(From l. to r.): Michelle Whitson Stone has arranged three popular songs—”Make You Feel My Love,” “Hallelujah,” and “A Thousand Years” for lever and pedal harp, making the music accessible to a wide range of harpists; Patricia Jaeger’s edition of 12 studies by Angelo Bovio are “a welcome addition to the repertoire.”

The New Year often motivates us to make resolutions or to get in shape. If one of your resolutions was to learn some new music, one talented arranger offers several new solos.

Michelle Whitson Stone has recently published some popular contemporary songs that are frequent requests for weddings and other events. She has not only arranged them with both lever and pedal harp in mind, but she has also targeted multiple levels. These publications from Harpworksmusic.com are printed on cream-colored paper with easy-to-read typesetting and manageable page turns.

“Make You Feel My Love” is a Bob Dylan tune that has been recorded by numerous artists from Adele to Garth Brooks. The arrangement for lever harp is suitable for an intermediate level player. It requires several lever changes, and they are clearly marked with both diamond-shaped notes and the accidental notation (e.g. F#) in the middle of the staff. She also indicates several single-note muffles to minimize the sound of the lever change. This is a very satisfying arrangement, and you can watch a video of Stone playing it on the Harpmusicworks website.

There is a separate, advanced arrangement for pedal harp, but it is not unwieldy. Advanced players will be able to sight-read this music. All pedal changes are clearly marked below the staff. Brackets indicate placing, but no fingering is suggested.

Another useful publication from this arranger is “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen. She has done two arrangements—both are for lever or pedal harp and include notation for both, but one is rated intermediate and the other is advanced.

They are not dramatically different. In fact, some of the measures are exactly the same. However, the advanced version has some more challenging rhythms, and the intermediate version has a simpler left hand accompaniment with fewer notes and a smaller range. The intermediate version is friendlier for lever harp since the lever changes are easier to execute when the left hand has fewer notes to play. Also, lever harps won’t have some of the lowest notes in the advanced version. The intermediate version has some fingering suggestions—there are none in the advanced. The pedal changes in the intermediate edition are enclosed in boxes. This is unusual because in modern notation, pedal markings in boxes normally indicate cross pedaling, and that is not the case here. Most likely, Stone was trying to differentiate the pedal markings from the lever markings that appear in the middle of the staff.

There is a more pronounced difference in the levels of Stone’s two versions of the Christina Perri hit, “A Thousand Years.” Neither requires any lever or pedal changes and both include some scale glisses. The left hand is definitely more difficult in the advanced arrangement which also features larger chords and more challenging rhythms (e.g. duplets). Stone indicates where the melody should be emphasized by using accent markings.

If there is one thing that would make all three of these fine arrangements even better, it would be to include the lyrics within the body of the music like we usually see in piano arrangements. This makes bringing out the melody and distinguishing it from the “fills” so much clearer, especially for those who may not be familiar with the songs. Nevertheless, you should find Stone’s works to be crowd-pleasing, valuable additions to your pop selections.

If you want to get in shape, Patricia Jaeger presents a workout with “12 Studies for the Harp, Opus 26” by Angelo Bovio that she has edited. Published by Herald Music (distributed by Vanderbilt Music), this spiral-bound book contains etudes composed for those not using pedals or levers.

Bovio (1824–1909) was an Italian harp virtuoso, teacher, and composer who taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Milan. These long-forgotten studies came to the attention of Ms. Jaeger from Albertina Flach Weygandt, former harpist of the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

There are no accidentals in any study, but there are in different keys. The first is written in E-flat major, the next four proceed around the circle of fifths up to G major, and the last seven reinforce the five keys already introduced. Most are written on two pages and only two require page turns. Lever harps may not have all the notes, at least those below sixth octave C, but they are easily omitted or can be played an octave higher.

Technical skills are gradually introduced, beginning with both hands playing in unison an octave apart, placing groups of fingers, and thumb and fourth finger slides. Subsequent studies drill such things as grace notes, scales, octaves, arpeggios, and hand over hand jumps.

Although there are many etude books available, these melodic studies are a welcome addition to the repertoire. They are wonderful, progressive pieces that help intermediate students develop technique, and provide splendid opportunities for sight-reading and warm-up for more advanced players.