Harp Column Blogs: Carl SwansonArchive

There have been several posts recently about technique, and this is a subject that is dear to my heart.  It is also one of my pet peeves in this country(the USA). I get really tired of seeing students(at all levels)playing pieces that they are technically unprepared for.  I also get frustrated seeing students who study with the same teacher for years and make NO progress.  I'm serious.  NONE!  I'm tired of teachers who simply throw harder and harder pieces at students, and expect them to improve.  The afore mentioned things happen from the beginner level right through university.  So let's see...  What is the problem.

Let me start with a short definition of what I am talking about.  Technique is the accumulated skills needed to play the instrument. But what are those skills?  Simply being able to hit all of the notes in a piece is not enough.  Do you use all 8 fingers in the same way, and get the same tone from each one?  Or does each finger articulate in a different way, and even articulate in several different ways, depending on the passage being played?  Can you play a variety of dynamics with each finger?  Can you play two or more dynamic levels simultaniously in either hand? Can you place in sequence?  That means placing only one finger at a time ahead of the one playing, rather than placing blocks of notes at one time.  Can you muffle individual notes with individual fingers?  Can you muffle individual notes as you are playing?  Can you play 16th note scales over 4 octaves at 126 to the quarter note? Can you play a scale at that speed up and down 4 octaves 4 times in a row without tensing up and tiring?  Can you close your eyes and play chords in all of their positions up and down three octaves without looking?  These are some of the most basic skills  needed to play much of the standard repertoire, and yet time and again I see students working on the Handel Concerto or the Mozart who are completely lacking in these skills.

As you can see, I make no mention of method.  Whatever method you use, the end result should be the complete mastery of these skills listed above.

The curious thing is that, in the end, technique should be a non-issue, and invisible.  Your audience should really be unaware of your technique.  They should simply hear you playing beautiful music.  And for you the harpist, your technique should be so firm and automatic that you don't think about it.  All of your attention should be on making music rather than just trying to hit the notes.  But to get to that point takes a lot of work.  And how do you develope these skills?  Ah, that's a subject for another blog!  Gosh, I feel better already!  Bye!!!

I'm leaving tomorrow for a week of skiing in France and I don't want to slap something up here that is not well thought out. So I'll leave the heavier topics for when I come back. But I wanted to tell you a little story that I remember hearing when I lived in France many moons ago.

There apparently was a harpist in Paris who decided she wanted to form a harp quartet. She made her own arrangements of heaven-only-knows-what. She gave herself the most difficult part, then wrote two more parts for two of her students to play. And then she got to thinking. She wanted to market this quartet to play for money, and four harpists could make it kind of expensive. So when she wrote the fourth harp part, she made it all glissandos, and had her cleaning lady play them! The cleaning lady thought it was great, because all she had to do was sit all the time and watch for a cue to strum the strings, and the harp lady paid her a little more than she would have gotten cleaning the apartment. I never heard them, BUT, a friend of mine took the QE2 to England years ago, and there they were playing for the passangers!

I hope this leaves you smiling. Talk to you all when I get back.

OK guys. I came screaming and kicking into the computer age about 5 years ago. Before that I used a manual, portable typewriter. To this day I have never used, and have no idea how to use, a cash machine. I don't have a cell phone, and am mystified as to why anyone would need to talk on a phone in a theater, walking down the street, in a supermarket, etc. I heat my house (almost entirely this winter) with coal, which I order by the ton. You get the picture.

So now I've been invited to post a blog(or is it write a blog). I've never read a blog, and needed a definition of one to even understand what this was all about. But what the heck(I cleaned that up). I may as well give it a try.

I have no idea how often I'm going to write here, or what I'm going to write about, or how long each post will be. Knowing me(and my big mouth)I'm somewhat attracted to the idea of discussing a subject in a forum when only my side of the argument is presented! Cool, huh?

I'm thinking about a number of things to put up here. My own ideas about teaching, and perhaps a running account of my experience teaching a very gifted student(some of you know who I'm talking about, but I'll use another name to protect his privacy). Maybe I'll write about some of the harp characters I have known over the years. And maybe I'll talk about the technical aspect of harps from time to time. If you've got any ideas you'd like to hear me discuss, email me. I feel right now like a kid in English class about to turn in a paper that will get graded! See you all soon. Bye!