lever harpists’ experience with busking?

[caleigh-minshall]

Hi all,

I was just wondering — have any of you ever tried street performing with a small lever harp before? I’m considering it this summer but I’m a little nervous. I’ve only been playing for a year and a half. I live in a very touristy small-ish city and I’ve never seen any harpists around here so I thought maybe even I’m not all that good yet, the novelty of a harp and some popular Irish tunes might make up for it. Then again, maybe harps aren’t loud enough to gain much attention in a downtown area?

Thoughts? Experiences? Advice?

Thanks! 🙂

[Allison Stevick]

I say give it a try! I bet people will love it, since the harp is pretty much a magical instrument. I’m sorry I don’t have any actual advice or personal experience with busking, but I hope to try it someday.

[barbara-brundage]

>Then again, maybe harps aren’t loud enough to gain much attention in a downtown area?

If it’s a problem, you could try a small battery operated amp, like one of the Roland cubes. But try it first without–the less you have to lug, the better.

[patricia-jaeger]

Caleigh, I have never done any busking, but I was given a book , written by David Michael, who did it extensively. I strongly suggest you look for a copy:
“Busker, Tales of a Renegade Harpist”
ISBN – 978 0 615 47306 2 Copyright 2011
Purnima Press, Post Office Box 317, Port Townsend, WA, 98368

http://www.RenegadeHarpist.com

http://www.PurnimaProductions.com

There is a companion CD inside the back cover, Mr. Michael has played in many foreign countries, and on ferry boats also. He gives 50 important tips any busker should read, including different rules to follow to avoid breaking the law, especially if you plan to offer CDs of your music . At 217 pages, the sometimes hilarious details of his forty years entertaining around the globe ” from the cafes on the isle of Crete to the walking streets of Scandanavia and the ferryboats of Puget Sound” make this the best possible preparation for any busking you plan to do.

[andee-craig]

The only preparation you really need is to find out if you need a license to busk or not. And if it’s OK to sell CDs if you have any. Other than that, *just do it!*

I did it about 15 years ago when I was only playing for a few months. I had several pieces (mostly Irish) and a lot of courage at the time. I busked on South Street in Philadelphia for a couple of summers. It’s a well touristed street and I made lots of money, but I did stay out there for hours. I drew crowds and even got gigs out of it. It was fantastic!

I now live in Leeds, England and you don’t need a license at all to busk, but for the past couple of summers I’ve been too scared to do it. I was brave before, why not now? And I have loads more tunes now than I did 15 years ago, of course!

And if you have a good resonant harp (like my Dusty Strings FH32, you shouldn’t need any amplification at all. Best to keep it simple!

Good luck!!

[caleigh-minshall]

Thank you so much, everyone, for the suggestions and encouragement!! I’m not sure yet whether my little harp will be loud enough — it’s a 12-year-old 29-string Stanley harp (http://www.stanleyharp.on.ca/29string.html). I’ll just have to wait and see. There’s a really popular, quieter park on Lake Ontario right next to the downtown area, which might be better-suited to harp busking since there won’t be cars nearby (but still lots of tourists). Happily, Stanley and Stanley is actually based right outside my small-ish city, so I can also say the harp is locally built…! 🙂

I’ve decided my tip sign will read “Help me pay for harp lessons!”

It’s still very much winter outside right now — I think I’ve got until around mid-April before I can venture safely outside, and that’s being optimistic. My new goal is to memorize about an hour’s worth of repertoire that I can repeat for a couple hours while I’m outside. Do you think people will notice that the left hand arrangements aren’t too complex yet, or should I try to hunt down more complex music? I haven’t really figured out how to arrange myself yet. I also figure I can repeat a song two or three times with different dynamics and octaves to make it longer (a lot of my songs are only one-pagers).

I am going to buy that Renegade Harper book when I get paid next, too! That’s exactly the sort of thing I’m looking for!

Hooray!! We’ll see how this goes. 🙂 Really, really appreciate your responses — it’s made me feel so much better.

[Allison Stevick]

Don’t worry about having complex arrangements, people will be captivated by your playing no matter what you play. As I said before, I’ve never busked, but I have played publicly and people are always just gushing their praise (even when I know I made mistakes, or dropped out the left hand for a little bit, or played the “easy version” of a tune because I couldn’t work up the hard version in time). Harp is magical, and people will respond to that even if you’re just plucking out nursery tunes. 😉

[andee-craig]

I agree with Alison and you can bet when I did my busking 15 years ago my arrangements were very basic as I had only been learning for a few months! But you can also use your busking time to try out new things and experiment. My busking sign at the time said, ‘Help send me to Ireland’ as it was my dream to go and I did go not long after. I attended Janet Harbison’s week long harp intensive workshop.

[kreig-kitts]

There is a young woman in the DC area who I sometimes see busking outside of Metro stops (playing inside the stations is prohibited, and even Joshua Bell was technically outside the station when he busked here). Her harp isn’t amplified and you can hear it fairly well. Some of the places she plays are covered, and we have plenty of stonework, so she often has a good acoustical environment, but even more out of doors you can hear her reasonably well (for the curious, she plays a Sligo harp). She has pretty good chops, but one could probably do okay with easier repertoire as well. I think an important part is to be able to make a connection: eye contact, smiling, acknowledging tips with a nod or “Thank you”, etc. with the passers by, and you should be able to do so with whatever you’re playing.

I wonder if a cute tip box or hat helps as well, maybe with a little decoration or colorful “tips” sign on it.

There is also young guy, maybe a college student somewhere, whom I occasionally see with a pedal harp at DuPont Circle. I think I’ve seen him with a tip receptacle, though he seems to do it more for the enjoyment.

[samantha-t]

Hello to a fellow Ontarian!
I haven’t busked for money but I have played outside for informal gatherings a few times in the summer. I did find the sound of the harp got “lost” outside – it just didn’t go anywhere and you could barely hear it more than a few feet away no matter how loudly I tried to play. I found the same thing happened with other peoples’ guitar playing.

BUT – keep in mind the humidity was horrendously high those days (as it tends to be here in the summer). Don’t know if that can affect how the sound carries. Also traffic noise tends to swallow anything musical.

As to worrying about simple music, I find the average listener just likes the sound of the harp (or at least that’s what people have said to me)! Keep in mind too that people successfully busk on single-line instruments like woodwinds etc.

Anyway, hope you enjoy yourself! What have you got to lose? However this winter just won’t let go for the time being.

[caleigh-minshall]

Hi everybody! I just started busking last night, and it was fantastic!! I made lots of tips in 2 hours and people were SOOO friendly. I only know 7 songs by heart so I noodled and played scales a lot, and people just seemed to love all of it. I’ve met so many interesting people, too!!!

SO if anyone else has read this and wondered if they could busk, go for it! 🙂

Andee, THANK YOU for the “Help send me to Ireland” bit — I was planning to go to Europe next summer so this works really well. I also added (being Canadian, and in a tourist-y town) this to my sign: Do you prefer … – Justin Bieber – Harp!” (with a little checkbox beside each, and obviously a big red checkmark next to “harp”! Younger people like the joke about Justin Bieber and older people like to stop and tell me about their trips to Ireland.

Thanks for all the encouragement, everyone — this has been a blast!

[Allison Stevick]

Congrats on a successful first busk! 😉 I’m glad you had lots of fun!

[randal]

Anyone plan on going out for holiday busking this season? I’m always very curious to learn how folks solve the various problems involved in casual performing. My own solution is to play indoors in nursing homes, etc., but I’m always yearning to find and perform for holiday festivals, craft fairs, etc.

[Alyson Webber]

Hi everyone!

I have been playing for a couple years, and I really want to get over my inhibitions playing in front of people. I am not shy, but I am unaccustomed to the feeling of my hands shaking and distractions as I try to play. So, my teacher and I have worked up a list of “least to most terrifying” prospects of playing in public. My first was to play in the little square in my hometown, then playing in more crowded areas until I finally end up playing a “performance” where people come to stare quietly at me.

Well, I went out to my little square this weekend, and it was really strange at first. I informed some folks eating outside at a cafe that I was trying to get over my fear of playing in public and asked if they wouldn’t mind. Of course they didn’t. The afternoon went from strange to amazing. I am comfortable with about 25 minutes of music, and by the time I had gotten through it once, I had a few people sitting on nearby benches clapping after every piece. I had a nice gentleman come up and give me $5, even though he was one of the ones who knew I wasn’t busking, just practicing. I was invited to play at the local farmers market, too.

What I truly wasn’t expecting was the sense of complete control that came over me once my hands stopped shaking. I felt like I could play anything. My concentration was heightened, and I felt like I was controlling the harp and making better music than I have in my home. I pulled out pieces I hadn’t played in months, and despite the wind blowing my music shut several times, I played it without a hitch.

Has anyone else experienced “performance euphoria?” If so, is this a one-time thing caused from the relief of not completely bombing in public?

I had so much fun out there, that I really wanted to post on this thread and encourage others to get out there. There’s certainly a “harp effect” that anything you play, people will think it beautiful, and it opens up your ability to really try to produce something wonderful.

[Biagio]

This is a great thread, thanks to all who contribute! One other thought/suggestion which may or may not work depending on the location and other circumstances…

People are invariably fascinated by the harp and especially children; everyone wants to touch it and play it themselves but are often too shy to ask. Or parents snatch the kids away (kids are almost never shy!). So if you can, bring along a second small ‘harp shaped object’ that you won’t mind people playing around with.

In my part of the world we call this a “harp petting zoo.” The HSO need not be particularly fancy – in fact, the more interesting the better. Two of my friends (in Maine) did this with – honest, I’m not kidding – a hollowed out pumpkin. Check it out:

Biagio

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