned a lot in just a few short lessons. I was really lucky to
have a chance to study with Lorraine Lee, who's a professional folk
musician who also teaches. I knew her from local music events and
festivals, and I knew her reputation from friends and other musicians in
the area. I knew before I started that she was really good at working with
and encouraging beginners. (Actually, it was primarily the fact that
Lorraine was offering a class that decided me on trying the harp in the
first place!)
What helped the most was just spending a couple of lessons on the basics -
getting the harp in tune, getting your body into a good position, getting a
good feeling for hand position and finger arrangement. That did wonders
for both my physical comfort and the sound of the instrument. A big part
of Lorraine's approach is pointing out how keeping your body, arms, and
fingers well-positioned helps you move freely, quickly, and accurately -
then helping you squirm around in different positions to find where YOUR
body needs to be so YOU can do it, too!
I found that, once I had worked on those basics for just a little while, I
could make a lot of progress quickly on my own, with just a bit of
encouragement along the lines of "It might work better if you can keep your
elbows in line with your wrists . . ."
Those class sessions are done, but I'm planning on having a lesson once or
twice a month, partly to take advantage of someone else's knowledge and
experience and partly to keep an eye on some of the fundamental details.
Right now, I'm working primarily from Sylvia Woods' book and Deborah
Friou's exercises, and I can FEEL the progress. I'll certainly never be a
concert performer, but I'm having a blast (and my family is even enjoying
it!).
Lorraine had one good story that seems to apply to your situation (but
please remember, I'm quoting this from a particularly poor memory!). She'd
been playing other instruments for years before trying the harp. She was
getting some nice results on the harp, but didn't feel like it was coming
together to the point where she'd want to perform on it. Then at a music
festival she met a folk harper (whose name, of course, I can't remember),
and asked him to give her some pointers. He said he could tell her the
basics in 10 minutes, and proceeded to do so - how to hold the harp in
relation to you body, how to hold your arms, how to hold your fingers. She
said it then took her about two years to master what he'd shown her; after
that, she was finally happy enough with the results to start performing
with the harp! A lot of that time was, of course, working to overcome some
bad habits she'd developed by working on her own.
I'll grant that a big part of this for me was luck - having someone I knew
was a good teacher available when I wanted to take lessons. Actually, I
agree with you that trying to take lessons from a teacher who insists on
rigid technique and rigorous exercise isn't much fun, and probably isn't
really worthwhile unless your goal IS to become a concert harpiste.
Perhaps the best approach would be to take advantage of any opportunity to
just sit down with someone who's personality you like, or who's approach
you're comfortable with, and see what they can show you. If it's a formal
lesson, and it's someone you can work with, that's great; if it's getting
someone's attention after a performance and just chatting, that ought to be
good too!
So, that's what's working for me. I'm having lots of fun, I'm going to try
playing various things with different groups of friends, and I'll probably
arrange a lesson or two over the next month. The only thing I'm really
having trouble with is setting aside time to practice . . .
- - Steve