There's a Harpist in the Room: New Adventures For You and Your Orchestra
November 28, 2018|
Sheldon J. Fisher
When the opportunity comes knocking, open the door wide! The harpist will need the room to come in.
I have never been one to shy away from the prospect to expand opportunity for myself or my students. When a parent contacted me and said, “My daughter plays harp, is there a place for her in your orchestra?” I didn’t even think twice about welcoming her into the ensemble. What was I thinking?
I didn't know what I didn't know.
That first year I learned the truth of the harp joke, “The harpist spends ½ of their life tuning, and the other ½ playing out of tune.” Since that day, the last 16 years of teaching High School Orchestra prior to retirement, there was only one year where I didn’t have a harpist. Here are some important things that I learned along the way.
Is there a difference between lever harp and pedal harp?
Yes.
Lever harp has a lever for every string on the instrument to change the tuning and add a sharp or flat. Lever harps are smaller with smaller sound boards, therefore harder to hear through an ensemble of strings.
Pedal harp has 7 pedals. Each pedal changes the tuning for each note of the C-flat tuning of the instrument. Much easier to change keys and/or add accidentals with pedals than with levers.
Will I need a school owned harp for the room?
Yes and/or no (trick question). The harp is not an instrument that drivers welcome onto the school bus, so there will need to be a harp in your room for daily use.
3 Solutions:
- If you are allowing the harpist to have adequate practice time for private lesson literature, (at least 2–3 days per week during class) then perhaps they can leave their harp at school and take it home on weekends.
- Purchase a school harp (beware of sticker shock!). Usually a smaller 40 String Lyon & Healy 85P will work. Check with a Harp Dealer for pricing not only for new harps, but also used reconditioned harps.
- Rent a harp by the year/month. This is the best solution if you know that there are no other harpists coming up, but beware. Once you are known as a “harp friendly” orchestra teacher, the supply of harpists may be unlimited.
Do I need to know the harp literature before I take the harpist into my class?
No, but you better find out quickly!
3 Solutions:
- Find literature that has a harp and/or piano part. Some piano parts can be arranged to work for pedal harp.
- Talk with the local harp teacher regarding literature and how to re-write piano parts.
- Contact other directors who use harp about what they have used.
Not a solution? Giving the violin or cello part to a harpist so they have something to play.
Is it okay to play literature that doesn’t use harp? If so, what does the harpist do while I play non-harp literature?
Yes, depending on the difficulty of the literature that does use harp, you may only have one or two selections per concert that use harp.
Solution: Provide a room, closet, hallway, music library, or any place where the harpist can work on their orchestra part and/or their private lesson literature when you are working the rest of the ensemble.
The harpist is never ready after I stop to explain something. Is it me, or the harpist?
It is both of you.
3 Solutions:
- Harpists have 40+ strings to tune. Make sure they come in before school to pre-tune before rehearsal starts.
- Allow the harpist time to change pedaling for keys depending on where you are starting. It is the equivalent of waiting for a timpani player to change pitch on his/her drums, except harps have seven pedals. Have the harpist add pedal charts in the rehearsal spots.
- If the problem you are addressing is NOT to the harpist, start by saying, “we will begin in a moment at measure ____.“ This gives the harpist time to reset pedals.
Do I have to learn everything on my own?
No.
3 Solutions:
- Other directors who have harpists will be a great resource.
- The harp student’s private teacher is another great resource. (What, you think the parents actually spent that type of money securing a harp and then expected the student to learn it on their own? Of course the student has a harp teacher!)
- Blogs like this one where experienced directors share their harp experience.
Listening to orchestras with harpists at conferences, conventions, festivals, and performance evaluations is a great way to learn the literature and to discover directors who already know the adventures of using a harp in their ensemble. As mentioned above, also contact harp teachers in the area and let them know you are interested in having harpists join your ensemble. Once my school became known as a “harp friendly school,” I actually had 3 All-State Harpists the same year. What do you know, a harp section! It was time to pull out Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino!”
The Atlanta area has quite a few harpists around. One of my former violin student’s mother is a harpist with the Atlanta Symphony. The harpist in the North Atlanta area that I contacted most frequently was Lisa Handman . When we performed at Carnegie Hall, Lisa contacted a harp friend in New York City who arranged for us to rent a harp and harp movers for the performance. (Thanks Lisa, you’re a gem!) Happy Harping!
Harp Dealers and Resources:
