Harp Column Blogs: Alexander RiderArchive

A little while ago, Carl Swanson wrote to me to tell me about a masterclass that he had given in Orlando, Florida. Among the students who played, was a young lady, who wished to play movement I of the Handel concerto. After she had finished, Carl asked her to play a scale for him. She wasn't sure what he meant by a scale.It made me realise how different countries approach some aspects of msuical training. Here in the UK, it is customary for music students to take formal, graded music exams. In fact many universities and colleges stipulate a  level of playing at  "grade 7-8 distinction" as an entry requirement. 

The "grades", (running from grade one to grade eight, with a voluntary diploma for young artists after these grades.) consist of three lists A, B and C.These lists, compiled by a consulting team of harpists, consist of five to ten pieces,  designed to encompass a wide range of technical challenges and stylistic material. For instance, I just took my grade 7 exam, so, I chose from list A: Dussek's C-minor sonata, from list B, I chose Glinka's nocturne and from list C, I chose  Tournier's Etude de concert.  The idea is, the student will work on these three pieces, and play them for an examiner. Happily, in 2004, a new lever harp syllabus was introduced, for which the exam boards have compliled much new music and educational material, including Ann McDermid's wonderful "Sea Rapture", and Danielle Perrett and David Gough's excellent "Lever harp 2000".

However, the student must not only prepare pieces. As a grade 7 harpist, I was required (by my chosen exam board, the Associated boards of the Royal schools of music) to prepare the following; Scales; encompassing four octaves in every key, minor and major, melodic or harmonic, to be played, hands together,  hands separately; in octaves, sixths and tenths. Arpeggios; encompassing four octaves in any key minor or major, hands separately, together, in each inversion.. Dominant sevenths, in every key; hands separately, hands together, in each inversion.

I also had to sightread a page one piece long, of difficulty correpsonding with the grade. The sightreading tests, are, of course, devised by a noted harpist, Skaila Kanga. Then, I had to sight sing with  an accompaniment. One must then listen to a piece of music, and identify specific chords and cadences, sing a specific line, then talk about the melodic, harmonic and textural feature, naming  styles and possible composers.

This sounds scary indeed! But one should remmeber that difficulty goes progressively, so, a harpist taking his or her grade 3 exam would be required to prepare nowhere this amount of material! Also it is not as though on has to play every scale and arpeggio in every conceivable inversion and key; the examiner will rather select a few at random in order to gain a good survey of musical and technical development.

My point is, these exams, whether they are validated by ABRSM or the Trinity board, monitor not only a harpist's level of playing, but also their development of technique, musicality, sense of style and practical musicianship. The amount of work seems daunting, but it is surprising that many young musicians accept these exams as something normal, necessary and something to be taken in the stride. Thus, students learn what it is to perform under pressure and meet deadlines as one must in auditions and recitals. They can also see how their musicianship and mastery of the harp is growing at a steady and certifiable rate. What fun to return to one's old grade pieces, and see how one has progressed!  This is comforting and encouraging, and while exams are stressful this can  help a good work and practice ethic.

I am certain that taking exams are not fun or easy for everyone, if anyone! At times, I found it intolerably difficult;  sometimes I got frustrated and discouraged; I felt different every day! But, the goal was clear, and it never lost its value in my eyes. I would stress that I feel that there is no single, definitive way to master  the harp. But, to me, the advantages of graded exams are clear. In offering a clear, but flexible, musically diverse, path of growth , we  can encourage and challenge  people who want to become knowledgeable, confident harpists, musicians and artists.

Any comments? Whether you are a student or teacher, or neither,  let me know what you think. I would be delighted to know, ESPECIALLY if you think I am speaking total rubbish!