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General harp stuff and links (everything & anything, pretty much)

December Tune: To Drive The Cold Winter Away

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After an unusually warm and rainy November, winter has finally descended on our little town. We woke up this morning to chilly sub-zero temperatures and a blanket of snow. So I thought this would make for an appropriate December tune of the month. “To Drive the Cold Winter Away” (also known as “All Hail to the Days”) is one of my favourite seasonal tunes, a standard with my early music ensemble and my flute, harp and cello trio. Because the words are also quite lovely, I’ve also included the lyrics to the song below. The duet part was written for our cello player. If you want to use the bass as a left hand part for solo harp, you can leave out the G# if you don’t have G levers, or don’t feel like flipping in the middle of the piece.

The HarpBlog Tune of the Month is courtesy of Chubby Sparrow Music . For a printable version, right click on the picture and choose “save target as”, or pop over to the Chubby Sparrow Free Music page for more detailed printing instructions (note: if you just left click and try to print directly from the browser, it probably won’t print at the right size).

Lyrics: “All Hayle to the Dayes”, Eng. trad.

All hayle to the days that merit more praise
Than all the rest of the year!
And welcome the nights that double delights
As well for the poor as the peer!
Good fortune attend each merry man’s friend
That doth but the best that he may,
Forgetting old wrongs with carols and songs
To drive the cold winter away.

To mask and to mum, kind neighbours will come
With wassails of nut-brown ale,
To drink and carouse with all in the house
As merry as bucks in the dale;
Where cake, bread and cheese are bought for your fees
To make you the longer stay;
The fire to warm, will do you no harm,
To drive the cold winter away.

Thus none will allow of solitude now
But merrily greet the time,
To make it appear of all the whole year
That this is accounted the prime:
December is seen apparel’d in green,
And January fresh as May
Comes dancing along with a cup and a song
To drive the cold winter away.

This time of the year is spent in good cheer,
Kind neighbours together do meet
To sit by the fire with friendly desire
Each other in love to greet;
Old grudges, forgot, are put in the pot,
All sorrows aside they lay;
The old and the young doth carol this song
To drive the cold winter away.

Why I do this

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My students are so cool. Every day I’m reminded of how each and every one of my students are amazing in some way.

Having taught some of my younger students for several years in a row now, I’m really getting to see them grow up. When I asked one of my returning students what extracurricular activities she was doing this year, she said ballet and curling. Is that great or what? Not exactly two activities you usually hear said in the same breath. I’m so glad kids these days don’t have the same restrictions and stigmas associated with certain activities that they used to. Girls and boys equally have a lot more freedom to choose to do whatever they want, without being unfairly judged or ridiculed as a result.

I know that there are some problems with some kids being over-saturated with activities, and stressed out by all the expectations that have been laid on them by the grownups (and other kids) around them. But that doesn’t seem to be a problem with any of my students. Almost all of them come to each lesson with a really positive attitude; they may get easily distracted sometimes, sure, or show up tired or distracted for some reason or another. But that almost always disappears as soon as we dive into the lesson.

I sometimes wonder how any teacher could rigidly try to force each student to conform to the exact same style of learning and the exact same hand position. Every single one of my students is so different; they’re all different shapes and sizes, all different ways that they learn best. We always start with a basic solid technique foundation, of course, but there are so many ways it can be modified to fit each student, without losing the main goal: having a practical and efficient way of getting around on the harp, so you can focus on creating great music without being hampered by bad habits.

But back to my students… Besides harp lessons, they’re all doing a wide variety of cool things. One of them is involved in community theatre, one of them sings in a choir; and it’s not just the kids; most of my adult students have families and full time jobs to juggle on top of everything else. It’s impossible to have a “favourite” student. All of them have their own unique approach to things, and their own way of making teaching enjoyable.

One young girl seems to have fallen in love with the harp at first sight, and is always really cheerful and enthusiastic. She even gave my harp a name – her own special name for my harp. I didn’t tell her that I already have my own name for the harp – I figure harps are kind of like cats; they can have many different names. After all, every student relates to the harp in their own way.

Another one of my students is what some might call a model student; she’s incredibly bright, quick, always really positive and polite (and I don’t mean in that scary, unnatural way that kids can be polite, like it’s something they’ve been forced to do, but completely genuine). She always practices, and seems to really enjoy the whole learning process. She’s one of those people who has the potential to be anything at all that she wants to be.

With my adult students this year, we’re dealing a lot with health issues and a tendency to really build up and retain tension, so there’s been a really strong focus on the ergonomics of harp technique. We’re doing a lot of deep breathing, and finding as many ways as we can of releasing tension. It almost feels like sometimes I’m taking on the role of a phsyical therapist! One of my students practices Tai Chi and Yoga, something we share, and we’re finding ways to incorporate the terminology and philosophy behind those practices into harp playing.

All in all, I have to say that teaching music gives back as much as it takes. It can be hard work, sometimes, but it’s so worth it. So here’s a shout out to all the music students out there, doing their best to struggle through despite all the potential setbacks and frustrations they may encounter. We don’t just teach you; we learn from you too. And whenever I feel like I’m not doing all the things I want to do, or that I’m not contributing enough to the world, I think about those moments when a student breaks into a smile when something finally clicks; when one of my younger students actually clap their hands in joy after finally playing through a whole song all by themselves. Thanks, guys. You make it worth it.

All hail to the days…

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This has certainly been an odd week for weather. Over the past couple of days I’ve been gradually emerging from the fuzzy reality of a lingering head cold, only to see our October sky streaked with hail and snow. Friday it was mostly driving sleet, though thankfully it’s stayed above zero, so the roads remained relatively clear. Saturday, I was preparing for my last wedding gig of the season, when I heard an odd sound like someone throwing stones at our window. Sure enough, I look out to see it hailing furiously. Thankfully, yesterday’s couple was wise enough to arrange for a big tent, which would be up rain or shine. Still, we would technically be outside, so I layered accordingly; nylons and longjohns under my long black skirt; a warm layer under my dress shirt and a thick wool sweater; black dress boots laced over thick socks; and two pairs of gloves just in case.

I arrived at the golf course just as the sun was coming out (excellent timing), to see a remarkable number of golfers out on the green, bundled up with toques and mittons, gamely putting away. Apparently, rather dedicated to their sport. (I think the only people more obsessive are joggers).

The tent was somewhat chilly, but had nice thick sides that were down, so at least there was no wind. The wedding was the best kind; short and sweet, everyone seeming as happy as could be, a nice relaxed air with no sense of uptightness or panic; a friendly well-spoken minister; and people who said “thank you” afterwards. (Plus I got to play all Celtic stuff that I like and can play in my sleep – so no need for a music stand or flipping pages – which is always a bonus). I didn’t need the gloves in the end, but was very glad for all my various layers, which kept me pretty cozy throughout, although by the end I was starting to feel the chill a bit. All in all, not a bad way to wrap up the season. Now hopefully I can concentrate on learning some new tunes for a change, and getting ready for all my various seasonal music projects (and a few crazy writing and home improvement ones as well).

Hope everyone’s staying warm!

October Tune: Woodicock

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Okay, so it’s not quite October yet. Thought I’d get a bit of a head start. It certainly feels like October around here; chilly, windy, leaves skittering everywhere.

Woodicock, thumbnail (see print instructions below)

The HarpBlog Tune of the Month is courtesy of Chubby Sparrow Music . For a printable version, right click on the picture and choose “save target as”, or pop over to the Chubby Sparrow Free Music page for more detailed printing instructions (note: if you just left click and try to print directly from the browser, it probably won’t print at the right size).

Our early music group plays this one in a set with “The Old Mole”.

Sand in my shoes

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I did say it would be a while – but at last, we’re at the end of our official summer wedding extravaganza. After four gigs in three days, there was bound to be at least one worth writing about. In fact, there was one that had all three of us doubled over laughing.

The other three gigs went relatively as planned: On Thursday night, a little half-hour concert of medieval music with Hurly Burly for a Trent-sponsored historical conference, in a local art gallery. Then the next day, a wedding out at a resort we play at regularly, which despite the usual gusting wind, the roar of motor boats and airplanes, and the faint aroma of septic system, was just fine (although our cello player did get pelted by falling acorns a couple of times).

As soon as that one wrapped up, we high-tailed it out of there to our next gig, about an hour drive away. So far so good. Our flute player had scoped out the route, and it was her turn to drive (we each took a turn, which made things much easier), and we made the journey in plenty of time. Our flute player had warned us a bit in advance, but it was still a bit of a shock. We arrive to see what looks an awful lot like a refurbished old ski resort building, with a large parking lot and a big artificial pond. On the far side of the pond is a huge tract of absolutely empty sand – presumably, meant to be a beach. At this point we are surrounded by lovely Ontario countryside, the trees sporting their early fall colours, drumlins and still-verdant hills, forest and farmland stretching around us. At the site itself, there are plenty of big squares of lawn. And where are all the little white chairs set up? You guessed it – on the big strech of sand. They were thoughtful enough to put up a little awning-style tent; which turned out to be a good thing, since for the first half hour or so the sky spit little drops of rain at us and threatened worse.

(Disclaimer alert: In case anyone involved in this affair ever reads this (fat chance!), please be assured that it’s not meant as an affront to the mostly really quite nice people we work for; just sometimes the circumstances can be a bit, shall we say, more interesting than we were planning on.)

Have you ever watched people walk in stilletto heels in the sand? Would have been funny, but we were too busy trying to read our music as it gradually got darker and darker. They had a few torches flickering away, but that didn’t help us much. I had a stand light, but had accidentally left my glasses in the car (now parked way back in the lot); which put me about on par with my partners, who had glasses but no lights.

At one point, before the guests arrived, the three of us just looked around at the scene and started to laugh. We laughed until we had tears in our eyes and were for a moment, completely speechless.

Did I mention that the lady acting as officiant’s eye shadow matched the colour of the bridesmaids dresses? A kind of sea-blue. Just that it was memorable, is all.

And all the women in the bridal party were sleeveless, a pretty much unbroken trend for most of our eight-year wedding-playing career that baffles me to no end. No matter how classy the wedding, how sensible-seeming the couple, how practical they may be in every other respect, all those poor women are always sleeve (and often back) free. It’s September in Ontario, people! Has anyone ever heard of say, a shawl? How about longer dresses? Or sleeves, perhaps? Either the wedding garment industry is manifestly misogynistic (the guys always have suits, which works in the fall – although in mid-July it’s not so nice, so maybe the wedding industry is just generally sadistic) – or the vast majority of people involved in weddings immediately lose a few dozen IQ points the instant they walk into a bridal shop. Probably both, come to think of it.

We ended up with sand everywhere – cases, shoes, on binders and bags, encrusting the hem of my skirt. A very good argument for the habit some smart harpists have of always carrying a small mat or square of carpet around with them. I think next year, I will give that a try. At least this summer I’ve been very good about bringing my own chair, and my little pignose amp, and lots of snacks and water. Our cello player also sensibly brings a cushion to sit on, another habit I should pick up. Soon, we will be like a travelling theatre troupe, complete with enough gear to camp out for a week with.

And the last gig, today? All went well, despite some anxiety that it might not be so (the stand light came in very handy yet again, seeing how we were crammed into a dark corner in a small chapel). And for the most part, lest I seem too disparaging, our clients were pretty easy to deal with. Still, I’m really glad the season is over, and I can’t say I’m waiting with baited breath ’til next summer (despite having a really solid little trio that does of course sound lovely), but when it comes, we’ll at least have had a good long break. Soon it’ll be time to get ready for all the seasonal concerts in December. And after practicing Christmas tunes for two months, I may almost wistfully look forward to Pachelbel’s Canon… okay, well maybe not so much.

Keeping warm when playing outside

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This weekend we had our first truly chilly gig of the season. In this part of Ontario, fall really starts after the labour day weekend. We may have a few balmy days left, but the leaves are already starting to turn, and the past few nights have fallen into the single digits (Celcius). Saturday definitely felt like fall, cool, dry and breezy. Of course, couples about to be married being the paragons of common sense and logic (hah!), every single one of our September gigs (and one October one!) are scheduled to be outside. And you know brides – it pretty much has to be hailing or flashing with lightning and pouring for them to finally give in and let it be inside.

We thought we had enough layers – thick skirts, long sleeved shirts, sweaters. Yes, sweaters – no matter how fancy the bridal party is, if they expect musicians to perform outside by the lake at this time of year, they get to deal with sweaters. Our trio long ago settled on a classic black-and-white look (after failing miserably to come up with some kind of colourful or interesting theme that would suit all of us and still look professional), so at least our sweaters are all nice, classy knit white sweaters that pretty much match.

Our flutist came prepared, as always, complete with long johns. But the day was deceptive; as we were leaving, the sun was shining, the air was arm, and our flutist was already determining she’d probably have to shed most of her layers. The cello player and I decided to throw caution to the wind and go as we were without backup layers or coats. By the end of the gig, our flutist was cozy and comfortable, and the cello player and I were shivering and chilled right through. Our cellist actually had to go sit in the car for about ten minutes before the second half of the gig started, in order to warm up.

One thing I did have, which I highly recommend, is a pair of Thinsulate gloves. They live in the pocket of my harp case year round, along with the spare tuner and some extra business cards. They’re thin and white, and actually meant to function more like liners inside of regular gloves or mits. The best part is, I can play while wearing them. The trick for being able to play in gloves is something any busker knows very well – you take a nice sharp pair of scissors and cut the fingertips out. Another nice thing about these gloves/liners, is that since they’re white they don’t clash with our gig outfits. Without them, there have been some gigs where I’d have been reduced to playing a clumsy ham-fisted bass line (technically doable in a trio, but disastrous if playing solo.)

Which brings us to gig rule #3 – if it’s after Labour Day, and it’s outside, always bring more layers than you think you need. You can always take stuff off, but you can’t put it on if it ain’t there. Next weekend, it’ll by tights and undershirts and extra sweaters for sure.

Yes, of course you can always refuse to play if the weather conditions are truly terrible. But we have become very stoic over the years, and will try to soldier on if at all possible. We live in a small community, where reputation is key, and we’re really reluctant to put our rep in danger by completely refusing to play (unless it’s actively raining or snowing – then they would be out of luck, end of story.)

September Tune: Out on the Ocean

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New Tune of the Month, courtesy of Chubby Sparrow Music (right click on the picture and choose “save target as”, or just pop over to the Chubby Sparrow Free Music page for more detailed printing instructions).

Out on the Ocean is a popular upbeat session tune, and can be played in either a leisurely or more rollicking fashion.

It goes well with Rolling Waves, Geese in the Bog and Connacht Man’s Rambles.

Also known as Mick Mulcahy’s, O’Connell’s Jig On Top Of Mount Everest, O’er The Sea, Out In The Ocean, Out Of The Ocean, Over The Ocean, Portroe, Split The Whisker, The Wind Is Over The Ocean.

The Harp Guitar

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harp guitar - copyright free image from Dover CDI thought it would be fun to periodically feature weird harps, or things that get mistaken for harps (or things with “harp” in the name that have no resemblance to harps as we know them). It’s also an easy thing to do when I’m totally bushed from gigging all day and my brain cells are functioning at minimal capacity.

Today’s feature is the harp guitar. I could go to the effort of doing a bunch of research on this elabourate and awkward-looking instrument, but there’s already a whole website dedicated to it at harpguitars.net. You can find out about the history of the harp guitar in this section.

Warning: if you try a Google image search of “weird harp pictures”, you might see some disturbing images of harp seals being clubbed. It took me a bit off guard so I just thought I’d mention it.

Speaking of trolleys and carts…

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Both my gigs this past weekend were made about a thousand times easier thanks to my trusty trolley, so I thought I’d give it a little plug here. I don’t normally promote a particular product or company, but I figure there’s no harm in describing the things I use regularly that have served me well. No doubt there are other companies that make similar carts.

The one I use is the “Kart-a-Bag” folk harp cart, which I got through Sylvia Woods. You can find out more about it here. I picked mine up at the Somerset harp conference several years ago, so I didn’t have to pay for shipping to Canada (which would have probably been dreadful, especially when you add in customs). However, even if I had to pay shipping, it’s definitely worth it. It just perfectly fits my 34-string Gerhard Wanney harp in its case; the bungee cords that come attached to it just barely stretch far enough, so if you have a bigger harp you might need extensions. However, although they’re just long enough, due to the shape of the harp there’s still a fair bit of give, so I can slip in a few extra things like a folding chair, a little battery-powered amp, and/or book bag and a water bottle snugged up next to the harp. It can apparently handle up to a 300 lb load, but I’ve never come close to that.

Things I like about it:

It collapses down to a managable shape and size, and even comes with a carry bag (although the wheels on mine are usually so dirty that I tend to leave it out of its case most of the time).

It is really easy to set up (once you’ve practiced a couple of times), and even easier to collapse again. You can do a lot of the functions one-handed if absolutely necessary.

It handles off-road terrain with surprising ease. Most of the time I’ve needed to lug my harp the equivalent of a couple city blocks, it’s been down a dirt road (e.g. at the local pioneer village), through a park complete with mud (this past weekend’s folk festival), or up and down grassy or pebbly slopes (some of the resorts I play at).

Even when pushing one-handed, it’s relatively easy to control, even at a brisk walking pace. This is very important when trying to wend your way through unruly crowds of festival goers who will completely ignore you and your heavy burden, no matter what you might think about the love-the-earth granola types being kinder and gentler. I suspect they’re just distracted by all the lovely, interesting, colourful things going on around them; being one of that sort myself this is no means meant as a slur against…. oooh, look, shiny! I’ll be right back…

Ahem. Okay, back on topic. If you do a lot of regular gigging, or if you think you might ever be called upon to play somewhere without car access (which happens far, far more often than you might think), get a trolley/cart /dolly – whatever you want to call it. It might just save your life (or at least, your shoulders and your sanity).

Gig Story #1, Part Two – You can never predict the weather

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Oops, it really has been a while since the last post, hasn’t it. Well, I can honestly say that I was quite busy, mostly with harping. As of now we’ve hit our busiest 6-week stretch, gig wise. Mostly on weekends, but on weekdays I’m up before the dawn to drive my boo to work, and lots of other things have been clamouring for my attention. But that’s poor excuse! So here we go, part two of my gig woes from last weekend.

Saturday was fun with a golf cart; Sunday turned into fun with weather. To start with, we were breathing a sigh of relief on the drive in, not in spite of, but because it was pouring buckets. You see, one of the worst things for a musician booked to play outdoors is if the weather is iffy. If nature isn’t actively throwing rain or lightning down at you, the couple will always choose to be outdoors anyhow – no matter how dark the sky is, no matter how the wind doth blow. Good conditions are: sunny (as long as there’s some hint of shade), or driving rain (then there’s no doubt about it being inside). That kind of gentle grey day, where the sky looks dim but benign and there’s no scent of rain in the air, can be okay too, since it’s often better than baking in the sun.

This was not an iffy day. Our windshield wipers were on full, tires splashing through puddles. That is, until we got to our destination. Our unease began to curdle in our tummies as we realized, the rain had not got this far yet. The sky was rolling with dark, foreboding clouds, the wind was howling – but no rain yet. When we pulled up to the main building, sure enough, we could see through the trees, a whole bunch of white chairs, set up down in a quaint little valley.

…More…